Two summers ago, Houston Rockets star shooting guard James Harden was ridiculed for his numerous gaffes on the defensive end. Many of Harden’s struggles on that side of the floor stemmed from a lack of effort, and it appears as if he’s reverting back to his old ways this season.
In a 116-105 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday night, Harden spectated as Aron Baynes cleaned up an Ersan Ilyasova miss, making no attempt to block out the Pistons’ big man. This is Harden’s second laughable defensive blunder in the last twenty-four hours, as he registered another head-scratching play against the New York Knicks on Sunday evening.
I guess playing defense in Houston is passé, as the Rockets have given up at least 100 points in seven of their last eight games. Yikes.
