The Denver Nuggets will take on the Houston Rockets tonight in the Pepsi Center.
Who will leave the arena victorious? Well, that question is up in the air, but another question is, who should we be looking for? What match-up in this game draws enough attention to look at, and could have a big impact on the finish? To me, this match-up is a battle of shooting guards, Gary Harris vs. James Harden.
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I don’t think I need to speak about how good James Harden is, his stats speak for themselves. He’s on yet another potential MVP campaign, and has the Rockets at the number one spot in the conference. He’s averaging over 31 points per game, around nine assists, and shooting a lethal 38 percent from deep. (Per basketball-reference) Harden has won the Western Conference Player of the Month so many times this year they should consider calling it the James Harden Award.
Another big part of his game is that he finds ways to get to the free throw line. No, it’s not just because the officials call everything for him. Harden has a knack and great ability to draw contact on his way to the rim.
Now, who will be on the other side trying to slow him down? That would be Gary Harris, who has been having a good year in his own right too. He’s averaging over 17 points, with a field goal percentage around 49 percent and a three-point percentage at around 40 percent. (per basketball-reference) We’ve see Harris take the next step as a second-option for scoring with the Nuggets this season, arguably behind Nikola Jokic.
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Well, the Nuggets will need that scoring ability tonight if they want a win against the red-hot Rockets. Harris plays pretty good defense as well, and that will be put up to the test against the potential MVP of the year.