In the first two games, James Harden carved up the …
In the first two games, James Harden carved up the Raptors’ defense with his pick-and-roll brilliance. In those contests, the Cavaliers had a 121. 1 offensive rating in Harden’s minutes (the average offensive rating this postseason is 111.
0) . Credit to the Raptors, though, they weren’t just going to stand there and fall victim to Harden-ball. They used their defensive versatility to flip the script on him.
In Game 1, the Raptors had RJ Barrett on Harden, Scottie Barnes on Evan Mobley, and Poeltl on Allen. Meanwhile, Game 4, those assignments were Barnes on Harden, Poeltl on Mobley, and Barrett on Allen. This adjustment is meaningful because Harden wants to go at Poeltl in pick-and-roll with Allen as his roll man, since Allen is a superior screener and finisher to Mobley.
essentiallysports. com This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: In the first two games, James Harden carved up the …