Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kevin Porter Jr. views James Harden as a brother and an idol. So, it was only right that he showed out as his team hosted the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Porter tallied a career-high 24 points off of the bench in the 116-110 loss while he finished by shooting 9-of-15 from the field, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
The rookie wondered ahead of the matchup if Harden is as lethal as he appears. His step-back shot has become nearly unguardable in the NBA as Harden has established himself as perhaps the most unstoppable offensive player in history.
“I just want to see if that step-back is really lethal like that,” Porter said. “He hits everybody in the league with it so I want to take that challenge and make it a tough night for him if I can.”
Harden once again showed why he is leading the NBA in scoring. The former MVP put up 55 points in the contest, his fourth 50-point game of the season, and shot 20-of-34 from the field, including 10-of-18 from 3-point range. He is now averaging 38.7 points per game.
Afterward, Porter was asked about that step-back shot.
“It’s really that lethal,” Porter said. “He definitely made some shots where I was like, ‘I can’t do nothing different.’ I had fun guarding him and it made me better and, hopefully, I made him better as a player.”
As a first-year player, Porter is trying to emulate Harden’s game, and specifically, his step-back shot. The two trained together over the summer and he had an opportunity to see it up close. While Harden hasn’t seen Porter much this season, he liked what he saw.
He is aggressive. I don’t know if he has been like that throughout the course of the year, I haven’t really watched him play, but tonight he was aggressive. His shot looked very good. He was attacking the rim. He just played with confidence.
Harden also mentioned that Kevin Porter Jr is an aggressive player and plays with confidence. After the game, Harden went up to KPJ to dap him up and talk to him briefly. pic.twitter.com/o44YCd18TU
— Mike Coutee’ (@mikecoutee94) December 12, 2019
While Harden was certainly spectacular, Porter offered a glimpse of his potential. He has drawn comparisons to Harden, to some extent, given that he is a lefty that excels in isolation situations and can drive to the basket. Of course, Porter has a long way to go but he has the makings of a superstar if he can continue to develop.
Next up for the Cavs: A road matchup on Thursday vs. the Spurs.
Quotes provided by Cameron Fields of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group
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