Rising Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam believes Houston Rockets guard James Harden is the NBA’s toughest player to guard.
In an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the defensive ace for the league’s defending champions had a quick answer to this question:
“Pascal, who is the hardest player to guard in the NBA?”
Siakam’s response on Tuesday:
James Harden, and I think Kevin Durant is up there too.
Harden currently leads the NBA at 38.0 points per game this season, which is the highest scoring average by any player in the last 56 years.
🚨 PASCAL SIAKAM AMA 🚨
We're with NBA Champion @pskills43 of the @Raptors Tuesday (12/10) at 3pm/et for a special AMA! #PascalAllAccess
Ask him anything here: ⤵️ https://t.co/awrPHmHVdk
— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2019
When Harden and the Rockets (15-8) visited Toronto (16-7) last week, Siakam and the Raptors were so concerned about covering Harden that they often trapped him with multiple defenders near midcourt
This strategy limited Harden to a season-low 11 shot attempts, but the Rockets took advantage of the resulting four-on-three scenarios to make a combined 22 three-pointers in a 10-point Houston victory.
The almost unprecedented tactical move may also have helped Harden conserve energy, which appeared to boost him in other areas. Though he shot just 11 times, Harden still had 23 points on an extremely efficient 63.6% shooting and 60.0% on three-pointers. He also seemed to be more spry on defense, where Harden limited Siakam to 2-of-8 shooting (25%) with two turnovers in their one-on-one matchups.
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Pascal Siakam vs. James Harden last night.
Predictably easy from the outside, even with the misses.
Inside, however, pic.twitter.com/43Eca4RtPu
— THE Jasmine Watkins Fan Acct. (@NekiasNBA) December 6, 2019
For the season overall, the 25-year-old Siakam — now in his fourth NBA season — is averaging 24.5 points (45.8% shooting, 36.4% on three-pointers) and 8.4 rebounds per game.
It’s the second time in a week that a member of the Raptors has gone out of his way to defend Harden. Last week, Toronto guard Fred VanVleet called Harden “pretty special” and said this when asked by reporters if he understood why Harden’s game is seen as polarizing by fans:
No, because I’m a basketball player. I haven’t met a basketball player that doesn’t appreciate it. It’s the casual people that watch the game or are tied into some fantasy of what they think the game is about.
VanVleet, asked if he understands why Harden's game is so polarizing: "No, because I'm a basketball player. I haven't met a basketball player that doesn't appreciate it. It's the casual people that watch the game or a tied into some fantasy of what they think the game is about."
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) December 4, 2019
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The Raptors don’t make their return visit to Houston until April 5, so there could be a while to go before the sides exchange any further pleasantries. But it certainly seems there’s a healthy amount of respect for Harden and the Rockets from the NBA’s reigning champions.