Chris Paul and James Harden Were Horrendous Tonight as the Rockets Got Slaughtered at Golden State

Chris Paul and James Harden played absolutely terrible games for the Rockets tonight, as the Rockets got absolutely demolished in Game 3 against Golden State. They combined to shoot 12-32 from the field, and 4-14 from three, and that doesn’t even begin to tell the story of how bad the Rockets’ two superstars were this evening.

Harden and Paul combined for 6 turnovers — the Rockets had 19, to the Warriors’ 8 — and they finished the game -18 and -19 respectively. Harden was actively targeted by the Warriors when he was on defense. Look what Shaun Livingston and Steph Curry did to him:

I get that anyone and everyone can have a bad game against the Warriors, but this was supposed to be the year that it was different in the playoffs for Harden and Paul. The Rockets won 65 games and Harden is the presumptive MVP of the league.

With Steph Curry struggling with his shooting in the first half tonight, the Rockets had an opportunity to go into the locker room tied or with the lead, but they missed so many layups that they were down double digits. The second half was an onslaught.

For Tuesday night’s Game 4 to be any different, Harden and Paul and the rest of their teammates are going to have to play much, much better.