This unorthodox way to guard James Harden is either genius or a fluke

James Harden had just finished one of the least efficient performances of his historic season when he was asked how much the Milwaukee Bucks’ unique defensive scheme had to do with his off night.

“None,” Harden said, scoffing at the suggestion that the Bucks might have created a blueprint for defending the NBA’s most unstoppable offensive weapon.

Harden explained that shots simply didn’t go in, refusing to give credit to the NBA’s top-ranked defense for holding him to 9-of-26 shooting from the floor during the Houston Rockets’ 108-94 loss on the road.

The Bucks did an excellent job of executing their game plan, with point guard Eric Bledsoe going to great extremes to force Harden to drive right, straddling his left hip instead of playing in front of him. Bledsoe pressured Harden into traffic with 7-foot rim protector Brook Lopez waiting in the lane, Giannis Antetokounmpo swooping in with his pterodactyl wings as a help defender and hyperathletic Bledsoe chasing in pursuit, blocking a couple of layup attempts from behind.

“One doesn’t work without the other,” Bledsoe said of the luxury of funneling Harden into elite help defenders. “I was forcing him off the 3-point line and trying not to [let Harden] do that step-back. Fortunately, it worked for us.”

Could that work for Rockets opponents in the playoffs? Coaches and scouts around the league have their doubts.

“You can’t guard him. You can’t,” an advance scout for an East team said. “You just hope that he misses shots and then the other guys will not beat you. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. You just hope he misses shots.”

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni strongly agrees with that, as does Harden, who made a case to repeat as MVP by averaging 36.1 points and 7.5 assists per game in what was arguably the best individual offensive season in NBA history. Of the top seasons in which a player has averaged at least 35 points, Harden had by far the highest true shooting percentage (.616) and most assists (7.5 per game).

“He’s seen every kind of defense,” D’Antoni said. “He might have a bad game. But to think that a team is going to stop him … it’s not going to happen.”