Isaiah Thomas went behind-the-back to roast James Harden for the bucket
Isaiah Thomas has been having a phenomenal year for the Boston Celtics as they have quietly established themselves as one of the top-10 teams in the NBA with the playoffs on the horizon. Up against James Harden and the Houston Rockets on Friday night, Thomas decided that he needed to let the bearded know just where the diminutive guard and the Celtics stand.
In the first quarter of their matchup on Friday night, Harden got back on defense (sort of) with Thomas leading the break for Boston and looking to take Harden’s (sort of) defense head on. To do so, the Celtics All-Star guard pulled up his dribble, went behind-the-back with a pretty move to fake out Harden (who really seemed relieved that he didn’t have to totally try) and then rise over the Rockets guard for the lay-up:
That’s a gorgeous move from Thomas to allow a player his size to get to the cup and be able to finish. However, what the hell is Harden’s defense on this play? Sure, that’s a question that is ultimately repetitive for the Rockets during most games that they play, but he’s so uncommitted on defense that he doesn’t even move on the fake. He doesn’t bite and he doesn’t keep going; Harden just waits for Thomas to go up and then jumps to contest way too late.
Such is the James-Harden-trying-to-play-defense life for Houston, which is probably why Isaiah Thomas was so willing to go right at him and pull off this beautiful play.