Rockets' James Harden: Nightmarish shooting night in Game 5 win

Harden tallied 19 points (5-21 FG, 0-11 3Pt, 9-9 FT), four assists, three rebounds and two steals across 39 minutes during Houston's 98-94 win over the Warriors in Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals playoff series Thursday.

Harden's scoring total may have checked in second only to Chris Paul's (hamstring) on the Rockets, but his final line would have been downright dreadful if not for a perfect showing from the charity stripe. The Beard's 0-for-11 tally from three-point range marked his first blanking from distance since Mar. 22, and his 23.8 percent success rate from the field overall was his second lowest of the postseason, ahead only of the 11.1 percent figure he'd generated in Game 2 of the first round versus the Timberwolves. Harden will look to tighten things up considerably when Houston tries for their first NBA Finals appearance since the 1995-96 season in Saturday's Game 6.