How the Warriors kept James Harden off the free-throw line in Game 1

FULL FIRST-ROUND SCHEDULE | EXPERT BRACKETS

OAKLAND, Calif. -- James Harden typically lives at the free-throw line. You could forward his mail there and he'll never miss an Eastbay catalog. However, in Game 1 of the Houston Rockets' first-round series against the Golden State Warriors, he didn't attempt a single free throw. It's only the third time since becoming a Rocket in October of 2012 that Harden has failed to reach the charity stripe in a regular season or playoff game.

It would've been bewildering during Game 1 had it not been for the complete deconstruction of the Rockets by the Warriors. Part of that dismantling was the Warriors' ability to keep Harden off the line. No swipes at the ball. Hands high and hands back. Get a body on him, absorb the contact, and don't you dare reach for the ball. That was the game plan for the Warriors and they executed it to perfection -- starting with the individual defensive efforts of Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala.

So how do you keep the man who led the NBA in free throws made and attempted from shooting any during a playoff game?

"That's what he does better than anybody in the league," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the Game 1 win, "you know, get to the line, draw fouls. So I thought Klay did a great job, Andre did a great job, our bigs stayed vertical. They didn't reach when he came in to the paint. He got going in the second half, but we kept him off the line, which was very important."

He only drew four fouls in the game when he averages just under seven -- second only to DeMarcus Cousins.

James Harden didn't get to the free throw line once in Game 1. (USATSI)

The hardest thing to do when attempting not to foul Harden in a game is defend his drives to the basket effectively without reaching in. The majority of Harden's drives to the hoop come off of downhill dribbling on pick-and-roll plays. The Rockets did a good job of trying to get Harden a greater head of steam moving toward the basket by often setting the pick for him just inside half court as he crossed the line.

This high pick-and-roll gets him free earlier and allows him more time to survey the floor. The problem with this for Houston is it also gives the Warriors more time to cut him off and recover in their defensive rotations as his man gets back into the play following the pick. Then from there, you want to make contact with Harden by letting him initiate it, absorb the contact without reaching in and fouling, and still contest whatever shot he puts up.

For the most part, the Warriors do a good job of keeping their hands high and away from the basketball, which he dangles out there like low hanging fruit. It's temptation you're supposed to avoid on defense as you avoid the sin of being greedy and trying to take it from him. Harden is so strong (maybe the strongest 2-guard in the NBA), quick, and crafty that you play right into his hands, often literally, by swiping for the ball.

It's what Shaun Livingston referred to as him "showing you the candy" but avoiding the reach-in.

"I think you've got to give credit to the coaching staff and then the discipline starting with Klay and Andre," Livingston said in his post game presser. "They spend the most time on him [Harden], and everybody else to a man turned on with Bogut when he was coming through the lane, it's hard. He's showing you the candy, showing you the ball and it's easy to want to reach in. He's the best we have in our league against the free-throw line.

"So just trying to stick to the game plan, remain disciplined, make [him take] good, tough shots. That's all we can do."

You'll notice even on the layup he makes in that previous video, it was as well-contested as all of the other shot attempts inside. The Rockets ran about 18 pick-and-rolls with him. Eleven of those sets resulted in him either shooting the ball (3-of-9) or turning it over. Seven times he passed the ball and he didn't record a single assist off a pick-and-roll pass, either to a roll man or someone spotting up. There just wasn't much creation on his part, which J.B. Bickerstaff credited to the Rockets not being able to move much on offense.

The stagnation, partially caused by the Warriors' great team defense, left the Rockets without many choices. And that meant Harden didn't have many choices but to either keep driving for contested layups or try his hand at pull-up jumpers.

You'll notice first and foremost that there is almost always a defender bodying him on drives without putting their hands into the danger zones of allowing Harden to rip up into their limbs and force a foul call. They funnel him to spots on the floor where they want him to shoot, they don't fall for pump fakes and they manage to contest without overextending themselves.

You know how an offensive player will jab step with the ball to try to force the defense into a slight mistake? A lot of times, Thompson was essentially doing the reach-in version of jab stepping. He'd pretend like he was swiping for the dribble, but showing restraint. Perhaps trying to force Harden into a bad shot attempt. Perhaps just trying to get Harden to show his hand of where the next move might lead to. But the core of the defense remained sound.

"It's all fundamentals," Stephen Curry said about holding Harden to zero free throws. "What he likes to do. We had a game plan coming in. Whether he's going downhill, just show your hands, make him finish in a crowd. No silly reaches where he can obviously show me the ball. You usually get those calls, but when you play defense the right way, not worried about trying to get low, just hands high, make him finish over the top. Whether he makes a couple or not, you like your chances over the course of 48 minutes."

Because so much of what Harden likes to do is handle the ball, create contact and force the defense into defensive fundamental breakdowns, it means he doesn't get a lot of opportunities to benefit from the creation of a teammate. He only had two spot-up jumpers in this game, and he knocked down both of them -- two 3-point attempts. Even those were well contested and forced him to simply make tough shots.

A lot of the turnovers from Harden were either pushes in which he was trying to get free of his smothering defender, or just poor passing decisions as he tapped out of his attack. He knew when he went to the basket guys like Festus Ezeli, Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut were waiting there with their hands high and their arms showing textbook verticality.

The one turnover the Warriors forced from Harden's dribble when he was attacking came on the play after Curry tweaked his ankle, which may keep him out of Game 2. After a bit of a dribbling display, Curry tossed up a runner, landed a little awkwardly and then agitated the ankle as he tried to change directions and head up the floor. That didn't stop him from executing those defensive fundamentals against a Harden attack while eventually gambling a bit and poking the ball away from Harden.

These moments were few and far between though. The Warriors almost never put themselves in position to allow Harden easy shot opportunities. In those three games in his Rockets' tenure in which Harden hasn't made it to the free-throw line, he's shooting just 15-of-41 (36.5 percent) from the field. It's like he's out of ideas to try to get good, efficient scoring opportunities. And the Warriors know that this plan of theirs won't always work and may not work again in this series.

"For us, to keep him off the free-throw line and get those nine extra points he usually gets," Curry admitted, "that's important for us. So my guess is it probably won't happen the rest of the series, but for the most part if we just continue to keep our fundamentals, show our hands, keep our body in front of him maybe we can control that part of their offensive attack for the most part in the series."

Those free throws and the foul trouble that precedes those trips to the line are these body blows he delivers against opponents. It allows his shooting to get into a rhythm and have a big impact on the game. All of those body blows often build up into the haymaker(s) he might deliver to the Rockets' opponents. In the 173 games he's attempted double-digit free throws, he shoots 43 percent from the field and the Rockets have a record of 109-64.

"James struggled tonight," Green said, "and he didn't get to the free-throw line which is where most of his points come from. So you've got to expect that to be a little different come Game 2. So this doesn't tell us how the series will go. You look at all their starters, and it's not who they are, it's not who they've been.

"So we got through this game tonight, we can build on this, but we have to know they're going to try to throw haymakers in Game 2. We have to come out, stand our ground and push back."

If Harden can get to the line in Oracle Arena, it may take some of the air and energy out of the building with each trip there. He typically lives there but without it, he's a homeless man's James Harden.

Will James Harden turning things around cure the Rockets' problems? (USATSI)

CBSSports.com Experts' First-Round Predictions
	Ken Berger @KBergCBS	Bill Reiter @sportsreiter	Zach Harper @TalkHoops	James Herbert @outsidethenba	Matt Moore @MattMooreCBS	Ananth Pandian @Ananth_Pandian
Western Conference
Warriors vs. Rockets	in 4	in 4	in 4	in 4	in 5	in 4

SERIES SCHEDULE, RESULTS:

Western Conference First Round
Game	Date/Series	Location	Time	TV
Game 1: Golden State Warriors 104, Houston Rockets 78	Golden State up 1-0	Oracle Arena	3:30 p.m. ET	ABC
Game 2: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors	Monday, April 18	Oracle Arena	10:30 p.m. ET	TNT
Game 3: Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets	Thursday, April 21	Toyota Center	9:30 p.m. ET	TNT
Game 4: Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets	Saturday, April 24	Toyota Center	3:30 p.m. ET	ABC
Game 5: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors	Wednesday, April 27	Oracle Arena	TBD	TBD
Game 6: Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets	Friday, April 29	Toyota Center	TBD	TBD
Game 7: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors	Sunday, May 1	Oracle Arena	TBD	TBD