James Harden had a hellish shooting night on Wednesday, making only two of his 18 field goal attempts and finishing with just 12 points after opening the playoffs with a 44-point masterpiece. All those misses didn't faze him, though: Harden told reporters that he felt good after the game, as the Houston Rockets shut down the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 102-82 victory. It turns out that, when you make 11 more 3-pointers than your opponent, force seven more turnovers than your opponent and win the rebounding battle, you can overcome an MVP-caliber player misfiring. 

From ESPN's Tim MacMahon:

"I'm more happy than anybody right now, believe it or not, just because I'm not really worried about my shot," said Harden, who carried the Rockets with a 44-point performance in their Game 1 win. "I had those same shots in Game 1, and they went in. In Game 3, I'll shoot those same shots.

"But I'm fortunate to have guys like Gerald [Green] and just the entire team to have my back on both ends of the floor. I just tried to make an impact on the game in other ways, not just offensively. Happy we got the win."

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"I don't have to worry about me shooting the basketball," said Harden, who had seven assists. "When we've got guys behind me telling me, 'Keep shooting, that's your shot,' I'm going to keep shooting. On the defensive end, I've just got to make sure I'm locked in, creating energy, make sure my rotations are really good and keep communicating.

"I didn't even know what I was shooting, but I knew I wasn't making a lot of shots. Or any. But we were up 15 or 17 points. That made me feel really good."

If you are laughing at the fact that Harden is talking about defense, then you haven't been paying attention. The Rockets have done everything they can to minimize his weaknesses on that end this season, and they have taken advantage of his one big strength: Post defense. Harden is completely comfortable switching onto bigger players and bodying them up on the block. Here he is slapping the ball away from Taj Gibson down low and forcing a turnover in the third quarter:

Earlier in that same frame, Harden took on the challenge of guarding Wolves star Jimmy Butler, staying in front of him and forcing a contested turnaround jumper. Butler can make this shot, but it's hardly a high-percentage one:

Harden is also (mostly) correct that he should shoot the same shots if they present themselves again in Game 3. While there were a couple of instances where he drove into multiple defenders, it is hard to blame him because he's usually so clever when it comes to at finishing or drawing fouls in those situations. And while there were numerous stepback 3s that would be awful shots for most players, the entire league knows Harden is capable of knocking those down. If you watch the tape, you will notice Harden miss a wide-open layup as well as several in-rhythm jumpers. Here are all 18 of his field goal attempts in less than three minutes:

Butler deserves for his terrific individual defense -- most nights, Harden manufactures points extremely easily, to the point where you sometimes wonder if he gets bored running simple pick-and-roll and isolation plays. In Game 2, Harden did not get many easy looks. At the same time, it's not as if Houston coach Mike D'Antoni needs to talk to his superstar about changing his approach. Harden shoot poorly, but he didn't play particularly poorly. He was not careless with the ball, out of sync with his teammates or selfish with his decision-making. And, as the final score indicates, it's not as if the Rockets needed him to be completely on point. This is the luxury of having Chris Paul (27 points on 10-for-18 shooting, eight assists) and a deeper, more balanced roster than Houston had this time last year.