Pregame Post-Ups: Defending the Lethal Harden Step-Back

BOSTON – There may not be a more lethal shot in the NBA than the James Harden step-back 3-pointer. It's an offensive maneuver that Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni claims is simply “unguardable.”

“It means he can just get 16 3s up anytime he wants to,” D'Antoni elaborated Sunday afternoon.

The Boston Celtics know that feeling all too well. During their first matchup against the Rockets on Dec. 27, they allowed Harden to knock down 9-of-18 from deep, with all but one coming by way of the step-back.

During Sunday’s rematch game at TD Garden, Boston will attempt to defend the shot more efficiently. Though, that’s easier said than done of the man who is averaging an absurd 36.6 points per game.

The C’s consistently work on defending unique shot types, however, Harden’s step-back is one that is especially difficult to mimic.

“You have to challenge him a bit uniquely,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said ahead of Sunday’s tip-off. “I think there have been guys over the course of time where you have to do different things against. I've always talked about Dirk (Nowitzki): There's no sense in trying to jump as high as you can and try to challenge Dirk's shot when he was in the prime of his career. You have to catch his eye in a different way because he doesn't feel you, especially if you are a smaller guy.

“Harden is a little bit different, but you do have to work on your challenges, talk about them and think about how you want to best challenge.”

There are two ways to challenge Harden, and neither is particularly effective.

One method is to aggressively challenge his shot. However, that approach often leads to him drawing fouls – he’s led the league in free-throw attempts each of the past five seasons.

The other method is to allow Harden to have a bit more space to work with. Though, even the tiniest amount of room is enough for him to get off his deadly shot.

The Celtics tried the latter method at the beginning of their last matchup. As a result, they held him without a free throw during the first half, but he also knocked down five step-back 3s in the first quarter alone.

In the second half, Boston became more aggressive, but that led to him earning 17 trips to the charity stripe, which helped contribute to a 45-point performance.

“That’s the hardest part,” Stevens said of not fouling Harden. “Everybody says, 'Ok, we all can try to mimic the step-back. We all know it's coming.' The hard part is challenging it without fouling. You can't be in his landing area, so ultimately that's the hard part. You have to do a great job against this team and make it as tough as possible. You do have to pick your poison a little bit because (in our last matchup) we got antsy and more aggressive and then we sent him to the line on four separate 3-pointers.

“So, goal number one: Keep him off the line and guard him as hard as you can. Ultimately, that's what you have to try to do, but some of those step-backs, he's going to hit. You have to make them as tough as possible.”

- Taylor Snow