West Conf. Finals Game 3 - Houston Rockets 85-126 Golden State Warriors - Rockets' Player Ratings

James Harden - 6/10

Harden lays it in over Steph Curry

Stat line: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 7-of-16 (43.75% fg), 2-of-6 (33.3% on threes)

The Beard did not play too badly, but for Houston to have even a chance in this series, he has to be his MVP-winning self from the regular season in every single game. Other than turning the ball over 4 times, Harden resorted to a bad habit on display from game 1 - taking too long to get going on isolation possessions by over-dribbling.

He uncharacteristically missed a couple of layups while shooting from open positions, and too often, he was forcing the issue with his shots. On the other side of the ball, Harden got taken to the task by the likes of Curry and Durant - in 16 possessions that he was the primary defender on either of them, the duo shot 7-of-10 from the field.

This wasn't an egregiously bad game from the prohibitive MVP favorite. But it was nothing to write home about. He cannot have outings like this and realistically expect to lead Houston to a series win over the Dubs, who have control of this series now.