Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images
James Harden took out his frustration after Game 4 on an unsuspecting hand sanitizer station.
Game 4 was a frustrating one for James Harden and his Houston Rockets. Despite taking an NBA playoff record 58 3-pointers and making nearly 40 percent of them, and despite Harden’s 32 points, 15 assists, eight rebounds and four steals, the Rockets still came up short against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, tying their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
The Rockets went cold from 3 late in the second half, and it was only natural for some of that anger to creep in after coming up short yet again in a series that felt entirely one-sided not too long ago.
The Beard chose to take out his frustrations on an unsuspecting hand sanitizer station after walking off the court, putting the “L” in Purell:
James Harden was not happy after Game 4
The NBA has done a great job with its safety regulations and coronavirus protocol within the Orlando bubble, but that didn’t save this poor hand sanitizing station from feeling Harden’s wrath.
Maybe it was his old teammate Chris Paul hitting clutch buckets for OKC that did it. Maybe it was Houston’s 3-for-23 dry spell from beyond the arc at one point in the second half that sent him over the edge. Or maybe it was how Harden — who put up 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from deep in the first quarter only to tally 17 points on 1-of-9 shooting from long range over the next three quarters — became the first player in NBA playoff history to post 30 points, 15 assists and five rebounds in a loss.
In any case, one has to hope this temporary outburst does not bleed into more substantial struggles in Game 5. Until then, we’ll have updates on the hand sanitizing station’s status for Game 5 as we learn more.