Getty Heat defensive stopper P.J. Tucker locked down Sixers star James Harden in Game 1.
The expression on P.J. Tucker’s said it all. The Miami Heat star had just been whistled for a foul on a James Harden drive, one where the two former teammates got tangled up after some arm fighting back and forth. It’s a tried-and-true strategy for Harden. And Tucker couldn’t believe the refs fell for it.
After the game, Tucker couldn’t help laughing when asked about those quick whistles. Those foul calls – legitimate or not — are part of Harden’s game and Tucker isn’t going to let the refs dictate how he plays defense.
“With the new rules and everything it’s some stuff — the way the refs gonna call, they gonna call, it don’t matter,” Tucker told reporters. “They call fouls. They don’t call fouls. I don’t care. We just got to play our game and do what we do. If we do that then everything else will take care of itself. If they want to call those fouls, a lot of them are questionable, so be it. We’re going to keep playing, keep doing what we do.”
A running Tucker layup made it 66-61. Miami then gets a stop. On the next possession, Tucker knocks away a Philly rebound to give Miami the ball back, then gets another offensive board, then fights off Harris so Bam can get another rebound that leads to free throws.
Tucker only picked up two fouls in Game 1 while limiting Harden to 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting. It really was a master class on how to guard the future Hall of Famer. Credit Tucker’s familiarity with knowing Harden’s tendencies from their time together in Houston. Tucker’s job in this series is to be Harden’s shadow.
“They need him to be him so it’s my job to try and make it tough,” Tucker said. “He’s going to score. He’s going to take shots. He’s going to be aggressive, just trying to make it tough, knowing tendencies of what he wants, how he gets fouled, how he scores — it’s just everything, so yeah, that’s it.”
Simply, ART
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Erik Spoelstra Names ’10 X-Factor’ vs. Sixers
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra couldn’t come up with enough good adjectives to describe Tucker’s performance in Game 1. The box score showed 10 points in 28 minutes, but the veteran forward was in the mix for every offensive rebound, fighting off elbows from Tobias Harris in the paint, and diving on the floor for loose balls. He was very much the embodiment of Miami Heat Culture.
“You can’t put an analytic to it. I literally don’t know what his stats were, but he has those momentum-shifting plays where they’re just timely, winning plays,” Spoelstra said. “And he has a way of doing things that just inspires your whole team. It was those offensive rebounds, diving on the floor, really competing on the ball against one of the toughest covers in the league [Harden].
“And even when it wasn’t necessarily working out — whether he was fouling or whatever — everybody just feels added inspiration and life and everything from what he does out there. And that has a 10X-Factor, he was tremendous on both ends of the court and that’s what winning basketball is supposed to look like.”
P.J. Tucker on swinging momentum in 3Q
Heat Release Injury Report for Game 2
While encouraging news of Joel Embiid’s possible availability for Game 3 surfaced for the Sixers on Tuesday, it wasn’t quite so great for the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler missed practice with an excused absence while five players were ruled questionable, per the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. And Heat point guard Kyle Lowry remains out with a hamstring injury for Game 2.
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Heat Defensive Stopper Sounds Off on Refs and Ex-Teammate James Harden