Scouting report: Detroit Pistons need to slow down James Harden

James Harden scored 43 points against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. They have another chance at redemption tonight at Little Caesar’s Arena.

The Detroit Pistons battled back against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night to fall 126-124 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

The Rockets had three guys score at least 20 points in the game: James Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela. Harden led Houston in scoring with 43 points in the game. He shot 50 percent from the field and went 19/19 from the free throw line.

The Pistons have a shot at redeeming themselves tonight. They play the Rockets in the second game of a back-to-back at Little Caesar’s Arena.

Typically, when a team has one of their players go for 40 or more points in a game, they end up winning. The Pistons can simply not allow Harden to do that again tonight if they want to come out with a win.

I think everyone knows that there’s no shutting down a player like James Harden. He’s too good of  a player offensively. Containing him is another story.

How do you contain James Harden? That’s a tough one. He’s an above-average three-point shooter so you have to play him tight on the perimeter.

However, Harden is so quick off the dribble that he can get by some of the better defenders in the league and get to the bucket at will.

Here’s what you can’t do against Harden.

Reggie Bullock did a poor job of trying to go over the top of Clint Capela’s screen. By doing that, he ended up behind the play and left Andre Drummond in a tough spot with Harden penetrating and Capela rolling to the basket.

It’s a tough call for the other defenders on this type of play as well.

Houston hasn’t been particularly good shooting from long range this season to this point but they have a guys on the perimeter looking to get into a rhythm.

Harden has three options at this point. He can go get the bucket on his own. He can also lob it to Capela who has established himself as one of the best centers in the league.

Harden can also kick the ball out to one of the shooters on the perimeter if one of the Pistons’ defenders tries to decide to close and help compensate for Bullock’s poor defending.

This is a position you don’t want to get stuck in. If you’re going over the top of a screen, do it with a sense of urgency especially when it’s James Harden with the ball in his hands.

However, when you’re facing a guy that’s averaging almost 30 points a game, there are some things you’re going to have to live with.

I mean, what could Stanley Johnson have done differently on this play? The only thing I can think is that he could’ve played him a little closer.

Johnson got a hand up but Harden knocks down the shot. He’s going to do that from time to time.

Here’s something that’s fixable.

Why is Ish Smith out of all people defending Harden at the top of the key? You have Johnson on the floor. I feel like he’s the best bet at limiting what Harden can do.

Overall, that’s what went wrong with this play. Smith gets beat off the dribble. I think Jon Leuer did a nice job of trying to help on the play. He made it difficult on Harden who had to make a tough shot at the rim.

As a team, the Pistons failed defensively on Wednesday night. They allowed the Rockets to shoot 55 percent from the field and score 126 points.

It seemed like they were comfortable with getting into a track meet with a team that nearly ended up in the NBA finals just last season.

My best insight for tonight’s game is that Pistons’ defenders need to be more cautious even when playing off of Harden.

Step in and help when he beats a guy and takes it to the paint. The Rockets are shooting 34 percent from deep this season which is just 23rd in the league.

Don’t allow him to get to the free throw line 19 times. He’s known for his ability to draw fouls and get to the line but they need to not just resort to fouling him.

The Detroit Pistons need make other players on Houston’s roster beat them other than Harden.