James Harden brought the ball up for the Brooklyn Nets as the second quarter started Wednesday night at Toyota Center. The former Rockets start was mostly trailed by Eric Gordon in the first quarter, but with Gordon on the bench, rookie Josh Christopher drew the Beard assignment in his 16th NBA game which also fell on his 20th birthday, and he was ready for the assignment.
“When I first got drafted here (Rockets general manager Rafael) Stone told me that you're gonna guard the best player,” Christopher said following the Rockets 114-104 win, their seventh straight.
He was more than up to that challenge. Harden struggled in his second visit to Toyota Center since January’s trade, and Christopher aided in those struggles. He shot just 1-of-4 when guarded by the Rockets rookie, who blocked one of his shots, and he forced two of his eight turnovers.
“Once you step on the court, I'm just trying to guard him and then when he does all the moves, you see him do on TV and he's doing them to you and then you foul him, it's like ok, I got to figure it out now so just trying to make adjustments to playing the game.”
Minutes have been hard to come by for the 24th pick of last summer’s draft, but minutes have opened with injuries to Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. On Wednesday, Christopher took advantage, scoring a career-high 18 points, without missing a shot, in a career-high 23 minutes to go with his terrific defensive effort.
“He played a really solid game on both ends of the floor,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said. “What I've been talking to him about is his shot selection, the shot selection (tonight) was great. It was either at the rim or a three, and really proud of him.”
Christopher has spent a lot of time working with the Rockets player development staff, led by John Lucas, Barbara Turner, and Gerald Green. He also spent five days with the team’s G-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, and Silas says the team feels he can check a lot of boxes for them moving forward.
“I'd like him to be a combo (guard) where he can handle it and play off the ball. Tonight he had the opportunity to play off the ball and catch and shoot, which is something that we're going to need from him, but he needs to continue to develop his on ball, point guard type stuff.”
During his only season at Arizona State, Christopher requested to wear the jersey number 13, but to do so, he needed the blessing of the program’s most famous number 13, Harden. Permission was granted, and on Wednesday the two Sun Devils shared the floor in an NBA game on what Christopher called “a perfect day”. Did Harden say anything to him afterwards?
“He said he was proud of me.”