The rust was gone, the minutes restriction forgotten, or at least ignored with no one able to keep James Harden off the floor, stopping him from his place on a night like this.
The Rockets and Warriors had chased each other into the night, a last regular-season meeting before they could as many predict meet in May. The Rockets led the Warriors, a team that lives for such moments, by three. Harden was isolated on Stephen Curry and went to work.
Harden hit Curry with the crossovers that melt others, but Curry held firm until the shot clock was down to its last ticks.