CHARLOTTE, N.C. – His jumpers bricked, bonked and clanked. His layups rimmed out and landed short. His stepback could not overcome the hand in his face. One of his floaters lifted into thin air and returned to earth an air ball.
One game after his streak of 30-point games ended and one week after his tweaked neck left a sting that still might be lingering, James Harden returned to his reliable shooting routine but never found his touch Wednesday night against the Hornets.
He sank deep into the quicksand of a shooting slump, and the Rockets seemed to go with him, their 15-point lead turning into a 12-point deficit.