Mavericks must play lockdown defense on Houston guard James Harden

If the Dallas Mavericks defeat Houston on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center, that will mean they probably did an effective job on Rockets guard James Harden.

Entering Wednesday’s nationally televised ESPN game at 8:30 p.m., Harden is second in the NBA in scoring at 28.7 points per game, and also averages 6.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists. He is the centerpiece of a Rockets’ offensive attack that’s fourth in the league in scoring at 106 points per contest.

"He’s one of the best players in the game,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said of Harden. "You just try to make it as difficult as possible, have a lot of guys ready (to defend him), have some different defensive schemes ready, because great players adjust to seeing the same thing every time, and we’ve just got to try to make it tough on him.’’

Carlisle said rookie Justin Anderson, who has started the past four games, will get his turn guarding Harden. And so will Wesley Matthews, Devin Harris and Raymond Felton.

"He’s going to be on the list, without question,’’ Carlisle said of Anderson. "Our list right now is somewhat limited.

"All our perimeter guys really got to be ready to guard him. We’ve got to try and keep a fresh guy on him, and again, you’re not going to stop him. There’s just no way, but you’ve got to make it hard.’’

Dwain Price can be heard every Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. on dfwiradio.com

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 9:57 PM with the headline "Mavericks must play lockdown defense on Houston guard James Harden."