A nemesis is defined as “a long-standing rival; an archenemy, the inescapable agent of something or somebody’s downfall.”
The league’s reigning Most Valuable Player, the man who does everything, the force that cannot be stopped, returns to the scene when Utah opens its best-of-seven first-round playoff series against Rockets in Houston on Sunday.
“Is there a formula?” Jazz center Rudy Gobert said when asked if there’s a blueprint to slowing Harden down. “Looking for it. If there’s one, let me know. Hopefully we find it.”
Harden’s game is both definitive and antithetical for the modern NBA, a left-handed wizard with the ball who lures in defenders, draws absurd foul calls, buries absurdly deep 3-pointers and wiggles his way into the lane with opponents seemingly glued to his hip.