The Grizzlies sent their traps and double teams, as so many have before them and as Memphis coach J.B. Bickerstaff had seen so often when he had his stretch with James Harden as his irrepressible weapon.
Harden sent the usual passes, finding open shooters for 3s, sometimes driving and no-look lobbing alley-oops to Clint Capela above the rim. Eventually, however, hands that hot had to fire away.
Harden had begun to roll by drawing fouls, hitting free throws and launching 3s. But he did not take things to the level it was just not fair until the final seconds of the first half when he backed up to 32 feet to drain a 3-pointer no defense is built to take away and then put in another from a mere 28 feet at the buzzer, as if to demonstrate what unstoppable looks like.