Rockets' James Harden gets key defensive stop as scoring streak continues

HOUSTON -- Coach Nick Nurse came up with a simple strategy during a timeout when the Toronto Raptors had a chance to complete a wild comeback: Target James Harden.

The Raptors, who trailed by 19 points with five minutes, 35 seconds remaining and 11 with one minute, 14 seconds left, executed the plan by forcing the Harden to switch onto Kawhi Leonard after Norman Powell set a high screen on PJ Tucker.

Harden, however, prevented the perennial All-Star Leonard from getting a good look at the basket. He forced Leonard into taking a tough, tightly contested 3-pointer from the right wing that failed to even draw iron at the buzzer. The Rockets won 121-119.

"He can play defense when he wants to,"…