James Harden

PG, Houston Rockets

James Harden led the Rockets to a 112-97 Game 1 win over the Lakers on Friday with a game-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field and 9-of-12 shooting at the line.

The Beard made the most of his opportunities when he was able to avoid being clamped down by the Laker defense. He also managed to add two rebounds, three treys, five dimes, two steals and one block in 34 minutes to round out his line for the night. This was a key win for Harden and company as it was able to set the tone for what they need to do in order to upset the Lakers in this series, which was to at least match their opponents effort on the glass (41 rebounds for both teams) and to take better care of the ball (HOU 14 TO, LAL 15 TO).