It was hardly an unusual sight: James Harden warming up at Toyota Center, orange earbuds firmly in place, eyes locked on the rim.
The scene had played out numerous times here over the course of nine years. But on Wednesday night, Harden’s second return to Toyota Center since he left the Rockets for the Nets and his first with no pandemic-necessitated attendance limits, it prompted exclamations from excited onlookers.
“It’s Harden!” a young boy cried out, leveling a tiny forefinger at the court.
Harden’s star is bright enough that he is at the end of pointed fingers no matter where he goes. But here in Houston, where he delivered the city’s basketball franchise some of its best years and abandoned it during one of its worst, he commands a supernova level of attention that is a cocktail of adoration and ire.
Harden strolled into the arena wearing a long-sleeved shirt adorned with NASA patches. He shared a long embrace with former Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, now an advisor to the Pelicans, and dapped up a few Rockets staffers in the back hallway.
By the time Harden first emerged from the tunnel onto the court 65 minutes before tipoff, a group of admirers already awaited. A woman behind the baseline held a handwritten sign proclaiming that her Christmas wish list included front-row seats to watch Harden, complete with declarations of “Fear the Beard” and “Always a Rocket!” A man in a No. 13 Oklahoma City Thunder jersey stood a few feet away and observed as Harden greeted Rockets assistant John Lucas and then went through his form shooting routine.
“It’s very special, obviously, when I’m here in Houston,” Harden said. “A lot of love, a lot of support from my family.”
The Rockets are in better shape now than they were when Harden first returned to Houston post-trade a year ago. On March 3, 2021, seven weeks after he was traded to the Nets, Harden posted a triple-double at Toyota Center and handed the Rockets their 13th straight loss in a skid that eventually reached 20 games.
Wednesday, the rebuilding Rockets beat Harden’s Nets 114-104 to extend their win streak to seven games and their record to 8-16. The arena sizzled with an electricity that sparked from anticipation of Harden’s return and only grew as the Rockets held off a late Nets rally in their most joyful win of the season.
Harden jerseys dotted the crowd as pregame intros commenced. The real No. 13, as he had for years, familiarized himself with the basket by body checking the stanchion. Harden’s name was announced in Brooklyn’s starting lineup to a smattering of boos obscured mostly by warm cheers.
Fans booed Harden on his first touch of the game. At the first timeout taken by the Rockets, public address announcer Jonathan Sanford’s voice boomed, “Please welcome home, a guard out of Arizona State, Number 13, The Beard, James Harden!”
Harden, smiling wide, lifted his arms above his head and formed his hands into a heart.
A graphic with a photo of Harden in his Rockets uniform superimposed over the words “Welcome Home” filled the video board, soon replaced by another graphic memorializing Harden’s numerous achievements in Houston: NBA MVP in 2017-18, three-time scoring champion, eight-time All-Star, the franchise total assists leader, on and on.
There is a reason Rockets coach Stephen Silas called Harden “one of the best Rockets ever.”
Moments later he was at the foul line shooting free throws and the boos returned, the fans treating him just as they would any other member of an opposing team.
Harden, though, will never be just another player in Houston.
“I definitely think it means something to James,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “I don’t want to overstate it. I don’t want to understate it. He had an historic run here. I know this city means a lot to him. He’s had such a fantastic relationship with the city and the organization, historic kind of seasons and the numbers he put up here, it’s always going to be special to him.”
Harden, playing without the aid of resting starters Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge, shot just 4 of 16 but made 14 free throws and still managed a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds as well as eight assists. Stat line notwithstanding, his play in the arena he used to call home offered a familiar comfort akin to slipping on a favorite worn-in pair of sneakers.
Harden launched his patented step-back jump shot and combated Rockets traps by dishing dime after dime. He unsuccessfully attempted a behind-the-back pass on one first-quarter possession and on the next nonchalantly completed a bounce pass from behind the 3-point line. In the second quarter, he limped off the court during a timeout after landing awkwardly on his ankle, but determinedly chose to play through the pain. His theatrics drew a foul that saddled Jae’Sean Tate with his fifth personal in the third quarter.
The differences, of course, were the boos that rained down on Harden every time he took free throws and the cheers echoing when he had his shot ferociously blocked by Christian Wood and was pestered on drives by rookie Josh Christopher.
With less than eight minutes remaining in the game, Harden shimmied and drew a shooting foul against Rockets guard Garrison Mathews behind the 3-point line, a four-point play that cut the Rockets’ lead to 95-91. Four minutes later, the arena erupted when Mathews stole the ball out of Harden’s hands and slammed down a dunk to extend the Rockets’ lead back to 10 points.
Harden’s heroics could not deny the Rockets a statement victory against a Nets team at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, a win made more gratifying because of Brooklyn’s bearded protagonist.
“It’s just because it’s James and he’s been here and he knows us, so it was a little satisfying for us,” Wood said.
When the final buzzer sounded, Harden lingered on the court for a few moments to greet his former teammates and even those Rockets players he never shared a locker room with. He greeted fellow Arizona State product Christopher, chatted with injured Rockets point guard Kevin Porter Jr. and hugged Wood.
Harden received a pat on the back from Clutch, the Rockets’ mascot, as he strode back into the tunnel. Into the bowels of the building that will always, in one way or another, be his home.
danielle.lerner@chron.com
twitter.com/danielle_lerner
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