Watch NBA star Josh Hart’s hilarious stunned reaction to rival Harden smacking himself in the face with basketball
JOSH HART was left absolutely stunned after James Harden somehow managed to smack himself in the face with a basketball.
Harden, the 2017-18 Most Valuable Player, somehow managed to hurl the ball straight into his nose off the floor in a bizarre on-court meltdown.
The incredible outburst came as the buzzer sounded for half-time between Harden’s Houston Rockets and Hart’s New Orleans Pelicans.
With the seconds running down, Harden attempted to get one last shot off before the buzzer sounded with the score tantalisingly poised at 61-61.
But Hart got in front of Harden and put the clamps on as the Rockets superstar, 30, was unable to get his three-point attempt off.
Rather than shrug it off and look to make amends in the second-half, Harden let his frustration get the better of him.
He picked up the ball and slammed it into the hardwood to let off a little steam.
HARD-EN LUCK
But incredibly the shooting guard managed to do it at such an angle it clattered straight into his face.
Hart, brimming with pride from having shut-down one of the league’s top shooters, could only watch on in complete bemusement.
And his face told the whole story, equal parts baffled and amused.
It’s not the first time Harden has been smashed in the face by a basketball earlier, after Giannis Antetokounmpo’s stray pass clattered him on the nose last season.
However, it was Harden who had the last laugh, as his Rockets edged to a 126-123 win having lost their opening game to last season’s Eastern Conference finalists, the Milwaukee Bucks, on Thursday night.
Sharpshooter Hart missed a 3PT attempt in the dying seconds that would have forced overtime.
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But it was another tough night personally for former NBA MVP Harden – who missed 21 of his 29 shots – once again picking up most of his points from the free-throw line.
Harden was just 2-18 from three-point range on 8-29 shooting in all in another woeful night.
He was just 2-13 (1-8 from 3PT) in the loss to the Bucks – thanks to some stellar work from Wesley Matthews in his first season in Milwaukee.
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