Rockets' James Harden borrows Shaq's 'barbecue chicken' line after roasting Trail Blazers

Tom Gatto

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Rockets' James Harden borrows Shaq's 'barbecue chicken' line after roasting Trail Blazers image

Rockets guard James Harden was cooking again Tuesday night as he dropped 42 points on the Trail Blazers in Portland. The NBA MVP favorite was feasting on mismatches as he led Houston to a 115-111 victory that ended Portland's winning streak at 13 games.

Speaking of those mismatches, Harden was asked by NBA TV's Dennis Scott postgame what he saw when a big switched on him.

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"Barbecue chicken," Harden replied. That answer basically shut down the interview.

 Maybe Harden knew Shaquille O'Neal was hosting TNT's "Players Only" studio show back in Atlanta.

Shaq himself was well-fed in the post when he played, a mismatch against everyone.

Harden, on the other hand, is unstoppable from the wing. On Tuesday, he devoured a team that was on a roll.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.