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Kevin McHale Borrows Some of Oklahoma City's Offense

James Harden, Daequan Cook, and Cole Aldrich weren't the only assets transferred from the Thunder to the Rockets. With only a couple days worth of practice, Kevin McHale has already integrated some of Scotty Brook's favorite moves.

By thomasfenoglio
Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

While taking a closer look at James Harden's debut for the Houston Rockets, Grantland's Zach Lowe noticed some striking familiarities between Houston's new look and Oklahoma City's old. Watch the play below and see if anything looks familiar:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LS8rOY6RR-k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

James Harden was delightful on Wednesday night in his Houston debut, looking every bit like a quirky max-level wing player for a pick-and-roll era of NBA basketball. And in a bit of fun NBA plagiarism, the Rockets ripped off one of my absolute favorite Harden-centric Oklahoma City plays — Harden skipping a pass from the left sideline, all the way across the court, to a shooter hiding behind a surprise back screen from a big man.

This was a staple of the Thunder playbook, with Daequan Cook usually serving as the shooter and Nick Collison setting that blind back pick on Cook’s unsuspecting defender.

I'm OK with this. I believe the saying goes if it ain't broke, don't fix it. There was never anything wrong with the way Oklahoma City played to Harden's strengths and Kevin McHale is experienced enough to recognize that and steal a few proven plays right out of Scott Brook's back pocket. Read more from Zach at Grantland.

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