Utah Jazz: Harpring plays 'great' LeBron tough

Matt Harpring quickly amended a compliment he gave LeBron James after Saturday night's tough 102-97 loss to Cleveland.

Harpring first called James "good," but then upgraded that to "great" in the next sentence.

Along with everybody who witnessed James' near-triple-double, which included some gravity-defying dunks, Harpring couldn't help but be somewhat awed.

Even up against the physical phenom that James is, the gritty, hard-nosed veteran and former football player wasn't the least bit scared or daunted, though.

Impressed?

Yep.

Intimidated?

Heck no.

Which is why his coach gave Harpring as much playing time as he has in a month, including the whole fourth quarter Saturday.

"Well, he competed. He tried to get up and play guys ... ," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "Why should you be afraid?"

Harpring's sentiments exactly.

"The biggest thing is you just can't let him do whatever he wants out there," Harpring said. "You've got to make him feel uncomfortable. You've got to make him take shots that are tough."

Though he couldn't match James' athletic or leaping abilities, Harpring hounded the Cavaliers superstar and gave Utah a reliable scoring option during a gutsy 21-minute performance that included 11 points, five rebounds and one lively verbal exchange with James.

"We did (talk), but that's part of the game," Harpring said. "I'm not going to let him do what he wants. It's my job to try to frustrate him and make it hard for him."

Harpring certainly didn't shut James down — not even Kobe Bryant can do that — but he did make his oft-punishing presence known. But with Utah's scrappy sub annoying him much of the time, James only had 18 points in the final three quarters after exploding to a 15-point first quarter.

After using Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Miles and even Paul Millsap on James in the first quarter, Sloan turned to Harpring. Of all his players, he knew Harpring wouldn't be intimidated — something he said his players couldn't be before the Jazz played the NBA MVP candidate's team.

"I thought Matt came off the bench and provided a little toughness for us," Sloan said.