James Harden and Anthony Davis aim for ‘sneaking up’ on Steph Curry’s Warriors

At a video game release on Monday, James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans talked about advancing their title aspirations.

James Harden and the Houston Rockets reached the effective semi-finals in the NBA play-offs last season. Scott Halleran / Getty Images / AFP

"The Beard" and "The Brow" checked the same place first when they got a look at the NBA 2K16 video game.

“My rating,” James Harden said.

“My rating,” echoed Anthony Davis, “and my jump shot. See how far I can shoot. That’s the first thing I do, every time.”

Soon enough, they can see how their teams rate in the NBA’s Western Conference.

Harden, Davis and league MVP Stephen Curry earned cover honours for the new release of the popular game, and all three were in New York on Monday night for a launch party.

It was the kickoff to their last week of summer vacation – an especially short one for Curry after Golden State won the NBA title. Their teams and most in the NBA open training camp next Tuesday.

Curry said the focus of his off-season workouts was on getting stronger and faster to prevent injury, as well as the shooting and dribbling that are already at or near the top of the league.

“It’s not like I’ll go in and try to implement a post game, work on a hook shot or things like that,” Curry said. “I’ve just got to be able to take what I do well and make it even better.”

His Warriors knocked out Davis’s New Orleans Pelicans in the first round and Harden’s Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals. Now those stars are anxious to see if their teams have closed the gap.

Davis has seen one pre-season ranking of the Pelicans as the No 8 team in the NBA, which gives him confidence it can be done quickly.

“It can happen in a matter of a year, couple of years,” he said. “I mean, we were 12th in the West coming into the season last year, made the play-offs in the eighth spot. Just off last year they got us No 8 overall in the league, so to go from 12th in the West to 8 overall in the league, that’s a huge jump.”

The Rockets made a stunning comeback from 3-1 down in the second round against the Los Angeles Clippers, but won’t even be considered the best team in Texas going into this season after the San Antonio Spurs loaded up with the signings of LaMarcus Aldridge and David West.

“We like it that way. No one expected us to be in the conference finals last year, and we like being underrated, kind of sneaking up on teams,” Harden said. “So we’ll continue to work, continue to build our chemistry, our camaraderie, and be ready for the regular season.”

The cover stars took part in a panel discussion with TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson, and director Spike Lee, who wrote and directed a feature for the game telling the story of a player’s rise to the NBA.

They shared humorous stories of college recruitments, decisions to turn pro, signing with agents and even buying pets. Davis owns a monkey, while O’Neal purchased a horse he has ridden only once after it threw him on that first attempt.

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