This may as well have been called The James Harden Experience.
In the span of 22 seconds during overtime of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, Harden did all this for the Cleveland Cavaliers — made a free throw, missed a free throw, blocked a shot, got a rebound and threw the ball away.
None of it seemed to faze him, which is quintessential Harden.
“He never wavered,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He has a bad game, good game, you can’t even tell. So, I think his mentality — he’s seen so much, been through so many of these series — he’s a heck of a leader.”
This is why Cleveland made the decision to go get Harden in a trade three months ago. He was going to make them better, tougher, more playoff-ready. The numbers, to this point, say they’re on to something.
Thanks largely to the bearded man who has been to the playoffs in each of his 17 NBA seasons, they’re one win away from the East finals. They could get there with a win over the Pistons in Game 6 of their series on Friday night, in Cleveland. It bears noting that Harden’s three best games of the series have been the last three games — all of them wins by the Cavaliers.
“He’s a pro’s pro,” Cavaliers guard Max Strus said after the Game 5 win, one where Harden led the Cavaliers with 30 points despite missing seven of his final eight shots from the field during the fourth quarter and overtime.
“He shows up every single day,” Strus said. “He puts (an) amount of work in. You don’t become one of the best players the game has ever seen without showing up every single day. I think that’s one thing that I’ve noticed from him is the consistency, whether that’s in the weight room, whether that’s in taking care of your body, whether it’s in getting shots up. He’s a Hall of Famer in that regard and that’s why he is who he is — because he consistently puts in the work.”
The numbers show how Harden has so much value to the Cavaliers. In these playoffs, they are:
— 5-1 when he scores at least 22 points (2-4 otherwise).
— 4-0 when he shoots at least 44% (3-5 otherwise).
— 5-0 when he has at least seven field goals (2-5 otherwise).
— 6-1 when he has at least three 3-pointers (1-4 otherwise).
Has it always been smooth? It has not. Harden still turns the ball over often, although that’s sometimes a misunderstood stat because the guys with the ball in their hands more than others are simply going to turn it over more than most people. He’s three points away from tying Stephen Curry for 10th on the all-time playoff scoring list (which is good), and one turnover away from tying Shaquille O’Neal for the second-most giveaways in the playoffs in this format that goes back to 1984 (which is not so good).
In fairness, Harden is judged differently than many players. It comes with the territory — 17 years in the league, 17 playoff appearances, extremely well-paid, extremely well-decorated when it comes to awards, and zero NBA titles. But also, in the interest of fairness, he’s finding ways to make things work with Cleveland despite being put in a role very different than the one he’s been playing for some time.
“This is new for me. I’ve only been here two and a half months,” Harden said. “So, the things that we are going through is all new.”
He’s had to be a second option in Cleveland, the Robin to Donovan Mitchell’s Batman. Such adjustments are not easy to make. Harden has been trying to do so seamlessly ever since the trade happened — and Cleveland is one win away from the NBA’s final four for the first time since 2018 (and in the non-LeBron James era, the first time since 1992).
“I think we’re building in the right direction,” Harden said. “And throughout that process, there’s going to be some times where we don’t look as great, but I think overall we’ve all got the right mindset of wanting to help each other be better. And I think we’re finding that.”
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