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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.
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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.
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“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).
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— 4-0…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/james-harden-still-learning-role-202558252.html
Author : TIM REYNOLDS
Publish date : 2026-05-14 20:25:00
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