USATSI.
Theres still time, naturally, for Harden to turn things around. Others have actually done it.
John Elway couldnt win the big one, up until, at the end of his profession, he snagged 2 Super Bowl wins. Stephen Strasburg was the poster kid for worry– in this case of injury– short-circuiting a groups champion strategies, until last year. Even LeBron James, now among the greatest playoff performers in American sports history, struggled strongly under the weight of the toxic Big 3 story in the 2011 NBA Finals versus Dallas.
I d like to think he can change that narrative, the way a lot of other players have turned failure and frustration into greatness and victory..
However how do you think in a gamer, even one as tremendously skilled as Harden, who does not believe in himself?
Shooters shoot. And Harden couldnt even do that much at the end of a video game after his group frantically cut the score to 5. Houston required its version of LeBron, or Kawhi, even Jamal Murray or Kyle Lowry.
Harden advises us there are no such warranties. That for each All Time Great, there are so numerous who had the talent, simply not the greatness.
The fantastic thing about the NBA playoffs, and Hardens fourth-quarter cowardice throughout this series in particular, is that a history of failure or a credibility for playoff struggles is always just one wonderful run from the narrative turning totally..
Clayton Kershaw is still waiting for his playoff redemption, and it definitely could arrive this year if he and the Dodgers can lastly win it all. Philip Rivers window is closing, too, but the Colts might use a fresh start and enhanced shot at playoff success.
And Harden couldnt even do that much at the end of a game after his group anxiously cut the score to 5.
It wasnt that Harden didnt have a chance to reveal his mettle in these moments. He did. He simply stopped working, playing scared and uncomfortable basketball, so on brand name its unpleasant to enjoy.
Kawhi and LeBron have actually made this appearance practically too simple, this playoff-performance-on-steroids thing they do, this Finals MVP achievement theyve rotated among themselves for a great piece of the past 10 years. The Western Conference will plainly go through their groups, and those 2 gamers, because those 2 players are excellent in the video games greatness minutes.
Thats uncommon. Its difficult to do. And its something many, numerous gamers have actually dealt with. Harden isnt alone on that list, but he may now headline it.
Harden has told us who he is: A star who dims in the spotlight, a Most Valuable Player in the regular season, who during playoff fourth-quarter face-offs develops into the Most Vanished Player.
We know this now: Harden is no playoff hero, and hes unlikely ever to be. What Harden did Thursday night was even more problematic: He accepted what too many of us currently understand. It wasnt that Harden didnt have an opportunity to show his nerve in these moments. And Harden, in those minutes, is no star.
They required a gamer to take over the game and be the star for the minute.
Thats not Harden. And its beginning to appear like it never will be.
Not one. Not one field-goal attempt.
On the one hand, peaceful excellence. On the other, quiet abdication..
So we understand this now: Harden is no playoff hero, and hes unlikely ever to be. He has actually just failed, a lot of times, to turn these biggest of basketball minutes into anything other than dissatisfaction. As Kevin OConnor at The Ringer pointed out before the Rockets had actually even bested the Thunder in the very first round, over the previous five years Harden has actually shot less than 25 percent from the 3-point line in playoff fourth quarters and overtimes..
What Harden did Thursday night was a lot more problematic: He accepted what too many people already know. That he cant do it. That he will not do it. That he hasnt done it, which as a result a Rockets team that won Game 1 of this series, that entered the fourth quarter of Game 2 up two, that entered the fourth quarter of Game 3 tied– a Rockets team one capable MVP away from having a genuine possibility– will soon be removed.
We have been ruined by greatness from guys like Kawhi, LeBron, Kobe, Duncan, Shaq, Jordan, Isaiah, Bird and Magic. We believe that stars like these should always take their regular-season talents and immediately perform at the very same level despite the pressure, angst and difficulties of the playoffs.
It is one thing to be a remarkably great player. It is something else totally to channel and take advantage of that success in the extremely essential and pressure-filled moments of the NBA playoffs.
That reality– and the stark gulf in between achievement in the moment, and greatness overwhelmed by it– was on brilliant display Thursday night in the Lakers 110-100 win over the Houston Rockets to put them up 3-1 in the second-round playoff series.
On one end of this equation, behold LeBron James: Even with a mild 16 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists he was the essential winner, and his team did the same.
On the other, see James Harden: 2 of 11, a deceptive 21 points on the night, a lot of coming at the free-throw line, as the Beard braved literally nothing in a 4th quarter in which he did not take a single shot..
Houston had a special strategy, under a special coach, with a distinct talent in Harden and a brand-new partner in Russell Westbrook. The Rockets, too, could have flipped the script.
That theyll fail once again is not Westbrooks fault. Westbrook, regardless of his shortcomings, has actually at least been willing to attempt, come what may. Often, this series, he has actually attempted and stopped working. In some cases, like Thursday nights 25-point efficiency (consisting of 10 in the fourth quarter), hes a net positive. At least hes attempting.
Failure is bad. Failure that ends up being debilitating worry is even worse.
This isnt Mike DAntonis fault, even if there were modifications to be made. Because the fact is that the Rockets won Game 1, and they remained in Games 2 and 3 late in the action, when stars should step up. And Harden, in those moments, is no star.
