DALLAS, TX — When James Harden requested a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers, it wasn’t just because he wanted a change of scenery due to the contractual situation. Harden and his camp saw an almost seamless fit alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in pursuit of his first NBA Championship.
The Clippers had long sought a playmaker that could open things up for Leonard and George. They tried a number of high level point guards, but none were also the three-level scorer, floor general, and facilitator that James Harden is.
When Harden was introduced in November as a member of the Clippers, all the talk was about the postseason and what they have to prove, both individually and as a group. And he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way saying that he wasn't a system player, but rather the system himself. He also wasn't lying.
“[I have] everything to prove.” Harden relayed. “That I'm very elite as an individual and then I can fit in with anybody and make a championship run work.”
And with the unfortunate injury luck the Clippers had been dealt in recent years, acquiring Harden was also an opportunity to add a star fully capable of taking over a game and filling in if Kawhi Leonard or Paul George needed to miss time.
James Harden entered this playoff run with arguably more to prove than anyone else on the team. Factor in the injury to Leonard and an even bigger opportunity presented itself. He even admitted so before the playoffs started.
“I always want to play well in the playoffs. I've had some not great games, but I have some really good games. So for me, I think the goal is to win and that's the only thing that I'm missing at the highest level as far as my NBA career.”
Harden has scored at least 21 points in each of the Clippers first four playoff games. He’s led the team in scoring in two of the four games, tied Normal Powell for the team-high in Game 3 with 21 points, and and tied Paul George for the team-high in Game 4 with 33 points. What might be even more impressive is the timing of his buckets.
James Harden has recorded three quarters this series with at least 11 points and six quarters this postseason with at least nine points.
Harden recorded 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4, including 13 of the Clippers’ final 18 points, all in clutch time. He was methodical in his scoring approach, seeking out Luka Doncic, PJ Washington, and Maxi Kleber and knocking down floater after floater while Dallas’ bigs continued to give him space.
“I'm blessed to be able to change it up and be a facilitator or a scorer,” James Harden said after the Clippers win. “I've been doing it throughout the course of my career at an elite level. So my mindset coming to this team was doing whatever it takes to win and getting to the end goal. And whether that's scoring or facilitating. I think it goes by possession by possession and game by game.”
It's no surprise that both of the Clippers' 30-plus point leads in Games 1 and 4 came with Harden contributing heavily as a scorer. In Game 1, Harden erupted for 20 points during an 11-minute stretch in the first half. Game 4 saw him score 13 points in the final five minutes of the game.
“I can score with the best of ‘em,” Harden said after Game 1. “I still can score with the best of 'em. My role for this team is just generating really good shots and making guys' jobs easier. And then when my number to score is called, then you score the basketball. Obviously, Kawhi is out, so my playmaking and my volume is going to go up a little bit more and took advantage of it.”
Without Kawhi Leonard, Harden and Paul George are going to be asked to carry the Clippers offense. The Clippers are 2-0 without Leonard and 0-2 with him but a lot of that has to do with Leonard not being healthy enough to play. Additionally, the Clippers play at a different pace without Leonard as opposed to with him. That's also reflected in the scoring mindset that Harden takes into each game with versus without Leonard.
At this stage of his career, Harden prioritizes getting his teammates great looks at the basket. That mindset is clearly tweaked without Kawhi Leonard in action.
“I think during the course of the regular season, I had glimpses where I scored the basketball or had glimpses where I've had double-digit assists,” Harden added. “Game 1, we knew Kawhi was out and I had to be more aggressive. Tonight, we knew Kawhi was out, I had to be more aggressive. And so it's pretty simple for me.
“We got to focus on what we have. We're going to let you guys talk about if Kawhi plays or not. I think our focus is, if Kawhi plays, obviously we know how great he is. He's our best player. I mean, but if he doesn't, we still got to go out there and win a game. And I think for [winning] Game 1, tonight, it gave us confidence.”
So far in this series, James Harden has shot…
— 12-of-18 on step-back jump shots, including 7-of-13 on step-back 3-pointers
— 8-of-15 on pull-up jump shots, including 8-of-14 on 3-pointers
— 5-of-9 on driving floating jump shots
— 2-of-2 on driving floating bank jump shots
For the 2023-24 postseason now, Harden is averaging 26 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game on 54.1 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent from three, and 91.3 percent from the free throw line.
As we know, the biggest questions regarding Harden aren't, ‘can he have big games?' but rather, ‘can he follow up his big game with another one?' He's shown the ability to flip the switch, if you will, transitioning from facilitator to scorer.
“First off, I don't take it for granted,” James Harden said of his ability to go from facilitator to scorer in the blink of an eye. “And second, I don't like doing it. I want to be aggressive throughout the course of a whole game and do my thing through the whole game. But throughout the course of the game, things happen. Other guys keep going to where you got to just take a seat back, or whatever the case may be. So you just got to wait and then when the opportunity presents itself, you got to do what you do.”
Whatever Harden's approach to this series has been as far as picking his spots, he'll need to pick up right where he left off in Game 4.
Game 5 is set to tip off at 7PM PST this Wednesday night on ESPN.
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