Houston Rockets: Appreciating (And Defending) James Harden

Harden’s Postseason Value

When it comes to James Harden in the 2015 NBA Playoffs, all people are going to remember is how he “choked” in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. This is a travesty, because as much as people have complained about how boring this postseason has been, Harden was one of the biggest counterpoints to that opinion.

In the playoffs, Harden’s numbers stayed relatively level, averaging 27.2 points (fourth most among playoff players), 7.5 assists (third), 5.7 rebounds (fifth among guards) and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 43.9 from the field, 38.3 percent from three-point range and 91.6 percent from the line (first).

But time and time again he provided Rockets fans (and NBA fans in general) with memorable performances that lit Twitter up. It’s harder to remember now because of the bad taste in our mouths from Game 5, but the Beard was one of the top performers in this postseason.

In Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks, for example, he was absolutely superlative in a road game that essentially put the series away. In a narrow 130-128 victory in Dallas, Harden tallied 42 points, nine assists, five boards and two steals while making five of his seven threes.

It’s easy to say, “That was against the Mavs,” but Harden masterfully tailored his game into a facilitator role in the next round against the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 8.1 assists per game for the series. He shot under 40 percent from the field, and all anyone will choose to remember is the unbelievable Game 6 comeback that came with Harden on the bench in the fourth.

But there wouldn’t have been a Game 6 if it weren’t for the Beard’s 26-11-10 triple-double in Game 5 to stave off elimination. Harden had 23 points on 20 shots in Game 6, but after listening to all the talk about his lack of “MVP value” for three days, the Bearded One responded in the decisive Game 7 with 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

By doing so, he helped the Rockets become the ninth team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 playoff deficit. You can focus on Game 6 if you want, but basketball is a team game, and Harden once again rose to the occasion in an elimination Game 7.

And now, we get to the hottest source of controversy: the 2015 Western Conference Finals, where, on paper, it would seem like the Warriors made mince meat of Harden’s Rockets. With the obvious exception of that Game 3 rout, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In Game 1, Harden locked horns with MVP Steph Curry in a magnificent head-to-head battle. The Beard finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and four steals on 11-of-20 shooting, putting him in some pretty darn elite company:

Anytime someone accomplishes a feat that was last seen by Michael Jordan, that someone did something right. But Harden wasn’t done, ratcheting things up a notch with an unbelievable Game 2 performance.

In a loss that came down to the final possession, Harden finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and a block. He was seemingly carrying Houston to victory, totally eviscerating Klay Thompson‘s best defensive effort in the process. Whether it was a step-back shimmy or a strong take to the hole, Harden was unstoppable…until the last play, that is.

On that last play, Harden was butchered for his decision to pass the ball to Dwight Howard, who was running up the court and caught the ball at the three-point line. Howard wisely flipped the ball back out to Harden, but by then Curry and Thompson swarmed the Beard, stealing the ball and effectively ending the game:

But before you call Harden out for that “brain fart,” consider the facts. First of all, without Harden’s heroics in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of 13 Rockets points for one stretch, there wouldn’t have even been a last possession.

Second, there’s no way Harden knew that was Howard when he passed him the ball. Notice how he immediately calls for the ball back when he realizes his mistake. He saw a cutter in red and did the smart thing to find the open man when he saw Curry and Thompson had cut off his path to the basket. Third, give the Splash Brothers some credit; that was one hell of a last-second trap.

Finally, probably most importantly of all, are we really going to ruin a masterful performance over an entire game because of one play gone wrong?

In Game 3, Harden mightily struggled, going an atrocious 3-for-16 from the floor…but doesn’t it say something that with the Rockets’ MVP out of rhythm, they were completely torched in a 35-point blowout?

In Game 4, Harden answered the bell and then some with one of the most prolific elimination game performances in NBA history. The Beard was simply unstoppable, tallying 45 points on 13-of-22 shooting (7-for-11 from downtown), not to mention nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.

To be clear, I’m not trying to absolve Harden of the blame for Game 5; his no-show is the reason Houston has the rest of the summer off, and committing a NBA postseason record 13 turnovers obviously made it that much worse.

But without that masterful Game 4 — once again — there wouldn’t have been a Game 5. There’s no way the Rox were beating Golden State four straight times anyway, and isn’t it possible that Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the rest of the Warriors — the NBA’s stingiest defense — deserve some credit here?

The fact that so many people are so quick to condemn Harden for his Game 5 disappointment is — in and of itself — a strong testament to his status as one of the league’s elite players.

But even if you’re hellbent on denying the Dubs defense its due, can you really summarize one player’s entire season by the last game of that season? Are we really so desperate to find something wrong with Harden that we choose the minuscule sample size over the abundance of evidence that he’s elite?

That, by definition, is being a “hater.” Don’t be a hater. Especially when you consider the kind of company Harden’s been putting himself in line with all season:

Harden came up short in the postseason, and at the worst possible time. But that doesn’t mean anyone should forget or ignore the greatness that was on display for the vast majority of the playoffs. After failing miserably in the first round last season as Houston’s leader, he took them to the Western Conference Finals this year. That’s a pretty damn big leap.

Next: The Silly Reasons People Hate Harden