It's unsustainable. He's been playing out of his mind because he has to in order for us to win but he can't possibly keep this up for the rest of the season and throughout the playoffs can he? I would love to say that all this pressure to score and facilitate will be alleviated once CP and EG return but let's be honest. They weren't playing great prior to their injuries which is one of the reasons we fell in the early season hole that we did. 1-17 shooting 3's is a clear indicator of fatigue IMO. How can we balance needing Harden's greatness to secure a top 4 seed while not burning him out before the playoffs begin?
No, we should always try to get as high a seed as possible. CP3 and Gordon will come back and alleviate Harden, the team should be able to win without him going crazy every game once he's back.
So Harden is in beast mode for a few weeks, plays 40+ hard minutes against the Bucks, and comes back after one day of rest to get a triple double against the Cavs. Then after those 30 easy minutes against the Cavs, he comes back on two days rest too exhausted to be his usual baller self? Yet still gets 38 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists? Nah, this was an off-night shooting from 3. Nothing more, nothing less. And unlike PJ and Gordon, Harden's bad streaks don't last for weeks. We're good. Next game, please.
