Being 30 years old doesn't mean you've been watching basketball for 30 years. I'm only 3 years older, so if you've been obsessed with bball since childhood like me, we should have long enough history to know there's been worse choke games in Rockets history alone and you want to call this the worst in NBA history?
I'm not here to hate on harden, but i'll stick up for OP a little. it would be hard to be worse than harden was for the final 7 minutes. I mean anyone can screw up a big play, but this was pretty sustained. I mean just from what I can remember, he got stripped twice by simmons, committed an offensive foul against simmons, probably committed another offensive foul against simmons (eventually a ryno 3) and got away with it, threw at least one more pass away, and probably just straight up dribbled out the clock on, what, 6-7 possessions before chucking up a terrible shot or turning it over? sins of commission (turnovers) and sins of omission (forgetting to run the offense) on a huge percentage of his possessions. he had one reasonably good play in those last 7 minutes. when he drove and kicked to Beverley for a corner 3. that's it in 7 minutes. while having the ball almost the whole time. that's as low as the percentage can go. I won't get mad about the manu block. he was trapped and did all he could to bulldoze his way free and try to get up a shot because d'antoni forgot that saving a timeout doesn't award you any bonus points. was it the worst choke of all time? who even knows if it was a choke. sometimes you just are terrible. but to paraphrase bum phillips, this performance may not be in a class of its own, but it doesn't take long to call roll.
worst choke game was presented by clippers' chris paul or chris paul and co. two years ago, it's not even close.
Uh, no. Not even close. I can think of a bunch of the top of my head way worse than this. 1984 Finals Game 2 - Worthy throws the ball(and the game) away, costing the Lakers a 2-0 lead going home to LA. The Celtics eventually win the title in 7 games. 1987 ECF Game 5 - "And there's a steal by Bird! Underneath to DJ. He lays it in!" Isiah threw away the game. The Celtics eventually win the series in a close Game 7. 1995 Knicks vs Pacers Game 1 - Anthony Mason throws the ball right to Reggie Miller who drains a 2nd straight 3-pointer and ties the game. Then John Starks bricks 2 free throws after the Pacers stupidly fouled him after forgetting the game was tied. Then Starks stupidly fouls Miller trying to get the offensive rebound. Miller sinks 2 free throws, stealing the game. The Pacers barely edged out the Knicks in Game 7 when Ewing missed a potential game-tying layup. 1995 Finals Game 1 - Nick Anderson bricks 4 straight free throws late in regulation. Any one of those would've basically sealed the game. The Magic lose in OT and never recover, getting swept by the Rockets.
That's a different argument. Is this one of the worst 4th quarter(and OT) playoff performances by a superstar of all-time in a key game? Sure, I'll agree with that. Harden was absolutely horrendous. This is the kind of game that could define his career if he doesn't bounce back either tomorrow night and in Game 7 or at least in a future postseason. But it's not even close to being one of the worst playoff choke jobs ever. The Spurs literally having the title won with less than half a minute to go and holding a 5-point lead in Game 6 at Miami in 2013 before Popovich inexplicably takes Duncan out of the game, leading to 2 Heat offensive rebounds and 2 made 3-pointers which tie the game and force overtime. THAT is an epic, all-time playoff choke.
They were dominated, though. Id say LeBron was stifled by Carlisle's defense. Harden, particularly in OT, just seemed to give up on his own. Not sure it was even a "choke" really. Maybe he was frustrated with the officiating and just checked out. Very odd.
I get where the OP is going with this thread. it's not about the Team's poor performance as a whole... but it's focusing on the fact that Harden DID in fact somewhat choke in crunch time. Let's face it, whether he was tired or not, Harden made horrendous decisions down the stretch. - dribbled the ball down to 4 or 5 seconds on the shot clock on numerous possessions, then settled for terrible 3 point shots - turned the ball over 4 times - didn't run the offense or get teammates involved - threw his hands up in confusion... in the middle of playing, , while wasting the shot clock, before jacking up a rushed 3 point brick - played right into the hands of the Spurs by not attacking and wasting Rockets possessions For the 1st time this year... Harden looked lost and played absolutely timid. In the most important moment of the season... he failed as the point guard and as the team leader. Magic, Bird, Jordan, Thomas, Hakeem, Stockton, Kobe, Lebron, etc., etc.... they LEAD the team when it was crunch time. They didn't panic and lose their composure. They stayed calm and kept their teammates calm and focused. Harden failed to do that. And he's never shown that ability when it counts... not as of yet. Will Harden ever graduate to that level? Hard to tell. He hasn't shown a true killer instinct in his whole career so far though, so I truly doubt he is gonna become something different than he is now. This team is really in it's 1st year together, so I'm willing to cut them some slack. But they need to come back stronger and better from these lessons. If Harden doesn't have the killer instinct as a leader... then they better bring in someone who can fill that role.
good post. agree with the assessment as well as the motivation to play devil's advocate a bit as regards OP's post not sure I totally agree that it's a different argument. OP asked about chokes coming from a single player--Pop's miscues (largely bad luck) against Miami is not the same as a sustained seven-minute long series of miscues by a player who ought to have done better. With that said, I appreciate where you're both coming from and for salvaging this thread, at least in part.
I don't know if it was exactly a choke job. But in the second half, Harden, for some inexplicable reason, opted to completely go away from what made us so successful in the first half. All of the first half the Rockets were sprinting down the court and immediately pressuring the Spurs defense in transition. In the second half, Harden walked the ball up the court almost every single possession. Then he proceeded to run down the clock and play hero ball. I kept thinking, over and over again, that surely Dantoni would intervene and they'd get back to what made them so successful. But there were probably only two or three possessions in which Harden was on the floor in the second half in which they didn't walk the ball up the court and run down the clock. I remember Harden doing that a few years ago but I thought he had been broken of that habit. Maybe he was just too tired. I don't know. But it was terrible basketball. Just terrible. I absolutely love James Harden and think he's the greatest Rocket since Hakeem Olajuwon, but he played that second half like he owes a bookie money.
See, that's also a different argument. Maybe it wasn't a choke so much as Harden mentally checking out. He does have a history of this. When he doesn't get calls and his shot isn't falling, he quits trying. He just goes through the motions, dribbling out the clock, taking bad contested shots, and putting in minimal effort at both ends. He played this way throughout most of that Portland series in 2014 when Wes Matthews gave him so much trouble. Now he has been better about not doing this as often this season. He's had his moments(Game 4 at OKC being the most recent), but it's nowhere near as bad as previous years. The problem is it looks like he chose to revert to this horrible habit in the biggest game of the season.
I can name two people who choke every Playoffs in the 4th quarter: Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook. If the Rockets win last night, we would be talking about the choke job by LMAo during this series and the Playoffs in general. The guy has been trash, and it hasn't matter who has defended him. Tim Duncan's ghost would be better than him.
Harden still has some growing to do especially in trusting his teamates late in games, took Hakeem and Jordan years to learn it, Harden still not there yet. DD
OP's Rockets fan card has been officially and permanently revoked... Knee-jerking, what-have-you-done-for-me-latelies are the worst.
