Well, whatever, I screwed up the code. Point is, Harden is fine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GelnKpLCwRI
So are the whiny fans with ridiculous hate for Harden gonna eat crow or stay silent? The game has been great for 2,5 games now.
28.4 PPG -- .652 TS% -- .465/.387/.962 vs. the Dallas Mavs By far the best shooting series from him as a Rocket and #1 option. It was great to see him shoot so well from the field. It wasn't just the percentage when it comes to Harden's shot, he hit daggers in big moments. And let's not overlook the fantastic .962 FT% on 10+ FTA in this series from Harden, going 50/52 from the line is insane. That 65.2% TS number shouldn't be overlooked. That's a rare number in a playoff series for a 28 PPG scorer. As a matter of fact, Kobe Bryant has had ZERO career playoff series where he averaged 28+ PPG and 65+ TS%. LeBron has done it about 4-5 times. We needed an efficient series from Harden as a scorer. 28 PPG on 65+ TS% isn't just good efficiency, it's absolutely incredible efficiency for a #1 option. And that doesn't even take into account the 8 APG that Harden dished out as the defacto PG. The entire Mavs defense was predicated on stopping Harden, they focused so much attention on him. Didn't matter. Dished out a bunch of assists and hockey assists while scoring at historically efficient levels. Just an absolutely marvelous series from Harden.
This. People have complained about his shooting in the playoff games, but this year he shot pretty well, at least so far. His only bad game shooting wise was game 2, and I don't count game 1 because he took only 11 shots that night and was more focused on passing and facilitating offense for his teammates. Overall, as his TS% numbers show, he played great against the Mavericks, especially given how Rondo and Aminu were all up in his face while defending him.
Great stat. Overall, I'm just elated that his team didn't let him down. They rewarded harden's efforts in the regular season with good team play. Like... it was all worth the effort. He IS the true MVP... he didn't take a day off. He didn't shy away from the big shot. He showed up all year long. COOL AND CLUCH.
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