Harden’s last 4 playoff series 35, 7, and 6 with 44/35/82 shooting splits against GS 30, 6, and 8 with 46/31/85 shooting splits against OKC 29, 5, and 7 with 50/38/84 shooting splits against the Lakers 26, 7, and 11 with 55/46/91 shooting splits against Boston
And those splits are standard stats. Harden beat Durant in ef% that last series, despite KD having both a higher fg% and 3fg% (even significantly higher 3fg%). So, the casuals assume he must be more efficient. not so, bc Harden dusted KD on 2fg% due to only driving for 2s, so even with a pedestrian 35% 3s, since he shot over twice as much 3s as KD, yet was much more efficient on 2s, he wins on efg% (53.4% to 51.7%) and Curry was 48.3. the 2fg% was Harden’s 54.2% to KD’s 46.5%
I truly didnt have to look that up, bc I started a thread during the series about it ... check out how the GARM responded to a running tracker on those ef% and ts% while it was playing out...lulz https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/...is-equally-efficient-to-durant-so-far.298319/
I'm starting to get mad at Morey. We had the most gifted passer since Magic and we keep pairing him up with other point guards instead shooting guards. I always thought Beal would have been the perfect running mate for Harden but Kyrie is pretty sick also.
In all honesty, as much as I hate to say this, Eric Gordon would have been a pretty good fit in the backcourt with Harden if he wasn't injury prone. The year MDA unleashed Harden to handle the ball and led the league in assists per game our 2nd best 5 man lineup had Gordon in the backcourt with Harden (more specifically the lineup was Harden, Gordon, Ariza, Anderson and Capela). But yea I agree with you...having a shooting guard in the backcourt with Harden would have been an interesting experiment.
If I remember the numbers correctly, having CP3 in the backcourt with Harden wasn't any better than Harden with anyone else. Where CP3 helped was when Harden was off the court.
and that was why we won so many games. we had 48 minutes of elite playmaking (until Chris Paul's injured/**** season in 2019). It's actually way better to have 2 elite playmakers like Paul and Harden rather than having Harden and someone like Beal. Having Chris Paul on the court also Allowed Harden rest up on offensive possessions and his defense got way better.
Yeah it was all good and well until Harden gassed in the playoffs while having to play PG for 48 minutes. Harden's decision making went to crap towards the end of the series against the Spurs. The team could not function without Harden on the floor, and Harden eventually got tired started chucking 3's and turning it over. I'm pretty sure Harden lobbied for Morey to get him a ball handler that off season.
Having an elite SG who can create for themselves like Beal or Kyrie has the same effect, and makes the offense with Harden amazing proven by Brooklyn's offensive rating with Harden on the floor.
Remember when CF thought Klay was better than Harden because he was a “2-way player” when Harden’s offense alone far outweighed whatever Klay brought on offense and defense combined?
