Nah, it's just a lot harder to have great games consistently in the playoffs. Always been that way, always will be that way. Only difference is Harden does seem to have a lot more complete stinkers whereas other superstars have more 'meh' games and since Harden doesn't have a 'ring' it means it's a lot easier to just say he chokes or isn't up for the pressure or whatever the case is. Harden just has a lot more variance in his bad games and great games and its magnified in the playoffs.
He takes a ton of threes and relies heavily on getting calls when he drives, so when the jumpers aren't falling and the refs don't want to give him calls, he can't score a lot. But when he is getting calls and/or he's having a hot shooting night, nobody can outscore him. It's always been this way and it's even moreso now that he's lost some explosiveness.
Generally, I very much agree with you. But he just looked so gassed, slow and lifeless in game 3 man. I dont even know how its possible for him to look that bad unless he's just not in good enough shape. He was even making bad reads. I dont know man.....I dont know.
So are you telling us that we were 0.3 seconds away from having @Asian Sensation spam this thread endlessly for the rest of the night??!?! Dodged a bullet.
The modern 3 pt bombs away offenses have a lot to do with how these games are sometimes 180 degrees different from night to night. The outside shot is the most unpredictable aspect of basketball and always will be especially when some teams shoot half their shots from that range.
He did look noticeably slower in game 3. It may very well be a conditioning thing. But even at his peak, he's always had a bit of variance in his explosiveness/movement from game to game. Not to this degree though.
Agree, and even play to play, his whole career. I'm honestly glad the Sixers won and enjoyed James' game, but look as his pseudo-closeout on Smart's late shot. I mean... you could say he knew it was late, but he didn't even get a hand up on arguably his most important defensive play of the game. LOL.
Cam Johnson is another Trevor Ariza all over again. Expensive Contract the Rockets are Stuck with. Resign the Players with that Money. Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason are the Core. Plus the Lottery Pick
Could have just been a bad night at the club or whatever the case. Harden isn't the type to make excuses. He'll be playing on an injured ankle or something and you usually find out from someone around the team and not him. Meanwhile, Embiid was over there complaining about how winning the MVP award was too much of a distraction... I don't know, I just think like others have mentioned his style means a greater variance and since he's more reliant on shooting the three than he used to be (Yes maybe due to age) means a bad shooting night will really stand out.
Does Mike Wilbon still think James Harden is "Old" Does Stephen A Smith still think James Harden is "Out of Shape"
I wish I could find the one post that listed the historical NBA list of players with 40-point playoff games. I've found this, but I'm not sure it's incorporated today's game yet. Harden is either now tied with or ahead of Hakeem. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/most-career-playoff-games-by-a-player-with-40-pts (And yeah, I know -- it's relatively arbitrary... but you look at the names on that list, and there aren't many chumps. Plus, he's way ahead of Curry, which is ... nice.)
It's gonna be tough for the Sixers to get out of this 2nd round series if they can only win a game when Harden drops 40
