The MVP award will be announced soon and if public opinion is any indication, James Harden won't come away with it. Not only is he competing with a fantastic year from Stephen Curry and his Warriors, but also with the perception that some of his and the Rockets' tactics take the fun out of the game. While there's room for debate on those issues, it's unquestionable that Harden is a special player who is having a special season. Against the Mavericks on Friday, he scored 42 points, including the winning bucket, to lead his team to a comeback win and a 3-0 series lead that feels definitive.
James Harden drops 42 points and a dagger on the Mavericks
Harden is proving he belongs among the NBA’s elite with ridiculous playoff performances.
Harden putting up ridiculous numbers is almost routine at this point. After all, we are talking about the regular season’s second-best scorer behind only Russell Westbrook. What’s still shocking to see is how efficient he can be despite everyone knowing his tendencies and the fact that he will be the Rockets’ primary ball-handler and scorer in almost every game. It took him just 24 shots to get his 42 points in Game 3, only three of which (all three-pointers) were assisted.
If we account for three-pointers and and-1s on his assists, Harden was responsible for 63 of the Rockets’ 130 points and did it while having the entire attention of the Mavericks’ defense on him. Of note, considering his reputation: he took only seven free throws. Those who were waiting for Harden to struggle when the whistles became harder to come by in the postseason only need to watch this game to see their concerns assuaged. It was as dominant an offensive performance as we’ve seen in a while.
The Rockets needed every single one of those points to get past a Mavericks team that knew it had nothing to lose after it was announced that Rajon Rondo and Chandler Parsons were out for the season. Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis decided to not go quietly into the darkness, combining for 68 points. With neither team playing defense, their effort was enough to give the Mavs a double-digit lead fueled by fastbreak points. Yet the Rockets woke up at just the right time to first come back and then close the game in style.
As Nowitzki and Ellis carried Dallas' offense late, Houston shared the wealth, with six players scoring in the fourth quarter. Harden led the way with seven points while Dwight Howard controlled the paint, logging eight rebounds, two steals and a block. Nowitzki was fouled on a three-point attempt with 33 seconds to go and after hitting all of his free throws, the lead was just one for the Rockets. A stop would give the Mavericks a shot at the win. Harden was having none of that.
Houston can clinch the series with a win on Sunday and advance to the second round for the first time since Yao Ming led them past Trail Blazers in 2009 before his body betrayed him and forced the Rockets into rebuilding their roster. A disappointing 2013-14 season that saw them bow out earlier than most expected cast doubt as to whether the decisions made by the franchise during that period were the right ones. Harden is turning even the biggest skeptic into a believer with performances like this one.
The Rockets suffered two huge blows to their title chances when key rotation players Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas got injured. How far they can go in the playoffs remains to be seen, especially since they will have to face either the Spurs or the Clippers in the next stage. Even if the second round is as far as they go -- and with Harden and a healthy Howard, there's no reason to believe that will be the case -- this season should be treasured by Rockets fans. It's the year James Harden became one of the top players in the league and cracked open a legitimate title window for Houston.
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