James Harden’s playoff history has a common theme throughout his 17-year career. Only Utah Jazz legends Karl Malone and John Stockton have appeared in more postseason games without winning an NBA championship.
Harden’s shortcomings in the postseason are front and center as his Cleveland Cavaliers return home for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
Fifth-seeded Toronto tied the series at 2-2 with back-to-back victories in Canada, taking full advantage of Harden’s sloppy ballhandling and bad decision-making. Fourth seed Cleveland had won the first two contests rather decisively in its arena.
“Games change fast and things happen in the playoffs,” Harden said Tuesday following practice at the team’s suburban training facility. “We won two games at home and we had two opportunities to win games there, and we didn’t.
“Game 5 is an opportunity for us to take advantage of the series.”
Harden committed eight turnovers in a 126-104 loss in Game 3, then made seven in Game 4 as the Cavaliers melted down late in a 93-89 defeat. His shooting wasn’t much better, making just 40.7% (11 of 27) of his field goal attempts and 5-of-16 3-pointers in the two games.
The future Hall of Famer now has 24 turnovers in the series, putting him on pace to break the league playoff records for miscues in a six- or seven-game series. LeBron James holds both marks with 34 and 40, respectively.
“That’s on me,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I’ve got to put James in a better position to try and minimize what Toronto has been doing with him defensively. They’re sending a lot at him and (Donovan Mitchell), and there are ways we can fix that.”
Mitchell, whose 28.1 career scoring average is the seventh best in playoff history, was unable to convert open shots in the last two games. He made 32.5% (13 of 40) of his field goal tries and went 5-of-19 beyond the arc to only score 35 total points.
The sudden switch in his — and the Cavaliers’ fortunes – occurred when Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic moved Ja’Kobe Walter into the lineup and shifted Jamal Shead to the bench with regular starter Immanuel Quickley injured and out for the series.
Despite Walter and Shead missing 22 of their 24 shots, including all 17 3-pointers, in the last two games, the rotation switch has allowed Toronto to force 39 turnovers. The Raptors have only made 23.
Shead himself has forced 11 of Harden’s miscues while in a one-on-one situation.
“A lot of them have been self-inflicted,” Harden insisted. “Especially me, which is a lot. Too many. But I can correct that. I’ll be ready.”
Toronto has all the momentum on its side as it took a Tuesday flight to Cleveland after working out at its lakefront gym. Scottie Barnes has topped 20 points in the first four games, establishing a franchise playoff record, and is averaging a series-high 25.8.
RJ Barrett is also having a breakout run at 24.3 points per game, while rookie center Collin Murray-Boyles has been dynamic in chipping in 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds with a .65.9 field-goal percentage.
But the driving force has been Barnes, who also is dishing out a series-high 7.3 assists while taking great pleasure in elevating his teammates’ games.
Barrett was born in Toronto, but Barnes has become his hometown’s hero.
“It’s my absolute privilege to work with a human being like Scottie Barnes,” Rajakovic said. “The biggest thing about him is his heart. How much he cares about other people, how much he cares about his teammates, and how much he cares about this organization.”
