DETROIT — James Harden, can’t miss him. With that hair monster swallowing up his face, Harden, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, has owned one of the most unmistakable looks in the NBA of the past generation. On Tuesday night, even a Detroit Pistons fan in the Little Caesars Arena upper deck wouldn’t have needed to squint through his Buffs and wonder who that bearded man was, bumbling about the court. It was him.
Yet there was a moment in the fourth quarter when Pistons sharpshooter Duncan Robinson scored a rare bucket in the paint. So Robinson stalked away in exultation, chest-bumping some bystander wearing black. The act drew a technical foul and a retaliatory shove from the aggrieved guest, but to be fair to Robinson, he might not have noticed the guy standing there at all. In Game 1, The Beard had disappeared.
He gave away possessions, dribble-dancing into a handful of his seven turnovers and stacking his postseason total to 43 through eight games. He got crossed over and frozen by Tobias Harris, one of the handful of 30-somethings on this young Pistons team. He very much looked like a man who’ll celebrate his 37th birthday this summer.
Harden, the sojourning scoring machine in any regular season, has all the awards and recognitions that most basketball players can only dream of. The 2017-18 MVP trophy, more assists than all but 11 players in league history, and even a deserved spot on the NBA 75th anniversary team. However, just one game into this Eastern Conference second-round series, it became evident once again why there’s a smudge on Harden’s Hall of Fame resume.
Harden hasn’t won in the playoffs. This is a narrative that has endured through disappointments in Oklahoma City, and Houston, and Brooklyn, and Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. And if these young and fiery Pistons have anything to say about it, Harden’s postseason woes will continue in Cleveland.
Though he has the playoff numbers — averaging 22.4 points per game — they haven’t impacted winning. After his MVP season, Harden led his Houston Rockets to the Western Conference finals. However, against the Golden State Warriors, just more empty calories: Harden averaged 28.7 points but did so through one of the worst 3-point shooting performances of his playoff career (24.4 percent). He also committed 34 turnovers, and hasn’t been back to the conference finals since.
The cities have changed over time, Harden has teamed up with champions like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard. Still, no rings. That can change a man. Make him want to lay down any remaining ego just to taste the only success that matters in the NBA. Even make him take the drastic measure of abandoning sunny Los Angeles for Cleveland, in the winter no less.
“This is like the perfect timing to get James (on the roster),” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said the day after the 111-101 loss. “I think he was in that mindset with the Clippers, too. He’s done it all. He’s broken scoring records, assist records, you know, and now it’s just about winning. Since he’s been with us, when I watch film, that’s all I see during the game.”
For an indifferent NBA fan, it might have been a shock to start paying attention this spring and discover Harden wearing the Cavaliers’ colors of wine and gold (as well as the team’s all-black ensemble). But there’s an easier path to the NBA Finals in the East, and that led him to the Cavs ahead of the February trade deadline.
It was a risky move by Cleveland, shipping away a young, talented (but often injured) Darius Garland for the aging Harden. Still, it made sense. When Harden initially arrived and formed this punch-first backcourt with All-Star Donovan Mitchell, the Cavaliers had overtaken even the East’s No. 1 Pistons as a betting favorite to win it all. The reality of this pairing, however, has produced some meager returns.
On Tuesday night, with Cleveland’s backcourt playing loose with the ball, the team had to play from behind and against the rising belief of the Detroit faithful. A Harden turnover early in the second quarter prompted Pistons public address announcer John Mason to bellow his first DEEEE-TROIT, to which the sold-out crowd thunderously responded, BASKET-BALLLLL!
As much as Harden fired up the wrong crowd, he remained confident after the game that he can tone down the turnovers by Game 2.
“Yeah, 1 million percent. You look within first; look at my turnovers, and a lot of them are just on me and nothing (Detroit) did,” said Harden, who finished with 22 points on 6-for-15 shooting, including 1-for-7 on 3-pointers. “If I had to put my print on one thing in the game, that’s the game right there. … Like we talked about last year. If you get a shot on glass, even half of that, and it’s a different ballgame. For me, I got to be better. I will be better (about not) turning the basketball over and getting shots up.”
Atkinson echoed his veteran’s belief.
“His calmness, his serenity,” Atkinson said, sharing the traits that allow Harden to bounce back after poor performances. “You know, with James, you never know if he had a bad game or a good game. Even during the game. I just told him, ‘Man, keep playing to win like you are.’ I think that’s his only goal in life now … to do whatever he needs to do to help the team win. That’s what I see.
“(For) him to be that steady rudder for this team,” Atkinson continued, “we need that steadiness, that poise, that calm he brings to the table.”
More than that, the Cavs need The Beard to show up again. Anything like a repeat of his Game 1 invisibility act could lead to Cleveland’s postseason ending abruptly — and further a narrative that Harden vanishes when it matters.
