James Harden pulls yet another Game 7 Houdini disappearing act as Clippers are eliminated by Nuggets

The Los Angeles Clippers got rocked by the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 on Saturday, losing 120-101 in a blowout that was nowhere near as close as even that wide margin would indicate. With under nine minutes to go the Clippers trailed by 35. 

In a game full of ugly Clipper numbers, including the worst plus/minus of Kawhi Leonard’s career (minus-33), James Harden’s seven points on eight shots stands out as particularly paltry, if only for its predictability. 

After all, laying eggs in elimination games is a time-honored Harden tradition. He fooled us with 28 points in Game 6 on Thursday, but given his history, there was no way he was going to double down on that showing in Game 7. The math was just too strong. 

Consider that in his last 13 elimination games, Harden’s shot 39% from the field while his teams have gone 2-11. In his last five elimination games, even including that outlier performance in Game 6, he is averaging just 14.2 points on 38% shooting. Take that stat-pumping game 6 out of the equation, and you would have to shield your eyes from the table below. 

Before Thursday’s Game 6, you had to go all the way to 2020 in the bubble to find the last time Harden had won an elimination game, when the Rockets edged Oklahoma City 104-102 in Game 7 — and even in that one he shot just 4 for 15 and missed eight of his nine 3-pointers. 

Harden apologists are going to point to his 13 assists on Saturday, 10 of which came of the first half, and try to tell you he actually played well despite the seven points. Pay them no mind. They’re delusional. 

It’s not even so much the seven points as the eight shots. I promise you, if the Rockets are running the Warriors out of the gym on Sunday in their Game 7, Stephen Curry will be chucking shots from the rafters trying to get his squad back in it. He’s not going to go down with any bullets left. 

But Harden? When the lights get bright, he’s all too happy to turn the switch off. I don’t know if he’s protecting what little is left of his box-score integrity or if he really just loses confidence when shots aren’t going in early in an elimination game, but either way, it’s a whimpering trait for a guy who is going to go down as one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history. 

Speaking of Curry: In 14 career elimination games, care to hazard a guess how many times he has scored fewer than 20 points? Once. In 16 career elimination games, Kevin Durant has also gone under 20 points just one time. LeBron James, in 29 career elimination games, has never been held under 20. 

Meanwhile, Harden has scored fewer than 20 points in 12 of his 26 career elimination games, including seven of his last 13. His Game 7 performances are a special brand of dismal. 

Harden is on a lot of impressive historical lists. Suffice it to say, this is not one of them. 

Look at that bottom note: Scored fewer than 10 points in back-to-back Game 7s. Come on, man. James Worthy averaged over 27 points in four career Game 7s and went for 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a Game 7 Finals victory. That’s how you get the nickname “Big Game James.” 

Harden is going another way. 

What makes these elimination-game duds so much harder to swallow is that Harden has a way of being so good in the early part of these series. The same guy who scored seven points on Saturday also scored 32 in Game 1. 

Last season, it was the same story. Harden averaged 26 points through the first four games of the Clippers’ first-round series against Dallas; then he scored seven points in Game 5 and missed all six of his 3-pointers in Game 6 as the Clippers went from tied 2-2 to eliminated. 

Two years ago with Philadelphia, Harden went for 45 and 42 points in two of the first four games of the 76ers‘ second-round series against Boston. The Sixers led that series 3-2, but in Games 6 and 7 Harden scored 13 points and nine points, respectively, on 25% shooting while missing 10 of his 11 3-pointers. 

Glorify the 13 assists he put up on Saturday all you want, but these Houdini acts that Harden pulls the later he gets in a series have become an indisputable trend. Check out the numbers over his last three playoff rounds. 

As the Clippers entered this postseason, they were a popular pick as the team with the best chance to upset the Thunder in the West. Kawhi Leonard was healthy and dominant. The defense was elite. But Harden playing at an All-NBA level was the third leg they were standing on.

Chop that leg out, and the Clippers were always going to be done. Harden stood tall for two games this series. But in the one that mattered most, his disappearing act was — unfortunately — all too predictable.