The chain was lost again in the key game! How could the Clippers win with Harden s performance?

In a previous NBA playoff game, the Denver Nuggets, who returned to their home court, defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 120-101. After this game, the Nuggets, who won the life-and-death battle in the tiebreak, successfully advanced to the Western Conference semi-finals. They will compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder for a spot in the Western Conference Finals; while the Clippers lost their chains again in such a life-and-death battle, and fell in the first round of the playoffs again.

In this game, James Harden, the Clippers' backcourt core, once again lost the chain in such a highly-watched life-and-death battle. Harden played 35 minutes and 37 seconds in the whole game, made 2 of 8 shots, 1 of 4 from outside the three-point line, and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 7 points, 5 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He also made 2 mistakes, with a plus-negative value of -29. Harden has no desire to score on the offensive end, his shots are very limited, and the effect is also very unsatisfactory. Harden has performed well in passing and organizing, but the problem is that his scoring ability is really bad, which is completely unqualified for a backcourt core. In addition, Harden's performance on the defensive end is also not ideal, and his personal defensive ability and defensive focus are relatively limited. It is no exaggeration to say that with Harden's performance, it is not a realistic thing for the Clippers to defeat their opponents and complete the promotion.

In the NBA regular season this season, Harden played 79 games in 82 games, averaging 35.3 minutes per game, averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks, and 4.3 turnovers and 2.1 fouls, shooting percentage of 41%, three-point shooting percentage of 35.2%, and free throw shooting percentage of 87.4%. In the playoffs, Harden averaged 39.4 minutes in these 7 games, averaging 18.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1 block, and 3 turnovers and 2.3 fouls, shooting percentage of 43.6%, three-point shooting percentage of 36.4%, and free throw shooting percentage of 81.8%.

Harden's performance in this round of series was really ups and downs. His offensive efficiency could not be maintained at a high level, and his performance on the defensive end was also somewhat average. After all, Harden is also the core figure of the team, and his performance will greatly affect the team's competitiveness. In the previous G6, Harden's performance once gave Clippers fans hope, and everyone felt that maybe he could lead the Clippers to make a breakthrough in G7. As a result, in such a critical game, he lost the chain again. Harden has encountered such a situation countless times throughout his career, but he has proved again and again that he has embarrassed himself at critical moments. I really don’t know if Harden will have the chance to prove his strength in the future.