OKC Thunder: One Harden block doesn’t erase a history of choking in big games

One blocked shot on OKC Thunder guard Luguentz Dort doesn’t change the closeout choker narrative of James Harden.

It was a brutal Game 7 that after three days I still can’t shake. Although this season delivered one of the more enjoyable seasons on record the manner in which the OKC Thunder lost the final game simply isn’t sitting well with yours truly.

Nor is this ridiculous narrative that Rockets superstar James Harden erased all the previous choking ghosts he’s carried from closeout matches in his career.

We could simply credit Luguentz Dort‘s defense or the Harden whisperer as T.I. likes to refer to the guard. However, the reality is the issues James Harden suffers in pivotal playoff games continue to plague him and have to be partially tied to his mental state.

Players and coaches often say confidence is everything in basketball. History undoubtedly also plays a role which is the case for the top scorer in the association. A scan of Harden’s history serves up a boatload of evidence.

One blocked OKC Thunder shot doesn’t shift Harden choke narrative

Case in point:

2010: In his rookie season (which in fairness he can be cut some slack for) he scored two points in the closeout game versus the Lakers.

2011: One of his better closeout performances occurred this season versus Dallas when he scored 23 points on 7 of 11 field goal efficiency although he shot 1 of 5 from deep.

2012:  Facing the Heat in the Finals he scored 19 points on 5 of 11 and 3 of 8 from deep. Although it doesn’t sound that bad, the reality was he was missing in action for most of that series so the finger-pointing in this situation is tied to his series performance including games with five, nine, and eight-point contributions.

2013: The infamous OKC Thunder vs. Rockets series when goon Patrick Beverley took out Russell Westbrook via the low blow knee shot. In the closeout game, he scored 26 points but got them needing 22 shots (7 of 22).

2014: The Rockets lost in the first round in 2014 with Harden producing his best and most efficient closeout performance of 34 points on  9 of 15 field goals and 4 of 6 from deep. This may have been the series that began Harden’s closeout game angst however as it featured the Damian Lillard dagger three as the clock expired that ended the series.

It also likely ignited his reported relationship issues with Dwight Howard. Two seasons later Howard was gone and head coach, Kevin McHale fired 11 games into the season.

2015: This was the year when the noise grew about Harden choking in final games as he shot 2 of11 and 0 of 3 from deep scoring just 14 points in the final game versus the Warriors.

2016: The next season served up another loss to the Warriors, this time in the first round with Harden scoring 35 points on 12 of 23 in the gentleman’s sweep.

2017: Harden scored 10 points on 2 of 11 and 2 of 9 from deep as the Rockets fell in Game 6 to the Spurs.

2018: In what became one of the best rivalries in the NBA the Rockets lost again to the Warriors. In the closeout game, the Harden scored 32 points but needed 29 shots (12 of 29) and shot 2 of 13 from deep.

2019: Last season, Harden had a real opportunity to take down their nemesis without Kevin Durant playing but shot 11 of 25 and 6 of 15 from deep in the final game. It sparked the issues between himself and Chris Paul and was likely the moment that relationship ended.

2020: Which brings us to the Game 7 this season and his 17 point effort on 4 of15 from the field and 1 of 9 from the perimeter.

Following the game, there was James Harden seated answering questions bragging about blocking a shot and his defense on Dort.  STOP – you’re bragging about stopping a player your own coach deemed unnecessary to guard.

Let’s back up a bit, and remember every pundit and their mother claimed the Rockets were the one team who could threaten an all-LA Western Conference Finals matchup.

While the OKC Thunder were called scrappy and a tough out no one including Vegas thought they could win the series let alone push the series to seven games. Not once in the seven games were the Thunder favorites. Every game of the series Vegas odds had the Rockets favored — everyone.

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In the East, the Raptors – Celtics series is receiving a one-point spread but the Rockets were never listed under three-point favorites including the games Russell Westbrook didn’t play in.

Sure, James Harden blocked a shot by Luguentz Dort that saved the Rockets season. But does that erase his overall performance in the match or the series? We’re talking about a rookie that almost doubled Harden’s scoring output in the match and was also defending him!

James Harden is a talented NBA player who is the scoring leader for the third season running. Yet, if you asked the 29 non-Rockets GMs how many would pick him as the star they would want to play in a closeout match or take the last shot in a series?

Better yet, how many would put him in their top 10 list of players they would want to defend the last shot?

Yeah — I didn’t think so.

I’ll even go so far as to say give me the option of a year passing and that same play occurring and I’ll take my chances with Luguentz Dort since unlike James Harden he’s proven he can adapt, grow and learn from his mistakes.