Harden is having a life-and-death battle! Is the former MVP no longer suitable to be a champion?

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Li Xilin

played for 35 minutes, made 2 of 8 shots, scored only 7 points, 5 rebounds and 13 assists, with a plus-negative value of -29. Harden once again performed poorly in the life-and-death battle. When Westbrook was full of passion in the Boole Stadium, his former teammate Harden was speechless. Harden, 35, returned to the All-Star this season, but he and Kat-led Clippers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

This should be the upper limit for Harden to be a leader at this stage. During his MVP period, he could bring the team into the Western Conference Finals and fight the Warriors for seven games. But now he cannot maintain a stable performance in one round of the series. Time is like a ruthless carving knife, leaving traces on Harden, slowing down his pace and weakening his explosive power. In this round of series, Harden only scored 30+ in one game, and did not score 20 points in four games. "Big Beard" has been crowned the season scoring champion three times in his career, and has averaged 30+ points per game for three consecutive seasons. But now Harden has no frequent scoring ability that often explodes during the Rockets era. He can only occasionally score high scores, which makes fans sigh that he dreams of returning to the peak.

Harden averaged 18.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game in this round of the series, shooting percentage of 43.6%, three-point shooting percentage of 36.4%, and free throw percentage of 81.8%. His offensive end was one of the reasons why the Clippers lost. In this game, Harden made 0 of 2 shots in the second half, without scoring. This is the 18th time in Harden's career, where he scored zero in the first half or second half in the playoffs.

Harden participated in the tiebreaker seven times in his career, with a record of 3 wins and 4 losses, with a shooting percentage of less than 30% in 4 times, a shooting percentage of less than 40% in 5 times, and a shooting percentage of more than 50% in 1 time. In the battle of life and death, Harden's performance was indeed not satisfactory. After the game, the 76ers teased Harden with the team reporter: "Harden disappeared in G7? Wow, it's so shocking."

In the 2022-23 season, Harden played for the 76ers. In the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the 76ers once led the Celtics 3-2, but was reversed by his opponent. Harden was sluggish in both final two games. In the sixth game, he made 4 of 16 shots, 0 of 6 three-pointers, scored 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists, and made 5 mistakes. In the seventh game, he made 3 of 11 shots, 1 of 5 three-pointers, scored 9 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, and made 5 mistakes.

Last season, the Clippers were defeated 4-3 by the Mavericks in the first round. The two sides scored 2-2 in the first two rounds, and Harden scored 28 points, 22 points, 21 points and 33 points respectively, performing very well. However, in the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, he made 2 of 12 shots, scored only 7 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, and made 4 mistakes. The Clippers were beaten 123-93 by the Mavericks. In the sixth game, Harden was still in a sluggish state, making 5 of 16 shots, 0 of 6 three-pointers, scoring 16 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists, and the Clippers lost 101-114.

Even in the 2017-18 season at its peak, Harden left the stain on not being able to fight tough battles. When the Rockets led the Warriors 3-2, Paul unfortunately missed the game with a hamstring strain. Harden failed to carry the team forward. Although he scored 32 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists in the sixth game, he made 9 mistakes. In the seventh game, Harden scored 32 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, made 5 mistakes, made 12 of 29 shots, and 2 of 13 three-pointers, with low offensive efficiency.

If the speedboat continues to focus on Kat and Harden, it seems that there is no hope of winning the championship. Their abilities have all declined, and judging from the equipment of their helpers, this lineup is actually pretty good. Powell, Zubac, Derek Jones Jr., Dunn, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Batum, and Simmons are all very good helpers. If James and Doncic in the same city had these helpers around him, they would wake up in a dream.

Harden will face a choice. He signed a two-year, $70 million contract with the Speedboat last summer and $36.3 million the next year as the player option. Harden will most likely jump out of the contract and sign a new contract. Harden will be 36 years old in August. Due to the 38-year-old rule, Harden's next contract should not exceed two seasons. That is, Harden may renew a two-year contract, and his annual salary may be higher than the original player option of 36.3 million. After all, Harden has returned to the ranks of All-Stars this season. The speedboat will also give him a certain amount of respect.

After losing the game, Harden left the stadium without an interview. The Speedboat moved to the new stadium this season, but the team showed no sign of breaking through the team's history of the no-crow curse. The Clippers continue to build a team with Harden and Xiaoka's dual cores, and they may be destined to be just a foil in the playoffs.