James Harden Breaks Game 7 Curse – But Odds Still Against Him! - video Dailymotion

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James Harden Breaks Game 7 Curse – But Odds Still Against Him!

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00:00The Los Angeles Clippers needed a big performance out of James Harden on Thursday, and they got one.

00:06Facing elimination, the Clippers held off the Denver Nuggets, 111-105,

00:13in Game 6 behind 28 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds from Harden.

00:19Game 7 is set for Saturday at 7.30 Eastern Time in Denver.

00:23Buckle up.

00:24Had Harden laid an egg in this one, he would have been wise to stay offline for a few days

00:29because he would have been in for a social media skewering given his overall reputation

00:34for postseason shrinkage, which, to be fair, is pretty exaggerated.

00:39And more specifically, his recent history of late series stinkers, which is irrefutable.

00:46The numbers, as they say, don't lie.

00:48Over his last 11 playoff games when facing elimination,

00:53Harden was 1-10 and shooting under 40% entering play on Thursday.

00:57Over his last five elimination games, all losses, he had averaged just 17.6 points per game.

01:06This was the first elimination game Harden has won since 2020,

01:10when the Rockets somehow managed to defeat the Thunder despite Harden missing 11 of his 15 shots

01:16and 8 of his 9 three-pointers.

01:19These late series stinkers are, unfortunately,

01:22a trademark characteristic of Harden's postseason bio.

01:26Two years ago with Philadelphia, Harden went for 45 and 42 points in two of the first four games

01:34of the 76ers' second-round series against Boston.

01:37The Sixers actually led that series 3-2, but in Game 6 and 7,

01:42Harden combined for just 22 points on one for 11 three-point shooting.

01:48He had 9 points in Game 7.

01:51Last season, it was the same story.

01:53Harden averaged 26 points through the first four games of the Clippers' first-round series against Dallas.

02:00Then he scored 7 points in Game 5 and missed all six of his three-pointers in Game 6

02:06as the Clippers went from 2-2 to eliminated.

02:09This Denver series was playing out almost exactly to the Harden script.

02:14He came out firing with 32 in Game 1

02:17and then began the descent as he averaged just 16 points over Games 2-5.

02:22In the pivotal Game 5 with the series tied 2-2, Harden went for 11.

02:28His shot attempts had also gone down like clockwork,

02:31from 22 in Game 1 to 17 in Game 2,

02:3414 in Game 3,

02:3611 in Game 4,

02:37and finally just 9 in Game 5.

02:40It was all setting up for him to be the GOAT,

02:42and not the good kind,

02:44with a Game 6 dud.

02:45But he reversed the trend,

02:47scoring 21 first-half points.

02:50If you're a pessimist,

02:51you'll note that he only scored 7 points in the second half,

02:55but now you're just getting picky.

02:57A big elimination game out of James Harden

02:59is not something to quibble over,

03:01because it doesn't happen often.

James Harden Breaks Game 7 Curse – But Odds Still Against Him!

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