The key battle is a big shot? Harden lost in the tiebreak!

The series between the Clippers and the Nuggets finally advanced to the next round 120-101. In the life-and-death battle between the two teams, which was related to promotion, the gap between the two teams once widened to 30 points. At least no one could have expected that the first round of the match, which was considered the most exciting match, ended in this way.

As the core of the Clippers, Harden also told everyone in a very familiar way that at a critical moment of tiebreak, Harden still seems to be disappointing.

Of course, I mean, you won't let your opponent down.

In this tiebreak match, although Harden had 13 assists, he only scored 7 points, and he completely lost his level on the offensive end. Such performance seems to be a microcosm of Harden's critical moment in his playoff career.

From the Rockets to the Nets, and then to the Sixers, now that he comes to the Clippers, Harden has demonstrated his dominance in the regular season and the first half of the playoffs again and again, but whenever the game enters the ultimate stage that determines fate, his performance is often disappointing.

Looking back at Harden's career honors, it is already extremely brilliant enough, scoring champion, MVP, All-Star, and has led the team into the playoffs many times. However, the defeat in these four tiebreakers was like an irreparable scar, deeply imprinted in his legendary career, and even directly concealed the highlights of his long career.

Below, let's review the moment when Harden lost four tiebreaks in his career:

2018 Western Conference Finals: Rockets vs. Warriors

The Rockets in the 2017-18 season were ahead of the league with a record of 65 wins and 17 losses. At the beginning of the season, Harden and Paul's dual cores gradually showed competitiveness, and achieved the first record in the Western Conference under the running and shooting tactics of head coach D'Antoni. Harden even won his first MVP with an average of 30.4 points and 8.8 assists.

In the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Rockets easily defeated the Timberwolves and the Jazz, and the Western Conference Finals faced the extremely high-altitude Warriors. The Warriors had an All-Star lineup of Curry, Durant, Clay and Green back then. They had already won a championship last season, and it seemed that defending the title was almost a must-win for the season.

And at that time, if we were to say who could stop this crazy tsunami force, it might be the only Rockets.

Therefore, this series is also regarded as an early preview of the finals. The Rockets performed tenaciously in the first six games, especially in the fifth game. Harden scored 19 points to help the team narrowly defeat the Warriors 98-94 at home, leading 3-2 in a big score. However, Paul suffered a hamstring injury at the end of Game 5, which caused the Rockets to face challenges in the subsequent Game 6 and Game 7.

Rockets fans hope that Harden can carry the team alone and block the Warriors' dynasty, but in the end the Rockets lost two consecutive games and saw the Warriors defend their title successfully.

On May 28, 2018, in the seventh game of the Western Conference Finals, the Rockets played against the Warriors at home, and the Rockets lost 92-101. Harden played for 44 minutes, scored 32 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. The book data looked good, but after looking at the game, Harden's performance was quite struggling.

Harden contributed 18 points in the first half, helping the Rockets maintain their competitiveness. However, physical fitness in the second half declined significantly, and offensive choices became monotonous. Too many three-point shots caused the Rockets' offense to stagnate, and eventually planted a cause of defeat. After the game, most fans focused on Harden's sluggish second half and his 2-13 shots in the game, with only 15% of his three-point shooting percentage.

This loss directly made the Rockets miss the opportunity in the finals and cast a shadow on Harden's performance in key games. More and more people are beginning to question that this regular season offensive killer seems to be unable to carry the team at critical moments.

2021 Eastern Conference Semi-finals: Nets vs. Bucks

2020-21 season, Harden was traded from the Rockets to the Nets, partnering with Durant and Irving to form the Big Three. At that time, the Nets were regarded as the biggest favorite of the championship, ranking second in the Eastern Conference with 48 wins and 24 losses in the regular season. With two super offensive machine partners, Du Ou, Harden doesn't need to carry all the scoring firepower and focuses on series offense. With a data averaged 24.6 points and 10.9 assists per game, he began to show more comprehensive organizational capabilities.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Nets easily defeated the Celtics 4-1. Harden scored 34 points in the fifth game in the final, and was in a hot state. He met the Bucks in the second round and successfully won a 2-0 lead after the first two games. However, Irving sprained his ankle in the fourth game, and Harden left the game due to a hamstring injury in the first game, which greatly reduced his personal combat power.

forced a comeback in the fifth game, but his personal abilities were obviously limited. The series match reached 3-3, and the tiebreaker became the key to destiny. Nets fans are looking forward to Harden standing up and leading the team full of wounded soldiers to create miracles.

On June 19, 2021, the seventh game of the Eastern Conference in the second round, the Nets played against the Bucks at home. The game was fiercely fought to overtime, and the Nets eventually lost. Durant's last blow in regular time originally seemed to win a three-pointer, but he was unable to win because he stepped on the line, which eventually became the turning point of the game. Many fans felt sorry afterwards that if Durant hadn't had one size bigger, the Nets would have had a chance to advance to the division finals.

Harden played for 53 minutes on the spot, scored 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. The book data looked very beautiful. But his offensive efficiency is extremely low, with a shooting percentage of 29.4%, 2 of 12 three-pointers and a three-point shooting percentage of only 16%, and his scoring is almost entirely supported by free throws.

Affected by the hamstring injury, Harden's explosive power and breakthrough ability have dropped significantly, and he relied too much on outside shooting throughout the game. In the fourth quarter and overtime, the Bucks strictly double-teamed against Harden's ball holding, but he was unable to effectively crack the defense, and his offensive firepower was completely suppressed by the Bucks' defensive system. In the end, the Nets lost 111-115, and Harden's inefficient performance once again disappointed the fans, and finally watched the Bucks win the championship..

Harden lost to the later champion team in the two tiebreaks. Perhaps it can be said that if Harden can perform well in such a game, he is likely to grab a championship trophy for himself.

2023 Eastern Conference second round: 76ers vs Celtics

2022-23 season, Harden played for Philadelphia 76ers, and his partner Embiid formed the most threatening internal and external combination in the league. The 76ers ranked third in the Eastern Conference with 54 wins and 28 losses in the regular season. Harden averaged 21 points and 10.7 assists per game, and has completely transformed into the core of the backcourt organization. In the first round of the playoffs, the 76ers swept the Nets 4-0, and Harden averaged 17.3 points and 8.8 assists per game. In the second round, facing the Celtics, Harden scored 45 points and 42 points in the first and fourth matches, helping the team win the key match points. In the end, the two sides tied 3-3 and entered the tiebreak battle.

At this time, the outside world began to believe that perhaps Harden was different. After all, he was 34 years old. Although his physical fitness declined, his game experience was more mature. He looks like he's ready to go all out in pursuit of the championship. The fourth game turned the tide and helped the team overcome the 1-2 behind, and also allowed fans to feel his key combat ability. Perhaps, this time he can really get rid of the curse of abnormality at critical moments and prove himself in the battle of 7th.

However, fate joked with Harden again.

On May 14, 2023, the Eastern Conference tiebreaker matched the seventh round, with 76ers challenging the Celtics away. Harden played for 40 minutes, made 3 of 11 shots, 1 of 5 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws, with only 9 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 turnovers, with the personal plus-minus value as low as -30. This game is also Harden's worst tiebreak performance in his career.

Harden was completely locked by the Celtics' defensive strategy throughout the game. Smart and Brown took turns to force Harden to fall into the quagmire of inefficiency in singles and pass mistakes. In the end, the 76ers' offense collapsed and suffered a crushing defeat in the end, and Harden's stealth performance once again became the focus of hot discussion among fans after the game.

The first round of the Western Conference in 2025: The Clippers vs. Nuggets

The season started, and the outside world's expectations for the Clippers are not high. George left the team and Leonard had not recovered from injury, and all the burden was almost on the 36-year-old Harden. Many fans believe that this Clippers are basically just a team that barely strives for the playoffs. However, under the leadership of Harden, the Clippers scored 50 wins and 32 losses and ranked fifth in the West. Harden also performed a rejuvenation moment, averaging 22.8 points and 8.7 assists per game. After two years of separation, he was selected as the All-Star again.

At this time, Harden had completely transformed, not only connecting the entire team with his organizational ability, but also began to show a positive attitude in the defense that was often criticized in the past. His mature playing style has also begun to convince many fans that perhaps this time he is really ready to change himself for victory. The Clippers have become a potential dark horse in the West, and many people have begun to look forward to this team causing some unexpected waves in the playoffs.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Clippers faced the Nuggets, led by Jokic and Murray. When the series fell behind 2-3, Harden stepped forward and scored a maximum of 28 points to lead the team to equalize the series. At this moment, we began to ignite hope again. Perhaps Harden could really play a brilliant performance in his late career and wash away his label and lead the Clippers to break through the siege.

Frankly speaking, Harden's performance always makes people feel that he will never be abnormal this time, but he did it in the end.

May 3, 2025, which is the tiebreaker we mentioned at the beginning. Harden was completely suppressed by the Nuggets' defensive system. Although 13 assists showed his organizational efforts, as one of the team's offensive cores, a simple 7-pointer is undoubtedly a disaster-level performance.

So, the question arose, why can't Harden play a performance worth looking forward to in so many tiebreak battles?

Looking back at these four tiebreak battles, they all have surprisingly similar scripts: fans' high expectations, Harden's extremely low efficiency, and stealth at critical moments.

Why is this?

I personally think it can be explained physically and mentally.

Physical fitness issues

Harden's style of play relies heavily on singles, fouls and three-pointers, and can still exert its power in the first few games of the regular season or series. However, after the opponent's defense is more focused and the referee's call for fouls is stricter, Harden's physical fitness is often easily exhausted in the second half, which eventually leads to a sharp decline in personal offensive efficiency.

For example, in the seventh game against the Warriors in 2018, Harden scored 14 points efficiently in the first quarter, but it was obviously more and more difficult to follow up. He never scored three-pointers since the second quarter.

This physical fitness problem becomes more obvious as Harden grows older. At the age of 36, he looked helpless most of the time when facing the Nuggets' young and energetic defensive lineup.

Psychological pressure

The high-pressure environment of the tiebreaker battle is a test for any star, but Harden seems to be particularly difficult to deal with this special pressure.

His three-point shooting always saw a sharp drop in shooting percentage at critical moments in the playoffs. In four tiebreaks, only 6 of three-pointers made 34 shots, and the shooting percentage was only 17.6%, far lower than the average of 34% in the career playoffs. This may be explained by the fact that he affected his stable performance under high game pressure.

But every time this time, his other reaction will aggravate the difficult situation:

"He can do these things, but he just doesn't want to do it."

This is the comment of former Rockets coach McHale to Harden's mentality. He once pointed out that when he was coaching Harden, Harden did not run directly when he was a fast break, resulting in the loss of the chance of playing more or less at one time in vain, and also pointed out the defensive problem that Harden has been criticized for a long time. In fact, Harden is not incapable of defending. After all, he was able to complete defensive tasks competently during the Thunder period, but he just chose not to do it, which became even more disappointing.

When the score of the game is widened, Harden can easily start to have negative attitudes on both sides of the offense and defense, which can also find excuses for his downturn.. The playoffs are often fought in one breath, which is also the biggest difference between him and his former teammate Westbrook, and this difference directly creates the difference in the game situation after the two of them become opponents this time.

Watching Harden shines in the regular season again and again, but falls in the critical playoffs, it makes people sigh: At the age of 36, his career has entered the countdown, and there are fewer and fewer opportunities to cleanse himself of "small key games" in the future. Perhaps, in the end, he will withdraw from the NBA with this regret and controversy and become the most gorgeous and saddest star player in league history.

Finally, we add Harden's three successful tiebreakers in his career:

The second round of the Western Conference in 2010-11 season: Thunder 105-90 Grizzlies

Harden scored 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 of 10 shots, and 4 of 8 three-pointers;

The second round of the Western Conference in 2014-15 season: Rockets 113-100 Clippers

Harden scored 31 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 7 of 20 shots. 2 of 7 three-pointers were made;

The first round of the Western Conference in 2019-20 season: The Rockets 104-102 The Thunder

Harden scored 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 shots of 15 shots, and 1 of 9 three-pointers;

Summary, Harden has played seven tiebreaks in his career, with a record of 3 wins and 4 losses, and averaging 19.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game in seven battles, with a shooting percentage of 35.5%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 22.4%.