Smooth Performance of the Night: Harden gets cooking, puts Mavs on that Guy Fieri
Short Chandler Parsons and Rajon Rondo, the Dallas Mavericks tried slowing James Harden down with Richard Jefferson. Then they tried stopping him with Devin Harris and Al-Farouq Aminu.
But all series long, Harden continued to, as his signature celebration would suggest, get something cooking.
In the first four games of the series, Harden scored 24, 42, 24 and 24 points, averaging 28.5 on 46.3 percent shooting from the floor, a 9-of-23 mark on threes and an impressive 34-of-36 performance at the charity stripe. He was also averaging 4.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.3 steals.
If there's a player in the league that can straight up kill your team's hopes and dreams, it would be James Harden.
— Dakota Schmidt (@Dakota_Schmidt) April 29, 2015
Despite the heavy workload, Harden had enough in the tank for one of his best playoff performances yet on Tuesday, helping eliminate the Mavericks with a 103-94 victory. In Harden getting something cooking, he put the Mavericks firmly on that Guy Fieri, forcing them to taste the best he had to offer.
A couple of NBA fans have a spirited debate pic.twitter.com/2ZglbfbR3s
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) April 29, 2015
Harden finished with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting, with a 4-of-8 mark from outside and a perfect 6-of-6 performance at the line. He dished eight assists, too, giving him a direct hand in 46 of the team's 103 points, good for 44.7 percent.
It wasn't just the totals, but the style with which Harden helped end Dallas's season. There was a vicious dunk through the entire defense, some trickery on the break and a major dagger from long range.
The Mavericks had few answers for Harden throughout, exposing a major need with the Dallas core. In five games, the Rockets were a plus-26 in Harden's 180 minutes and a minus-5 in the 60 minutes he sat. There are few players in the league capable of slowing down a player of Harden's singular scoring ability, particularly when teammates like Dwight Howard and Terrence Jones are connecting on most of his passes.
Harden and the Rockets now await the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-San Antonio Spurs series, with Matt Barnes and Kawhi Leonard, respectively, surely itching for the chance to play health inspector and close Harden's kitchen.