preface:
After Durant was absent, Harden carried the Nets' flag. In the game against the San Antonio Spurs, Harden played his signature game, contributing 37 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, and hardened Harden repeatedly staged a three-point retreat and a dunk to show his "arsenal". The game made Harden fans very happy, and it seemed that Harden had regained his former MVP status. But other fans don't think so, because that's not the norm for Harden.
Harden seems to be looming, in fact, he has not been seen, even if Harden plays such a big triple-double, still can not change the fact that he is not a top superstar.
Hit the weak teams hard
In the game where Harden scored more than 30 points this season, no team is in the top four teams in the division, and the playoff teams are only the Clippers, Lakers, and 76ers, and the other teams are all bad teams, such as the Pelicans, Magic and so on. And this time facing Spurs Harden went on a rampage again and got a gorgeous big triple-double, but the Spurs are only the thirteenth team in the West, and there is really no need to exaggerate to win a team of this level.
In fact, Harden played his worst performance since leaving the Thunder this season, averaging only 23.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game, ranking 97th in the league in true shooting. Such a bad performance, can you say he is a superstar?
In fact, fans are in the eyes, Harden did not get the All-Star starter because of his gorgeous performance against the Spurs, this season he can only be a substitute. Any player who plays a weak team can brush up on good statistics, even westbrook who has been in a slump this season has 33 points in one game and 30 points in another game against the Spurs, and Westbrook has only 18.5 points per game against the Spurs, and Harden really does not need to be happy because of such a game.
Playing strong teams is only a promise
Harden has been below expectations this season when facing direct title rivals. The Bucks played twice this season, scoring 20 points in the first game and 16 points in the second game. Facing the Warriors, one of the west's strongest opponents, Harden only scored 24 points, just above the season average. When facing opponents such as the Heat and bulls, Harden only scored 14 points. Facing a strong team is already the truest portrayal of Harden this season.
In fact, not only this season, harden played for the Rockets, often faced the strong team at a loss, for example, in the 2018-2019 season and alphabet brothers in the direct dialogue with the letter brother to compete for MVP, Harden dropped the chain, directly handed the MVP to the person, these cases are countless. This season Harden, although hardened 30+ in a row for a while, but more time is when he can't score 20 points. Every time Harden scored a high score, his fans would be very happy, and the familiar MVP Deng was back, but it wasn't long before Harden fell into a slump again. The ups and downs of the state are just his norm, and it is unrealistic to expect that the current data of 37.1 points per game is unrealistic, one is that he does not have such ability, the other is his transformation at the Nets, Nash does not want the ball He is full of firepower, but the average shooting rate of 42.1% per game is hurting the team even if the firepower is full.
The playoffs are not trustworthy
Another reason why Harden is "looming, but never seen" is that the contrast between his regular season and playoffs is too great. True superstars tend to play at their best in the playoffs, but harden gets to the playoffs and drops the chains. Every year in the regular season, Harden's data is very good, and Harden ranked second in the MVP list in the 2014-2015 season, but in the Western Conference semifinals because of poor play, the team was hidden by the team, or rely on substitute players to win the game back.
In the 2016-2017 season, Harden is still in the top three in the MVP rankings, but he was completely exploded by Leonard in the playoffs, especially by Leonard's nailed big hat and buried by Ginobili's back block to bury the game victory, which are Harden's eternal black spots. In Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Harden asked Houston fans to be on the field to watch, but the Spurs lost by more than 30 points without Leonard, and Harden had no intention of fighting early.
In the 2017-2018 season, Harden welcomed Chris Paul, but having a player like Paul around him could not fully inspire his struggle. After Paul helped the Rockets win the King's Mountain injury, Harden lost two consecutive games to give up the Western Conference Championship to the Warriors once again, especially after grabbing seven three-pointers and shooting 0 of 27, Harden still did not break through to the inside line once.
In the 2018-2019 Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors' Tianwangshan Durant was injured, which was definitely a good chance for Harden to win, but in the fourth quarter of Tianwangshan, he continued to be in a loose state, Paul's continuous attacks failed to bury the victory of the game, and the final loss of the pot still had to be backed by Paul. In the sixth game, Curry scored 0 points in the first half, which was a good time for the Rockets to win, but the other four members of the team all went to the front court, Harden was still walking in the backcourt, and the victory was given to others. In the recent playoffs, although Harden returned from the line of fire, the Nets had him as well as him, and the performance of 1 of 8 three-pointers was not as good as honestly recuperating. If I had to find a round of Harden's playoff masterpiece, I can only think of playing the Spurs in the 2012 Western Conference Finals, and I really can't find the next one.
epilogue:
Not to belittle Harden, but fans really should get used to his inefficiencies. Now Harden has become a player who hits weak teams hard in the regular season, plays strong only promises, and embarrassing big responsibilities in the playoffs. Although there was a highlight performance from time to time in the regular season, which made the fans rekindle hope, it immediately fell into a low point. Harden has never been a superstar, and perhaps his peak season averaged more points per game than Bryant, but the gap between Harden and Bryant is still like a long river that cannot be crossed. You can't give him high hopes, because he really hurt the hearts of many people, but still expect Harden to find himself and realize his dreams.