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James Harden Believes Cavaliers Were the Better Team After Being Swept Out of Eastern Conference Finals by Knicks
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The Knicks swept the Cavs and James Harden said the following afterward:
“Yeah it’s 4-0, but I don’t think we had a chance as far as our best shot, you know from a standpoint of the circumstances. Obviously they dominated us 4-0, but I don’t know if I can answer that question, just because genuinely I do feel like we are the better team. But series-wise we didn’t show it. Tough question to answer.”
Uhhhhhh, well yeah. Maybe if the Cavs hadn’t choked away a huge Game 1 lead this series would be still be going. But everybody knew it was over when they lost that one. There was no coming back from that. James Harden was a traffic cone on defense and there wasn’t any point in the ensuing three games where he or Donovan Mitchell was able to take over and put their mark on the series. Now we’re stuck with the Knicks in the NBA Finals, so thanks FOR NOTHING.
Sometimes you laugh at these things and sometimes you cry, and this one is the latter. This is the same Harden that we’ve seen win games basically by himself over the years. Games 1 and 4 against Boston in 2023, as a Sixers example. The guy looks like the best player in the world one night, then he looks unplayable the next night. Can’t defend, can’t hit a shot, slows the game down and screws up the flow. His ceiling is as high as his floor is low, though we’ve been seeing a lot more floor lately.
Spurs in 7, Thunder in 6. The Knicks must be stopped. They are a good team but they won’t beat San Antonio or OKC. We will be proven right in our belief that the East was not very good this year.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com