James Harden has been one of the most electric players in the NBA for almost a decade now. The former MVP is one of the best scorers we have seen in the game, with nobody from the modern era coming close to him in terms of volume scoring. However, volume scorers start struggling as they age because they keep losing the physical gifts that made them unstoppable at a point.
The same seems to be happening with Harden, as he has struggled mightily in the 2022 NBA Playoffs and hasn’t looked like the Harden of old since his final full season with the Houston Rockets.
Former NBA Champion Kendrick Perkins spoke about Harden’s ineffective performances in their series against Toronto Raptors and declared that it looks like ‘Father Time’ has caught up with Harden.
“Father Time hits everybody at a different time in their career. I think Father Time has caught James Harden right now in front of our very own eyes. James Harden doesn’t have the speed or the explosiveness to get by guys. He’s unable to get to the rim and finish through contact. He’s not even able to get separation to get his three-point shot off. I get it, everybody wants to say Doc Rivers needs to put him in a position to be successful, but at the end of the day, James Harden has the ball in his hands. They’re running pick-and-roll actions, he’s having isolation plays, what other position can you put him in to have him go out there and succeed? Right now, the game has caught up to James Harden. This is the James Harden we are going to see from here on out.
Through the first 5 games, Harden has averaged 18.4 points, 9.2 assists, and 4.8 rebounds. This is a major drop-off even looking at his regular-season stats from this season.
While Harden may not have the ability to score like he used to, he is still an extremely effective playmaker and can run the point to create for others. But with Joel Embiid’s thumb injury, Philly will need Harden to show more scoring aggression and help them put the Toronto Raptors away after they won consecutive games to make the series a challenging 3-2 scenario for Philly.
