In a fight to save their season, the Cleveland Cavaliers responded with the kind of urgency that shows they really wanted to win. They put up a stiff resistance from the opening tip, enough to secure a 16-point lead going into halftime.
The Detroit Pistons made a run in the third that swung the momentum, but it was veteran guard James Harden who came up big down the stretch. In the final 1:30 of the game, he went off for seven straight points to stave off Detroit and put the Cavaliers on the board with their first win of the series (116-109). In total, he finished with 19 points, two rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and zero blocks on 54.2% shooting and 25.0% shooting from three. After it was all said and done, he gave a special message to the haters, who had been on his case after a rough start.
“What chatter? What chatter? I play basketball, and whatever this team needs me to do, I’m gonna go out there and do it,” said Harden. “I let the game play out in the 4th quarter, my name is called, so I go to work. They made a run, down 17, but we’ve seen it before, so we stayed composed and won the game. That’s what we did.”
The Cavaliers didn’t have a smooth ride to the Conference Finals. It took a grueling seven-game series against the Raptors to advance, and they nearly dropped the ball. Along the way, Harden has been struggling to meet his standards, averaging 20.6 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game on 45.3% shooting in the first round. The worst of it came after Game 2 against the Pistons, when Harden finished with just 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and zero blocks on 23.1% shooting.
The win today is a major relief for both Harden and the Cavaliers, but there is still much work to be done. With Game 4 set for Monday, the Cavaliers can’t afford to celebrate today’s results for long, and Harden knows that preparations must begin now to build on their recent success.
“This is basketball. This is the highest level of basketball, so that team is going to make a run. They’re a very good team, especially defensively. We just have to get a good shot, don’t turn the basketball over, and rebound the ball. I think we did a much better job of that tonight, but we have to be better going into Game 4.”
The Cavaliers took their first step toward a series victory today, but the Pistons still have all the momentum. Up 2-1, with the Pistons holding home court advantage, the pressure is on Cleveland to do what they have not been able to do in the series: win on the road. It’s going to be a tough fight for the Cavaliers, but Harden is feeling optimistic after his latest victory.
“Each game is its own series. So they won two games at home, but we felt we had opportunities to win and just didn’t do it. Tonight we did that. Game 4 will be the same way, but we don’t expect any of these games to be blowouts. They’re going to be competitive, so if we can lock in and do the small details, we’ll get the advantage.”
For a Cavaliers team that’s disappointed in multiple playoff runs, this is an opportunity to change the narrative. Of course, the same can be said for James Harden, given his own history of playoff defeats. Still, this win means nothing if the Cavaliers go on to lose this series.
That’s why Harden and his teammates must not get complacent. Now that they’ve avoided the sweep, they have to tighten up on their mistakes (like 15 team turnovers) to avoid giving the enemy easy opportunities. If they can do that, they may yet seize control of the series. For now, at least, Harden is going to relish the moment as he disproves all the playoff narratives.
