The Cleveland Cavaliers are down 2-0 to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the spotlight has very much been on James Harden in this series. Harden has been targeted defensively and has been far from his best on the offensive end as well.
Harden is likely hitting free agency after this season, and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported after Game 1 that how he performs the rest of the series could affect his contract. That report came to the attention of former NBA star Stephon Marbury, and he had an interesting reaction on Threads.
“I’m sorry, but my man quit.”
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There is no doubt Harden hasn’t played well against the Knicks, but accusing him of quitting is a bit much. We have also seen the 11-time All-Star struggle like this in the playoffs far too many times in his career, so this isn’t anything out of the ordinary.
Harden has earned a reputation for being a playoff dropper, and he’s 36 years old now. He is far likelier to serve up duds than ever before.
In Game 1, Harden put up 15 points (5-16 FG), four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block as the Cavaliers lost 115-104 in overtime. The Knicks trailed by 22 points in the fourth quarter, and targeting the former MVP on defense was what enabled them to storm back.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown admitted after the game that they were targeting Harden. Jalen Brunson kept going at him and kept scoring. Brunson would rack up 15 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson defended Harden amid all the criticism and claimed he had been one of their best defenders in the playoffs. That did little to stop the criticism, though.
Then in Game 2, Harden had 18 points (6-15 FG), six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He was targeted again on defense and could do little to slow down the Knicks. The only positive was that Harden had six turnovers in Game 1 and none in Game 2. He has been very careless with the ball in these playoffs (averaging 4.6 turnovers per game), which has been another very big criticism of him.
Now, all this said, Harden has had some good games this postseason. He notably played well after the Cavaliers went down 2-0 to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Harden averaged 24.3 points and 8.0 assists over the next three games to help them take a 3-2 lead. The Cavaliers are going to need more of that if they are to overturn this deficit against the Knicks.
As for the contract situation, Harden has a $42.3 million player option for 2026-27. McMenamin had reported that the player and team were interested in an extension when the Cavaliers acquired him from the Los Angeles Clippers back in February. They gave up 26-year-old Darius Garland to bring in Harden, and wouldn’t want to lose him for nothing. The Cavaliers also wouldn’t want to overpay, and it will be interesting to see how these negotiations pan out.
For now, though, the focus will be on this series. Game 3 tips off at Rocket Arena on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
