James Harden seemed to conquer his eternal elimination game problems by becoming one of the best playoff performances of his career to save the Los Angeles clippers in game 6 again the denver nuggets. Harden ended with 28 points, eight assists and six rebounds to accelerate the clippers to a burst victory that forced a game 7 in the Denver in the best series of the first round of the NBA playoffs of 2025.
The clippers needed Harden to be the best with game 7 in Denver. Hey, he didn’t deliver.
The Nuggets shook the clippers, 120-101, to advance to a second round confrontation against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The season ends after the first round for both NBA franchises, and the way this game was developed will do nothing to change the reputation of Harden playoffs.
Harden finished with seven points, 13 assists, five rebounds and two ball losses in 35 minutes in the defeat. He shot 2 of 8 from the field and finished -29 in the game. The Nuggets dominated each phase of the game, and the clippers certainly did not lose only by Harden. Denver’s aggressive traps expelled the ball from Harden’s hands and made him a game creator, and his teammates could not hit the shots. Even so, Harden’s complete disability to bend Denver’s defense was a great reason why the clippers failed so epic, and the narrative that tarnished his career in the Hall of Fame continues.
Harden is one of the best artists of the regular season among the guards in the history of the NBA. It is a different story in the playoffs, and especially in the elimination games. Harden had played in six games 7 before 2025. He was averaging 21.3 points and seven rebounds per game in those competitions, but has fired only 36.3 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from the three -point line on average per game.
Here is a letter history of their struggles in the elimination games:
- In 2023 as a member of the Filadelphia 76ers, Harden finished a defeat in game 7 against the Boston Celtics with nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and five ball losses in 41 minutes in 3 of 11 shots.
- In 2024 with the clippers, Harden finished with 16 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds in 5 of 16 shots in 43 minutes in a defeat against the Dallas Mavericks in game 6 of his first round series.
- In 2021 with the Brooklyn Nets, Harden shot 5 of 17 from the field and 2 of 12 of three in a defeat of game 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks. It ended with 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
- In 2015 with the Houston Rockets, Harden finished a defeat in game 5 against the Golden State Warriors with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and 12 ball losses in 2 of 11 shots from the floor.
- In 2017 with the Rockets, Harden finished the defeat of the 6 -in -school game against the San Antonio Spurs with 10 points, seven assists and six ball losses in 2 of 11 shots.
Harden has had some good elimination games, such as when he appeared for 35 points in 11 of 25 shots from the rockets in the defeat of game 6 of 2019 against the Warriors. In the bubble in 2020, it ended with 30 points (… and six ball losses) in 12 of 20 shots in a defeat of game 5 against the Lakers.
Fans had a field day with Harden’s struggles:
Every time I think the Harden playoff curriculum cannot get worse, it drops another game 7 stinking
– Kyle (@knicks_tape99) May 4, 2025
Harden really keeps his enemies fed with the duration of the postseason. As if they had been a decade of low light to choose Lol
– SJ (@sjbasketball8) May 4, 2025
Harden’s curriculum should make it one of the best two guardians in the history of the NBA. He has a legitimate statement of being a player of the first 50 of all time, and that could be conservative. Harden won the MVP of the 2018 NBA and finished second to vote for another three times. Its 2018 Rockets are one of the best teams that have not reached the finals of the NBA.
It is simply impossible to separate Harden’s incredible regular seasons from their playoffs struggles. Harden turns 36 this summer, and is certainly at the disadvantage of his career. He had another fantastic regular season for clippers, and could win an all-nba assent. Unfortunately, the way things ended were too familiar.
