James Harden's Elimination Game History

Past performance does not guarantee future results, but past performance provides a good idea of what to expect. The Philadelphia 76ers face a home elimination game versus the Miami Heat tomorrow night. What should we expect to see in that game from James Harden, the player who Daryl Morey declared to be a better scorer than Michael Jordan?  

Here are James Harden's statistics from the 11 playoff games in which his team faced elimination since he fled the Oklahoma City Thunder after losing in the 2012 NBA Finals:

6/19/21 Game Seven Eastern Conference Second Round versus Milwaukee Bucks (Brooklyn Nets lost, 115-111): 22 points, 5-17 FG (.294), 4 TO, -4 plus/minus.

9/12/20 Game Five Western Conference Second Round versus L.A. Lakers (Houston Rockets lost, 119-96): 30 points, 12-20 FG (.600), 6 TO, -29 plus/minus.

9/2/20 Game Seven Western Conference First Round versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Houston Rockets won, 104-102): 17 points, 4-15 FG (.267), 4 TO, +9 plus/minus.

5/10/19 Game Six Western Conference Second Round versus Golden State Warriors (Houston Rockets lost, 118-113): 35 points, 11-25 FG (.440), 6 TO, -10 plus/minus.

5/28/18 Game Seven Western Conference Finals versus Golden State Warriors (Houston Rockets lost, 101-92): 32 points, 12-29 FG (.414), 5 TO, -13 plus/minus. 

5/11/17 Game Six Western Conference Second Round versus San Antonio Spurs (Houston Rockets lost, 114-75): 10 points, 2-11 FG (.182), 6 TO, -28 plus/minus.

4/27/16 Game Five Western Conference First Round versus Golden State Warriors (Houston Rockets lost, 114-81): 35 points, 12-23 FG (.522), 7 TO, -27 plus/minus.

5/27/15 Game Five Western Conference Finals versus Golden State Warriors (Houston Rockets lost, 104-90): 14 points, 2-11 FG (.182), 12 TO, -4 plus/minus.

5/17/15 Game Seven Western Conference Second Round versus L.A. Clippers (Houston Rockets won, 113-100): 31 points, 7-20 FG (.350), 7 TO, +12 plus/minus.

5/2/14 Game Six Western Conference First Round versus Portland Trail Blazers (Houston Rockets lost, 99-98): 34 points, 9-15 FG (.600), 4 TO, +7 plus/minus.

5/3/13 Game Six Western Conference First Round versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Houston Rockets lost, 103-94): 26 points, 7-22 FG (.318), 4 TO, +3 plus/minus.

Totals/Averages: 26.0 ppg, 83-208 FG (.399), 5.9 TPG, -8.5 plus/minus, 2-9 team record (average point differential for Harden's team: -11.1).

When his team faced elimination, Harden has been a high volume/low efficiency shooter who turned the ball over at an alarming rate--in fact, he set the single game playoff record for turnovers (12). Great players handle the ball a lot, so many of the highest turnover games have been logged by great players, but Harden's combination of 12 turnovers with 2-11 field goal shooting in the same game is quite special. Luka Doncic had an 11 turnover playoff game, but he shot 13-21 from the field in that game. Another way to offset a high turnover rate is to make a significant contribution defensively and/or by being a great leader but--to put it mildly--Harden is not known for doing either of those things.