9 highlights from James Harden’s debut in the Cavs’ 132-126 win over the Kings
The Cleveland Cavaliers backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden came through when it mattered most. Together they scored 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead Cleveland to a 132-126 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
All’s well that ends well. The Mitchell and Harden duo struggled early in the game. They apparently didn’t want to step on each other’s toes, which resulted in a stagnant half-court offense that mostly involved swinging the ball aimlessly around the perimeter with little off-ball movement.
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The four-guard starting lineup with Tyson and Sam Merrill, with Allen as the lone forward, didn’t do anyone any favors. I understand why you would want to go small to make things easier for Harden, but that led to him getting beat on the defensive glass and giving up 27 second-chance points.
The Cavs manage to get back into the game thanks to the bench lineups, and close with Mitchell and Harden giving their best.
Cleveland took the lead late with back-to-back 3-pointers from Harden, the last coming from a nice swing by Mitchell from the corner to a wide open Harden.
Both are such talented offensive pieces that draw so much attention to the ball. It’s easy to see what made pulling the trigger on this deal so tempting. The question will be, how often will we see the level of synergy that we saw in the fourth quarter.
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Meanwhile we know Harden will make life easier for Jarrett Allen.
There are few guards better than Harden at feeding his attackers. His size, strength, vision and ball placement allow him to position his big man in the perfect spot to score.
Great players make what they do well look easy. Harden did this by repeatedly finding Allen on the block and short shot to create high-percentage looks.
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“In the pick-and-roll, I feel like he found every opportunity to exploit it,” Allen said after the game. “Even though for me it wasn’t a pass, we were just creating action, creating gravity for the players to bring it to us.”
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Once Allen gets going, he can be difficult to handle. As we’ve seen throughout this season, Allen needs to be nurtured early if he wants to make a bigger impact. Harden and the Cavs made it a priority to get Allen involved. He rewarded them for doing so with 29 points on 11-12 shooting with 10 rebounds.
This trip was a great reminder of the impact Allen can have. He’s an incredibly good finisher in the box (and even converted a fade post) and is an underrated attacking midfielder when he has the ball in his hands with room to operate.
Allen’s short throw ability will be a great match Harden, who once again showed he was good when the defense doubled him.
This is one of the areas where he will help the offense the most. Harden requires the opposing defense to pass to him. This will come in handy when he shares the floor with Mitchell and anchors bench lineups.
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Harden’s patience when the double team comes and the ability to make the pass correctly, on time and on goal give screeners like Allen, Tyson and Craig Porter Jr. the ability to beat them at the short throw.
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Overall, this was a great debut for Hardeneven if it wasn’t perfect.
He, understandably, looked like someone who was trying to find his place on the floor. He wasn’t assertive in the first half and struggled to find his defensive rotations.
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Even when Harden got going in the fourth quarter, he seemed hesitant to drive to the paint, which resulted in his only two free throws coming when Sacramento fouled out in the final minute and no shot attempts at the rim. It won’t be a great scoring night for Harden if he doesn’t get to the basket and to the line early and often.
However, it shows how talented Harden is, even when he’s not at his best, he’s still incredibly valuable. The Cavs wouldn’t come close to winning this game if it weren’t for his goal in the quarter and the playmaking he displayed throughout the game.
This performance should have everyone excited about how things will look as Harden gets more acclimated with his new teammates. He finished with 23 points on 7-13 shooting with eight assists and two rebounds.
Keon Ellis was everywhere defensively. He has the rare combination of being a great individual defender and at the same time being able to get his hand on the ball whenever someone approaches him with the ball. Ellis provided three steals and a block in just 17 minutes.
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This defensive effort came in handy on a night where only a few players decided to show up. He let Mitchell and Harden’s scoring in the fourth quarter matter. This led to him landing in the closing lineup and finishing the game with a plus/minus of +20.
Dennis Schroder’s production is sorely needed. His energy and ability to get to the court are sorely missed from the backup point guard position. This was demonstrated on Saturday when he collected seven points and four assists, while being +22 in just 17 minutes.
The distribution of minutes is unbalanced. Ellis and Schroder were phenomenal and fit exactly what the team needed, but neither played more than 17 and a half minutes. Meanwhile, Porter saw just under 23. That’s not a knock on Porter, but it’s hard to see him as the superior option over either, especially on a night where Mitchell and Harden both play.
Rotations are a work in progress. Coach Kenny Atkinson probably wants to see as many different lineups as possible with the new additions, and it makes sense to reward Porter for how well he’s played recently. That said, it’s fair to point out that the lineup combinations, including the starting four-guard unit, left a lot to be desired.
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This is still Mitchell’s team. Even though he was reluctant to step on toes early in the game, he wasn’t afraid to take over at the end. Mitchell scored 29 second-half goals while shooting 11-16, while being confident of taking over in crucial moments.
Afterward, Harden praised Mitchell for doing so. He told reporter Serena Winters that Mitchell is “the leader of the team” and that he is just there to “support him and do whatever it takes to help him.”
If this experiment works, it will be because Mitchell and Harden elevate each other on the court like they did in Sacramento.