The Weekside: Revisiting how bad James Harden was in the 2012 NBA Finals

A 22-year-old James Harden had a disastrous Finals in 2012. After averaging 18.5 points per game off the bench in the Western Conference finals — including a remarkable 30 points on 13 shots performance in Game 2 — he averaged just 12.4 points on 37.5% shooting during the five-game, championship-deciding series. Overall, he shot 18-for-48 (37.5%), including 7-for-22 (31.%) on 3s.

While wasn’t the sole reason that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook missed out on a ring — and LeBron James got his first — the Oklahoma Thunder needed him to step up and be the super sixth man he had been all season.

Instead, they got very, very little.

And since the Thunder gave him away for peanuts the following summer (to avoid paying a huge luxury tax), Harden will forever have to live with the fact that he made just 9 of his final 31 shots (29.0%) in an Oklahoma City uniform as the team coughed up the last three games of the Finals and watched the Miami Heat celebrate.

He will always have to wonder why he shot so poorly.

This week, a rumor emerged that may shed a bit more light on the situation.

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders claimed that James Harden had some late nights on South Beach during those Finals, and that this was problematic enough that it may have factored into the Thunder’s decision to trade him away that summer.

Players, particularly young players in big games, have bad series. It isn’t uncommon and there is often no way to explain a poor performance.

So who knows if Harden actually just shot badly because that happens to even great players on occasion or if had something to do with him taking too many shots while enjoying some night life when he should have been trying to get some rest.

Either way, as bad as Harden played in that Finals, plenty have been worse.

J.R. Smith of last year springs to mind.

Of course, he is one player who is well also known to enjoy the nightlife. Lil’ Wayne, for example, recently recounted a fascinating tale of intrigue between him, J.R. Smith, and two women in Las Vegas, so we know he likes to have a good time.

As with Harden, there is no real way to know if and when such things can affect performance. Nor is there any pubic accounts that J.R. was out and about during the championship series against the Golden State Warriors last season.

But we do have numbers. And they show that both guys have been to one Finals and that both guys performed horribly after getting there.

But just how horribly?

To find out, let’s look at the worst shooting performances in the past 10 NBA Finals, ranked below from “best” to most horrific (with a minimum of 30 field-goal attempts).

In such an analysis, James Harden actually doesn’t rank as poorly as might be expected. He barely cracks the top 20. And although most of the players below him are bit players there are some marquee names as well: LeBron James (who along with several of his teammates shot ghastly throughout his fist Finals while getting pummeled by the Spurs), Ray Allen (who … what? … is on this list?), and Manu Ginobili (who probably doesn’t deserve any actual scorn since he was actually great from behind the arc, but just awful on 2-pointers, in 2007).

Really, the list below, more than adding a ton of insight into Harden’s poor play, reveals two main things.

First, both the 2009 and 2010 Finals were brick-fests. Seven of the worst 20 Finals shooting performances in the past decade came from those two series. And there are a few others who put up sub-40% shooting with a lot of attempts and barely missed the cut.

Second, the whole 2015 Cavs Finals team, aside from LeBron, shot like they were drunk even during games. The three worst shooters of the past 10 Finals — Iman Shupert, Matthew Dellavedova, an J.R. Smith — all played on that team. And they were by far the worst three on the list, each shooting below 32%. Shumpert, the worst of all, barely hit one-fourth of his attempts.

Looking at these numbers, it’s no wonder that LeBron — seeing all the bricks and seeing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love wearing suits on the bench — played so far out of character and forced up nearly 33 shots per game in a futile attempt to keep up with Steph Curry and the Warriors.

20. Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics – 2008 Finals

FGs: 20-for-53 (37.7%)
3PTs: 0-for-3 (0%)

19. Courtney Lee, Orlando Magic – 2009 Finals

FGs: 12-for-32 (37.5%)
3PTs: 2-for-11 (18.2%)

18. James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder – 2012 Finals

FGs: 18-for-48 (37.5%)
3PTs: 7-for-22 (31.%)

17. Rafer Alston, Orlando Magic – 2009 Finals

FGs: 21-for-57 (36.8%)
3PTs: 3-for-19 (15.8%)

16. Ray Allen, Boston Celtics – 2010 Finals

FGs: 33-for-90 (36.7%)
3PTs: 12-for-41 (29.3%)

15. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs – 2007 Finals

FGs: 18-for-49 (36.7%)
3PTs: 10-for-23 (43.5%)

14. Rasheed Wallace, Boston Celtics – 2010 Finals

FGs: 15-for-41 (36.6%)
3PTs: 5-for-21 (23.8%)

13. Sasha Pavlovic,  Cleveland Cavaliers – 2007 Finals

FG: 16-for-44 (36.4%)
3PTs: 5-for-12 (41.7%)

12. Boris Diaw, San Antonio Spurs – 2014 Finals

FGs: 12-of-33 (36.4%)
3PTs: 3-for-9 (33.3%)

11. Andrew Bynum, Los Angeles Lakers – 2009 Finals

FGs: 12-for-33 (36.4%)
3PTs: 0-for-0 (0%)

10. Devin Harris, Dallas Mavericks – 2006 Finals

FGs: 16-for-44 (36.4%)
3PT: 0-for-3 (0%)

9. Metta World Peace, Los Angeles Lakers – 2010 Finals

FGs: 26-for-72 (36.1%)
3PTs: 11-for-32 (34.4%)

8. Jason Williams, Miami Heat – 2006 Finals

FGs: 18-for-50 (36.0%)
3PTs: 10-for-29 (34.5%)

7. Trevor Ariza, Los Angeles Lakers – 2009 Finals

FGs: 20-for-56 (35.7%)
3PTs: 10-for-24 (41.7%)

6. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2007 Finals

FGs: 32-for-90 (35.6%)
3PTs: 4-for-20 (20.0%)

5. Jerry Stackhouse, Dallas Mavericks – 2006 Finals

FGs: 22-for-62 (35.5%)
3PTs: 7-for-19 (36.8%)

4. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2007 Finals

FGs: 13-for-37 (35.1%)
3PTs: 0-for-o (0%)

3. J.R. Smith, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2015 Finals

FGs: 24-for-77 (31.2%)
3PT: 15-for-51 (29.4%)

2. Matthew Dellavedova, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2015 Finals

FGs: 15-for-53 (28.3%)
3PT: 6-for-26 (23.1%)

1. Iman Shumpert, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2015 Finals

FGs: 11-for-43 (25.6%)
3PT: 8-for-25 (32.0%)

Words With Friends

This week’s five must-read articles about the NBA. Excerpts here — click through to read the full piece.

1. The Oral History of the 1996 Chicago Bulls
by Alex Wong, Complex

Michael is isolated against Cedric, he’s palming the ball and gives him a bunch of jab fakes. He’s telling him, “Why are you wearing that number? Why you wear my number, man? You make my number look bad. Take that off.” Then boom, he dunks on him and says, “Take my number off. Don’t ever wear my number again.”

2. The Island of Kawhi: Leonard gives second wind to Spurs’ dynasty
by Lee Jenkins, Sports Illustrated

He was the baby of the family, minded by four older sisters, who stood in long lines to buy his Air Jordans and prophesied in home videos his athletic feats. At seven, Kawhi interrupted an annual physical to inform his pediatrician that he planned to play in the NBA. “Do you know how many kids come in this office and say that?” the doctor smirked. It is possible that Kawhi has not uttered an audacious word since.

3. Metta World Peace Grew Up Around Hip-Hop Greats — Now He Wants to Be One
by Jeff Weiss, L.A. Weekly

Metta remembers when the Mamba visited his hotel room to spit lyrics that he’d just jotted down — which became a never-recorded cypher session. “He liked one of my songs, so he came to my room and we flowed,” Metta says smiling. “He’s so much better than me … so good with words. He ought to write a movie.” Despite becoming an L.A. legend in his own right, Metta forever remains inextricably linked to his upbringing — the neighborhood of just 7,000 that produced some of the greatest musicians ever. “It was pretty insane. Whether on the courts or on the mic, everyone was competitive and trying to be on top,” Metta says. “If you can be the best from Queensbridge, and actually make it out, then you must be pretty good.”

4. Living With A Disability In The Basketball World, and Assessing What Lies Ahead
by Keith Schlosser, Ridiculous Upside

During one game at the Barclays Center last year (in a similar media setup to the one above), I lost my footing after putting one leg in front of the seat, then attempting to sit and carry the second leg over. My already placed leg fell further between the rows, and I got stuck. Having to ask for assistance carefully back up while I was in this awkward position, from colleagues who are supposed to respect my work and treat me as an equal, was humiliating. There’s a constant struggle (in this case, at games, but generally, in life) that I often hate to admit, because instinctively, one would think others could be insensitive to the issue. As I walk with a limp, I know people observe and wonder why.

5. Almost a champ: Jermaine O’Neal on leaving the Warriors
by Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated

Last June, Jermaine O’Neal stood in his living room, watching what could have been. On his flat screen, old teammates hopped and hugged and celebrated. After a 40-year drought, the Warriors were NBA champions. Out came Adam Silver, hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Back at his house in Southlake, Texas, O’Neal watched, silent. His 15-year-old daughter, Asjia, stared at him. “Are you OK?” she asked, finally. O’Neal didn’t answer.

Emmanuel Mudiay Is What to Watch

Emmanuel Mudiay hasn’t had an ideal rookie year. Since his path to the pros has been atypical from the start, perhaps this was to be expected.

His earliest years were spent in a war-torn Congo before moving to the United States when he was five years old. Then, more than a decade later, after a highly touted prep stint, the All-American opted to go earn a $1 million paycheck playing in China rather than playing for free for the NCAA. While that seems like a much better plan — seeing more of the world, not being an unpaid laborer — it may have left him a bit unprepared for the NBA.

There were never — and still are not — any questions about the 6’5″ point guard’s skills or potential. But after getting drafted 7th overall by the Denver Nuggets, he didn’t thrive.

Early on, Mudiay’s playmaking was suspect. He averaged just 5.9 assists, compared to 3.6 turnovers, per game in November, and he didn’t show the savviness that many had expected from such an accomplished high school ball handler. Worse still was his dreadful shooting. Mudiay made just 31.1% of his attempts from the field in November and was a woeful 20.8% from 3-point range — even while continuing to hoist up 3.3 looks from deep per night.

It wasn’t all a disaster. There were always flashes of brilliance.

Early on, Mudiay had a signature clutch performance in a win over the Trail Blazers, clearly showing everyone in the building that he has the abilities to be one of the best players in a freshmen class that looks to be the best since 2003 and perhaps the deepest ever.

But before getting a chance to really improve, Mudiay suffered a sprain ankle and missed 14 games. He was resigned to the bench. And the stats were just there, staring him in the face and looking so bad that there was no way to dodge reality: He had been a failure as a professional so far. Even with all his confidence, he had to be having some doubts about how he would turn everything around.

Then he did.

Somehow, a little bit after the All-Star break, things started to fall into place.

Over his last eight games, Mudiay is averaging 19.4 points per game and has made 62 of his last 136 (45.6%) shots, including a stunning 15-for-36 (41.7%) from 3-point range.

Better than his numbers is the fact that the Nuggets have gone 5-3 this month, including a four-game winning streak. They haven’t beaten any impressive squads (besting the Lakers, Mavericks, Knicks, Suns, and Wizards), but the team is scoring a ton of points (Denver has scored at least 110 points in each of the past eight outings) and the players are having a ton of fun on the court.

When Mudiay is grooving — like he was in a 30-point outing against the Suns a week ago — it’s a joy to watch. His athleticism, size, strength, ball-handling, and craftwork are a rare combination. He stands out on the court even when he isn’t doing anything highlight worthy.

And now he’s finally putting those skills and that presence to good use.

Will it continue? Who knows. It has only been eight games.

If it does continues, the hopes of this young, internationally flavored Nuggets team are looking up in a major way. But even if it doesn’t continue, he most definitely is on a roll now.

And that is even more of a reason to skip some March Madness over the next few weeks to watch someone who did just that.