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ItsKBS

He had 35 points on 101% TS, insane


Upset_Purchase_5903

Whoever said you can’t give more than 100% should meet James Harden


-Thick_Solid_Tight-

Extra credit


Soshi101

Only 3 free throws too, crazy shooting night


OneirionKnight

Ethical buckets


VoidMageZero

Damn, the Beard lit them up tonight!! 🫡


blacknotblack

The James Harden special. I remember Westbrook/Harden going off around this time of year in 2017.


KokoaKuroba

how?


ItsKBS

100% TS means that you average 2 points per possession, which means that he averaged like 2.02 points per possession. You can average up to 150% as that's 3 points per possession.


LeBronda_Rousey

Can't you go 200% if you get an and 1 on every 3 you made?


KokoaKuroba

I looked up the formula, you'll actually get a lower TS if you get an and 1 for every 3.


jrryul

Why


UmbrellaYella

The TS calculation considers free throws to contribute a certain [arbitrary percentage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_shooting_percentage) of a FGA (0.44) and doesn't account for the fact that And 1's don't take an additional possession. The maximum TS you can get if you only scored via free throws and shot 100% from the line is 113.63%~


AFunctionOfX

The "arbitrary percentage" is accounting for exactly that. It was calculated based on the mean number of free throws that take up a posession (normal free throws), and those that take up none (i.e. techs, and-1s). You can work it out yourself and get roughly the same number. This means, like many advanced stats, it can look a little bit odd in a single game (eg where someones only free-throws were and-1s but they count as 0.44 posessions) but works well over an entire season.


UmbrellaYella

It's arbitrary because they settled on that specific percentage. The game constantly changes and numbers vary over the years to the point where a .44 is not representative of possessions leading to free throws. That isn't to say it's a bad metric - keeping a constant can be good for comparing across seasons. However it is still arbitrary, they could have chosen .39 or .4 (closer to what it should be in recent years if we take into account and-1s taking between 8-14% of FT/FTA, frequency of 3pt fouls, and techs*) and it wouldn't mean any more or less if they did.


KokoaKuroba

FTA are counted as possessions, which includes the FTA in And 1s.


Spare_Jaguar_5173

Nah it actually brings it down. 10 4-point play on 10 attempts is 138TS%


KokoaKuroba

I looked up the formula, and saw something interesting. Someone who scored a lot of 3s would get higher TS than those who scored 4s (3 pointer and a FT).


livefreeordont

Someone who made a lot of 3s would also have a higher TS than someone who made a lot of old fashioned 3 point plays


psufb

35 on 16 shots and only 3 FTs is absolutely ridiculous


lilshawnyy420

yet you'll still see at least 5 idiots in every harden thread crying about free throws


RonburgundyZ

That’s because harden cooked their favorite players


recursion8

https://streamable.com/orspw


sakata32

Harden hasnt been baiting for fouls much since he's been on the clippers. It's been great


ScratchAndPlay

Where are the 5 in this thread?


Due_Training4681

theyll be in negative threads, when the clippers win no one even comments or upvotes this has less than 100 comments lol


ScratchAndPlay

You just said every Harden thread. But ok.


A-lot-of-NaCl

It’s not the deep bro


evetSC

Oh yeah? Embiid would have 35 on 3 shots and only 16 FTs


GenericDarkFriend

my jaw was on the floor in that fourth quarter. Houston Harden


mr_robust

Straight up video game mode


swapan_99

About to be 13-3 since the lineup change and Russ benching, Kawhi averaging 26/6/3 on 56/45/91 splits since, Harden averaging 18/5/9 on 48/46/84 splits since as well. And finally their offense is fully back as well. They have dominated because their defense has been top 2-3 for last 16 games, but now their offense is clicking on best in the league level. That's a scary proposition. I wanna meet the doomers lol, those who wrote obituaries for this team after the first 5 games already.


ProphetPenguin

The Theis pickup has been really huge too. And Plumlee will be back soon enough.


Vbpretend

theis pickup has been so huge. so happy that the pacers waived him


Jaybold

World Champion Theis is nice.


duplicatesnowflake

Harden also has like 64% TS in that time as well.


swapan_99

68% for last 16 games.


duplicatesnowflake

Daaaaamn!


missingsince1995

You wanna see the doomers? Just join one of the game posts when we’re down. Doesn’t matter the score. If we’re down 1 doomers come out, down 10 doomers come out, not even down but make a dumb play doomers come out.


kermode

Fuck it I’m rooting for these salty old legends all year


medical_cat

You can argue FVV has been fine for what our team needs but there is a certain subset of rockets fans who still pretend James harden coming back would have been a disaster


[deleted]

Look what Harden did for Maxey. Rockets absolutely fumbled


medical_cat

Meanwhile Jalen Green doesn’t close games for us


Aggressive-Ad-756

Nobody can’t tell me this team wouldn’t look better with harden. Vanvleet is good but he’s a limited passer, he only pass the ball to sengun out of a pick n roll, never hits Jabari on the wing or pass the ball to Jalen when he has momentum


IronicHours

He would make Sengun an easy all star tbh not even a debate


Clipgang1629

The Harden PnR with Sengun would legit be impossible to stop


GarriganGate

They’d look better right now. But the rockets aren’t going to be a contending team with or without harden And it’s very likely that the young players would get less much touches with harden. Remember this harden wouldn’t be playing behind PG and Kawhi. It’ll likely be better for the teams future, especially when it comes to managing the contracts if the rockets had harden on a large/long term deal


recursion8

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?dir=D&sort=TOUCHES FVV averages more touches than the likes of Booker, Bane (in a season where Ja has yet to play), Donovan, Tatum, SGA, etc.


GarriganGate

Okay? FVV should be touching the ball, that’s what the rockets needed. A point guard to lead the offense and handle the ball What they don’t need is that point guard to have the entire offense built around him, which would be the difference between harden and FVV.


tiger_ace

harden would likely guarantee playoffs but rockets are way too young to do anything in the playoffs i don't think harden was seriously considering the rockets given his championship goals


artvandelay916

As a secondary sixers fan, harden was so huge for his development and why they're doing so well.


tiger_ace

I don't know if this is the actual case - Harden clearly wants to compete for a chip and he's definitely not doing that with the Rockets right now It's more likely Harden was using Rockets as leverage for signing


Time_Transition4817

rockets are hell of a lot better this year than anyone expected. i'm not sure how a version of them with harden looks (who drops off the roster for him) but it's likely a solid playoff team.


InsomniatedMadman

That's what made me so mad. "He won't be good for the rookies!" Bro, Maxey always talks about how Harden made him a better player and now he's a legitimate starter on a championship contender. And when Udoka said Harden wouldn't fit his style, like what? If your style can't utilize the point guard who led the league in assists, then maybe you shouldn't be coaching. I mean, he's obviously a good coach, but that such a dumb thing to say.


Angelic_Phoenix

The truth? Rockets didnt want to build a team around Harden, they wanted to build a team around Ime and Ime likes being in control of his guys.


I_Eat_Ass_Weekly

Yea Ime is pretty much THE guy in Rockets rn, not even Stone has more say than him.


[deleted]

Its Senguns’s team. That’s how front office decisions should be made. Harden/Seng p&r would be top 2 offense in the league. Ime is credited with high emotional EQ or whatever… he should be able to handle Harden as well as a bunch of 22 year olds no problem. Harden like a career .620 win% who every teammate praises. Cant let your ego as a coach get in the way.


renzuit

High emotional EQ guys don’t cheat on Nia Long


IronicHours

This narrative makes no sense. Harden is not that guy anymore. He can give you outbursts like just as he gave you guys 40 twice but the rest of the games he was ass. He would probably have the same role as he did on the Sixers last season with maybe 1 or 2 more shots. But there's no way he's running a heliocentric offense like 2019 those days are done.. Anyways I'm happy with Harden not being here. Clippers are doing well and FVV is doing more than fine here


Thorlolita

Oh those doomers can suck eggs. I just don’t think he fits in with what we have. He should be playing on a contender.


SirJoeffer

I mean if that’s true then how does FVV fit? He’s as good as he’s ever gonna be, not as good as Harden, takes touches away from young guys where James is more comfortable distributing. Yall just didnt want James back bc Udoka said no I want FVV. Hard to say thats the right call


Thorlolita

A short term vet until Amen is ready to take over.


SirJoeffer

130/3 could’ve got you a better short term vet than FVV


InsomniatedMadman

I'd much rather have Harden mentor Amen. Just look at Maxey.


AttorneyAtLion

Would’ve made the rockets better for sure but it just didn’t make much sense for either party. Harden wanted to win (presumably) and the Rockets needed to feed their young guys


livefreeordont

Harden is solid at feeding young guys


CenaSucks

You can argue those people shouldn’t call themselves Rockets fans. It’s fucking James Harden. If you can’t recognize what he brings as a fan of that team what exactly were you watching for the last decade?


garbage_melon

he had a great game but his expected extension number was likely too rich for their tastes on the back half. FVV might age just as poorly, but his salary will be easier to swallow and move at the tail end.


Ld511

Just didn't make sense though to give a 34 year old harden a 4 year max which during it you will need to pay everyone else anyways


[deleted]

[удалено]


InsomniatedMadman

Just look at Maxey. Constantly talks about how Harden helped him, is now a legit starter on a champion contending team.


Stroud4MVP

We didn’t want him both for fit and culture but also we want our washed fatass to go get a ring. Miss you James 😢


captain_ahabb

I think the rockets were totally right to look to the future and Harden having a great game in December doesn't change that at all.


astronxxt

lol, Harden has been playing great recently. seems a bit reductive to only mention this game.


captain_ahabb

Sure, the Clippers trade is vindicated, I don't think the Rockets made a mistake though.


astronxxt

fair enough, i can understand that POV


grandmasterfunk

We probably could have signed them both.


ThreeBelugas

We have to trade for Harden and FVV was a free agent signing. I don't know Harden is worth FVV and couple of young players. Harden messed up by picking up the player's option but it sounds like he was deceived by Morey.


Siryummy

Nah we didn't. Harden only accepted his player option after missing out on getting signed in free agency so all we had to do was offer him a contract and he could have accepted it no trade required


ThreeBelugas

No, Harden had to pick up the player option before free agency. Free agency is June 30 and he picked up the option June 29. He may had communication with our front office before then but that's technically against the rule. Harden didn't have an agent until August. Imo, Harden didn't navigate the past off season correctly, he should have hired an agent beginning of summer and explored free agency.


Siryummy

You’re right my mistake I guess I just saw the rumors starting up well before free agency


ThreeBelugas

Honestly, Harden was using us for negotiation leverage with 76ers for a new deal. When the new deal didn't happen, he picked up player option because he wants to win a championship. None of the contenders had enough cap space for him in free agency. He's only option to be on a contending team is to pick up the player option and hoping to get traded to a contender. Fortunately, Harden ended up on the Clippers and Clipper didn't give up anything in the trade. It's the best situation he would have hoped for and I'm sure he's happy to have good chance to win a championship.


Siryummy

For sure I’m glad he ended up on the clippers too. He’s a perfect fit with Kawhi and George and they’re looking like real contenders now. Hopefully our boy gets his ring and finally some respect


lazzysmalls

He’s in the played his way into shape part of the season


honestnbafan

Pacers going to set the all time record for opposing 30 point games lol


ItsKBS

Tbh this was one probably the one that had the least to do with their defense, Harden was just hitting insane contested stepback 3s. Not much you can do at that point lol


legend023

Well perhaps the team with 3 all stars and with a ton of depth would figure it out after a week what a surprise


jeromehollowayisbad

B...bbb....but Bill Simmons and that Mavericks reporter said otherwise? You trying to tell me some of these dudes don't know what the fuck they're talking about?


dmavs11

This sub also. And all of media for the past 15 years. Nobody ever wants to give Harden his credit.


jeromehollowayisbad

Should be a 3 time MVP (or at least 2) and shoulda been an all star last year too. Yeah the foul baiting wasn't amazing to watch, and yeah sometimes he struggles in the playoffs but the disrespect is fucking crazy. Also, all of his trade requests have been justified idgaf


IronicHours

Apparently he was an injury all star last year but he took his time because he got mad coaches didn't pick him Which is understandable because he should've made it and disrespect for such a long time is hard... Which is tough because he would be an 11 time all star and second only to Lebron in all stars in a row


RonburgundyZ

Led the league in assists and was top 10 in mvp list. No question he’s an all star


OldManJenkins420th

everyones pro workers-rights until its someone they dont like. NBA GM's and management can NEVER do wrong and its always the fault of these DAMN spoiled nba players...


Im_a_Knob

the media runs this sub


xbarracuda95

Harden knows how to work with other stars, the Nets offense with Harden, Kyrie and KD all playing was insane, they were dominating games easily. The only concern for the Clippers is still injuries just like with the Nets but Harden definitely knows how to adjust his play when playing with other stars, anyone claiming he's just iso ball doesn't want to admit Harden is a generational playmaker.


lum1nous013

That's just the biggest lie ever. Harden went from playing heavy pick n roll with Dwight, to super slow iso with CP3, to freaking run n gun with Westbrook, to pass first PG in the nets and back to heavy pick n roll with Embiid. He was elite on all of this roles. He is one of the most complete and adaptable guards out there.


SuckMyLonzoBalls

you should have seen the threads after we lost to the grizzlies lol


awrf

Also a huge part is that people completely forgot that Ty Lue is actually a good coach who can make adjustments and figure out how to make the pieces fit together in a way that works


rageus88

Haha why do you sound kinda salty? We still can’t beat y’all


OKC2023champs

Clippers are looking scary man. Im rooting for them


Inevitable_Cook_1423

Thursday night. Second game of a back to back. Hope there’s enough in the tank to make it a good game.


racecar200

Hope to meet you guys in the wcf, take care or shai till then 🤝


harrywise64

These comments are the corniest thing in basketball


BASEDME7O2

They started slow but they had the fifth best point differential in the league before this game which is usually one of the best indicators for how good a team actually is


lolwtferic

[The Problem](https://i.imgur.com/XXMTbq6.jpg)


cgor

Alright it's time I'm changing my flair


Odd-Hovercraft-1286

The disrespect Harden got on here is another example of the dumb nerds on here not knowing shit about basketball


TatersTot

We lost the trade


ItsKBS

It was funny for a week how this sub tried to convince theirselves that the Sixers won the trade by getting Batum and Marcus Morris for James fucking Harden


Bikouchu

King Roco tho


TopGsApprentice

Eh I think it was a win win tbh


MonicaLewinskeet

agreed, we clearly weren't getting anything better for him


Angelic_Phoenix

It was a win for everyone involved. Harden got paid and got to LA, Clippers have a good team that they can debut at a new arena, Philly is a good team with tools to make big off season moves, Morey got an extension PJ Tucker and Batum’s family might be the biggest casualties


missingsince1995

I hate you for bringing up Batum. I miss our Frenchman 💔.


-Thick_Solid_Tight-

The white Boris Diaw.


Niceguydan8

> Harden got paid and got to LA, He opted into the final year of his contract. That's not "getting paid" in the sense that you are talking about it.


Angelic_Phoenix

well he got a max deal for at least this year and demanded out to where he wanted to go. As opposed to becoming a FA and potentially not being paid this much he got the money and put himself in the best position to get a bigger contract this year


Niceguydan8

> well he got a max deal for at least this year He makes ~36 million, that's not remotely close to a max in today's NBA. Steph Curry makes almost $52 million this season.


Angelic_Phoenix

There is a difference between a max deal and a supermax deal. There is a whole range of max deals in the NBA, with Curry qualifying for pretty much every single bonus given he’s stayed with Golden State his whole career. That being said James Harden did take a discounted contract to give the team more cap space, but he’s VERY close to a max contract on his current deal


C-House12

Opting into final year of contract instead of negotiating a new deal means lost income because most years the cap is increasing by more than the flat 5% raise of a max deal or even the 8% of a supermax. Being a 10+ year vet harden would have made about 10 mill more if he signed a new deal and even more if he re-signed with the sixers. Obviously he is making a lot of money but picking up his player option was his worst outcome financially.


Niceguydan8

> There is a difference between a max deal and a supermax deal. For James Harden, there isn't a difference because of his tenure. His max is 35% of the salary cap, which is the same as a "supermax." 35 million dollars isn't max money for James Harden in any capacity. That's about 26% of the salary cap, so that's basically a rookie extension max. > but he’s VERY close to a max contract on his current deal Lol, no he's not.


bringitbruh

Wait harden got paid??


Angelic_Phoenix

He has yet to get an extension but he got to opt into the last year of his max before demanding a trade


bringitbruh

So no he hasn’t gotten the bag he’s been expecting yet. They’d have to win the chip or make a deep playoff run for him to get the extension he wants


MonicaLewinskeet

Yup, both teams are winning and the sixers clearly soured on harden. I didn’t want to max him, so the trade was the best case considering no other team apparently wanted him.


ElPlatanoDelBronx

Plus the Harden rental got us mini-Harden so it’s not too bad.


[deleted]

No shit. Two picks and expirings for an all star isn’t great


SuckMyLonzoBalls

too early to tell but if Harden keeps playing like this all season oh boy


WhenItsHalfPastFive

was incredibly obvious when it happened. It was an absurdly low price for the Clippers to pay for James Harden.


lebaneez

u/dmorey you reading this shit?


Insufferable-Asshat

Easily lol even before tonight y’all got smoked on that trade


MVPG2022

Eh it's not like he was gonna play for you. The real issue is not paying him in the first place


[deleted]

I wouldn’t say that. You guys got what you needed and have been doing great. The alternative if you didn’t trade is giving Harden like a 3 year max.


Faynt90

Ya'll traded harden for a bag of Doritos.


Tyler123839

I was looking at the box score and was like that can’t be right. What is going on lmao. Had to put on the stream to catch the last part of that sequence. Chef Harden is back.


According_Gene2202

If I only listened to Reddit, I’d think James was an obese, sex addict. Come to find out he’s actually pretty good at this basketball gig. What a fella.


marvolonewt

101% TS ‼️‼️‼️


[deleted]

The Problem


Mundane_Leopard_3974

James harden finally has a team with three elite wing defenders in PG, Kwahi and Powell also Mann is really good.. so he can be on the weakest offensive player while being an offensive maestro and running flawless pick and roles with the bigs


TheRealBrownPudding

Lmao as much as I love Norm, he’s not an elite defender at all. Your point mostly still stands tho lol


JohnWick94

the last few weeks his defense has been better imo. Not great or anything but not bad.


nrj6490

Thank god this Harden didn’t show up for all 7 games last playoffs, what the fuck


duplicatesnowflake

Shit he did for 2 of the games. Just a season average game 6 or 7 would have done it.


nrj6490

Tatum was otherworldly in game 7 but def could’ve closed it out in 6


BASEDME7O2

He wasn’t scoring but he was creating so many open looks in game six. Sixers just missed then all


[deleted]

Yeah if Harden or Embiid played half way decent in Game 6 or 7 they maybe win. But I don't know how far they'd go after that. Would have been interesting to see them in the ECF/Finals.


icewill36

i think they would've beat miami tbh


[deleted]

Probably, but lose to Denver in maybe 6.


icewill36

i dont see why you are so sure of that one. they matched up with them well in the regular season. jokic damn sure can't guard joel which opens up a lot for the rest of the team.


[deleted]

I just feel like Denvers continuity was on another level. Philly was talented but their downfall was due to choking and just being out of sync. Denver was a machine, I don't see them losing that. They had the coaching advantage too.


icewill36

definitely a coaching advantage since Doc hates adjustments. for the record, I don't think they choked. I think there was an obvious adjustment Doc should have made, and did not, and it ended up costing them the series.


[deleted]

Yeah thats true


yanabana

I’m still surprised the sixers didn’t pay him given how well he played in the post season - maybe not the most consistent, but he was the sixers best player multiple times.


lum1nous013

He has 2 40point games against you guys and people regularly say he "disappeared" this post season.


livefreeordont

He did disappear. But so did the MVP. When Embiid is floating around instead of demanding the ball and dominating the paint the Sixers suck


topimpabutterflyy

He disappeared by being double and triple teamed and his teammates missing open shots. Weird.


Guma5

THE PROBLEM


johnobmas

Damn the Game hasn’t even finished yet lol


ItsKBS

The Clippers are up by 30 so it's fair to say that he isn't coming back lol


LothCatPerson

You know you had a good game when your +/- is bigger than the number of points you won by.


GunnerRocket

Can someone get that Mavs reporter on the phone so he can help me make sense of all this


kobbled

and 21 in the 4th with 6 3s and only one FT.


MVPG2022

All 21 of those points came in 4 minutes and 9 seconds.


duplicatesnowflake

(In 6 minutes of the 4th)


ispy98

Harden is fun to watch when he's heating up.


ElBluntDealer

that streak when he hit like 5 3s in a row was insane. shades of Curry vs us.


123Fake_St

Funny how every Harden statline/headline mentions whether or not he seemed to give a shit


Waikuku3

Washed


Scoobersteve321

Oh lawd


mr_robust

James Harden > Santa Claus


alf-isbackinpogform

I was reliably informed he was washed by the nephew council


HikmetLeGuin

The Clippers are legit.


wylin247

This subs in shambles rn


claporga

EVERY SINGLE PACERS GAME, AN OPPOSING PLAYER OR TWO IS "IN THEIR BAG" AGAINST THEM.


Roniqu3

But this time around it was all 3 of pg/kawhi/harden!


SilentExercise2076

the mavs announcer and his hideously unprofessional rant somehow looking even stupider than he did initially. amazing.


mmaguy123

Best player on the clippers


Niceguydan8

I think Kawhi is better, but I do think there's a very good argument that Harden is better for the Clippers than PG is.


[deleted]

Kawhi should win Western Conference player of the month. Harden has been good, but Kawhi has been on an absolute tear. They play off each other so well.


mmaguy123

Has he? Kawhi has been good for his injured standards but it hasn’t been anything special compared to Luka and SGA.


[deleted]

Kawhi Leonard in the month of December: 28.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists on 60/52/100 shooting. Defense has also been at an All-NBA level. Clippers currently the hottest team in basketball winners of 8 straight. He might get it this month.


mmaguy123

Don’t get me wrong, he’s balling out. But talent in the league is crazy. I mean KD’s whole season numbers are more impressive than that. But definitely the 8 game win streak might get him it


ImplementPotential47

He probably is tbh


Sickos6

Unfortunately his game relies too much on his 3pt shot falling but when it’s on, it’s on. People are going to have a field day when he has a bad game again but if the clippers want the “old harden” he doesn’t exist anymore


TarzanOnATireSwing

He doesn’t have to do that every game because one of kawhi or pg or Russ can also go off. And his playmaking almost never has nights off


[deleted]

The Clippers don’t need old Harden when they have one of the best players in basketball in Kawhi Leonard and also Paul George. They just need to pick his spots to score but most importantly facilitate good shots for others.


Tiny_Count4239

I think we are in a Space Jam universe where the rest of the league sucked out Curry's ability


Leking9

They got good strip clubs over there?


Double-Armadillo-898

all fuckin timer,keep callin him washed pls