James Harden Has Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain in Game 5 vs. Warriors

James Harden has nothing left to prove in the 2015 NBA postseason.

The Houston Rockets might hope their superstar shooting guard has a few miracles left in him, but the 25-year-old has already quieted his biggest critics.

No matter where the Rockets go from here—either bowing out in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals to the Golden State Warriors or winning their fifth consecutive elimination game—the gorilla on Harden's back is gone.

Both his play style and track record have made the bearded baller a popular punching bag come playoff time. Critics have wondered aloud whether his free-throw-dependent game was built for the league's ultimate proving ground. Given the way he's previously wilted under basketball's brightest lights, there seemed to be some validity to that sentiment.

His first two postseason runs as Houston's alpha dog were derailed in the opening round. And his underwhelming effort in both series (combined 38.3 percent shooting and 4.0 turnovers per game) only increased the fear that he might be a regular-season specialist.

Those appearances, remember, were preceded by his disappearing act in the 2012 NBA Finals with the Oklahoma City Thunder. During that series, Harden averaged just 12.4 points per game on 37.5 percent shooting.

But the definition of "Playoff Harden" is changing. Rapidly.

Not only has the MVP runner-up found a way to carry over his regular-season success, but he's actually increased his production in several statistical categories.

Period	PPG	FG%	3P%	RPG	APG	PER
Regular Season	27.4	44.0	37.5	5.7	7.0	26.7
Playoffs	28.0	44.9	39.4	5.7	7.7	26.4

"Regardless of how this series ends, you have to be bullish on the Rockets' future," wrote Red94's Justin Wehr. "There is no longer any reasonable doubt that Harden is good enough to be the best player on a championship team."

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Harden's playoff transformation is that nothing has really changed. He's playing his game and executing it at an extremely high level against defenses that are solely focused on stopping him.

Houston is running everything through Harden. He has nearly 200 more points than the Rockets' next-best scorer (448 to Dwight Howard's 260). Harden has almost three times more assists than any of his teammates (123 to 45 each by Josh Smith and Jason Terry).

The Rockets aren't sneaking Harden around the defense and buying him easy looks. They're asking the chef to cook up his own offense. More than 67 percent of his shots are coming after he takes at least three dribbles. Incredibly, his field-goal percentage is at its highest when he pounds out seven or more dribbles before letting it fly (49.5).

There's no mystery in this method. The Rockets are daring teams to stop him—and they're winning that bet. Harden alone can't carry them past the Warriors, but Houston's superstar has certainly played the part in this series.

Just look at what Harden has done against the Dubs: 32.0 points on 50.6 percent shooting (48.0 percent from deep), 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.

Remarkable, right? It gets better.

All of those numbers are coming against a Golden State team that ranked first in both defensive efficiency and field-goal percentage against in the regular season. On paper, the Warriors roster is littered with presumed Harden-stoppers: 2014-15 All-Defensive first-teamer Draymond Green, 2013-14 All-Defensive first-teamer Andre Iguodala, All-Star Klay Thompson and former lottery picks Harrison Barnes and Shaun Livingston.

The Dubs have thrown length, strength and athleticism in Harden's path. Their defensive game plans have been crafted by the genius mind of assistant coach Ron Adams, who formerly served as Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau's defensive guru.

Golden State should have what it takes to bother Harden. And yet he's still putting up those numbers even after his brutal Game 3 performance (17 points on 3-of-16 shooting).

In fact, that frustrating evening only seemed to make him more dangerous. With Houston facing a win-or-stay-home scenario in Game 4, Harden piled up a career playoff-high 45 points while drilling 13 of his 22 field-goal attempts and seven of his 11 long-range looks. When the Warriors started chipping away at Houston's 27-point lead, Harden always found a way to pump the brakes on Golden State's runs.

"The Warriors cut the Rockets' lead to single digits seven times in the second half. On five of those, Harden either scored or assisted in the following play," wrote SB Nation's Jesus Gomez. "Every time the Warriors got any momentum going Harden was there to slow them down."

And Harden didn't step outside of his comfort zone to supply those game-savers. Rather, he forced his comfort zone onto the game's grandest stage:

"I always want to take it out on my opponent, in a good way," Harden said after Game 4, via ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins. "Just being aggressive, like I said, taking shots, getting to the basket, not really forcing anything and allowing the game to come to me."

Harden has had a couple of deer-in-headlights moments, but for the most part, he's looked comfortable. And that's a pretty terrifying thought given the massive burden he's carrying.

He is pacing the entire league in playoff points, assists and free-throw attempts. Only Stephen Curry and Kyle Korver have launched more three-pointers than Harden's 104. He is tied for seventh overall and ranks second among perimeter players with six double-doubles.

Harden's playoff numbers have never been better in terms of both quantity and quality. They've never carried a bigger impact, either, with Houston avoiding elimination four different times already and making its first Western Conference Finals appearance since 1997.

The funny—or scary—thing is Harden has never cared less about statistics.

"The first year, I was excited to be averaging a lot of points and taking a team to the playoffs," Harden said in January, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. "Now, there's a bigger picture. We have so much talent in this locker room, so great an opportunity to achieve something that I've only done once, and that's to get to the Finals."

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

History says that opportunity doesn't actually exist.

No NBA team has ever climbed out of the 0-3 series hole the Rockets fell into this round. And there's nothing to suggest that the Warriors—who became just the eighth team in league history to post a double-digit point differential (plus-10.1) during their franchise-record 67-win campaign—will become the first club to blow a lead like that.

But Houston has played its best when it's been backed into a corner. And Harden enters Wednesday's Game 5 collision with as little pressure as a franchise face can feel in an elimination bout.

If the Rockets somehow live to fight another day, Harden's soaring stock will only grow exponentially. If the Warriors capture their 46th home victory in 49 chances, it would be difficult to paint that as a failure on any Houston player's part. The Rockets would obviously lose the series, but that wouldn't erase what strides they made this season, nor would it diminish the importance of Harden's breakout playoff campaign.

As far as legacies are concerned, Harden has already moved his narrative in the right direction. Any progress from this point would be an added bonus to what's been a memorable, magical, critic-silencing run.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.

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