James Harden: 'Offensively I Played Like S--t' in Rockets vs. Thunder Game 7

Houston Rockets guard James Harden provided ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth with a blunt assessment of his offensive performance following his team's 104-102 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder to clinch a 4-3 first-round playoff series victory.

Harden, who scored an NBA-high 34.3 points per game this season, had roughly half that in Game 7 with 17 points on 4-of-15 shooting. He missed all but one of his nine three-point attempts and committed five turnovers.

But Harden came through on the defensive end when he needed to most, blocking Lu Dort's game-winning three-point attempt with 4.8 seconds remaining and the Rockets up 103-102:

Harden had two steals and three blocks on the night.

Houston had to make one more stop down the stretch to win and did so as Oklahoma City was unable to get a shot off on its last offensive possession.

Harden shouldn't be too down on himself. After all, he averaged 31.8 points on 48.8 percent shooting and 7.8 assists in his team's first six playoff games and was the primary reason the Rockets will now be facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals instead of going home.

His offensive performance in Game 7 was not nearly up to his usual standard, but it didn't matter as his teammates picked him up. Robert Covington and Eric Gordon each scored 21 points, and Russell Westbrook added 20. Covington went 6-of-11 from three-point range. Jeff Green added 13 points off the bench.

Harden and the Rockets will begin their second-round series with the Lakers on Friday.