James Harden had another uneven playoff night Thursday, finishing with 10 points as the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the conference semifinals. He shot 3-for-13 from the field and committed a crucial turnover with 30 seconds left, when Cleveland was down by six.
The Cavaliers are now in a deep hole after losing both games at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, where the Pistons also won Game 1, 111-101, two days earlier. Harden, whom Cleveland acquired at the trade deadline this year to help fuel a deeper run, said after Game 2 that his team had chances but did not make shots and that he needed to pick and choose his spots better.
That was a familiar refrain. Harden scored 22 points in Game 1 on Tuesday but did it on 6-for-15 shooting, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range, while adding seven assists and seven turnovers. He opened that game 2-of-7 from the floor in the first half, scored nine points before halftime and got four of those from the free-throw line.
Game 2 also added another number to Harden's playoff ledger. Insights said it was his 20th postseason game with at least 10 shot attempts and a shooting percentage of 25% or less, breaking a tie with Bob Cousy for the most such games in the shot-clock era since 1954-55. It was the kind of line that shows how often Harden can carry an offense and how often the balance can slip the other way.
Harden said he is still trying to sort out the right mix. He described it as figuring out what works and what doesn't for the betterment of the team, while trying to find the line between being aggressive and getting teammates shots. The next chance to change the series comes Saturday, May 9, when Cleveland hosts Detroit in Game 3 at 3 p.m. ET.
