Can James Harden Shake Playoff Doldrums?

The playoffs haven’t been too kind to James Harden ever since he flopped in the 2012 NBA Finals as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Harden has failed to get out of the first round in both seasons with the Houston Rockets, and he has seen his efficiency plummet in both series.

Harden’s NBA Finals failure was a bit of a shock considering he had just finished up torching the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. But in those Finals against the Miami Heat, he averaged just 12.4 points while shooting 37.5 percent overall and 31.8 percent from three. Perhaps it was just the jitters of a young player in his first Finals.

But like I said, his last two playoff appearances haven’t been much better. Sure, his scoring was way up due to dominating the ball as a member of the Rockets, but his shooting percentages were similar. In the 2013 playoffs against his former team, he shot 39.1 percent overall and 34.1 percent from three in a six-game series loss to Oklahoma City. Not awful numbers, but certainly not good enough for a team’s star player.

Last year against the Portland Trail Blazers was worse. Harden shot just 37.6 percent overall and a dismal 29.6 percent from three on a whopping nine attempts from long range per game. Dwight Howard helped pick up the slack with a monster series, but it wasn’t enough as the Rockets lost in six games once again.

This year, Harden, a top MVP candidate, is hoping for different results.

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As the No. 2 seed, the Rockets are the favorite over the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks. And even though Houston has dealt with a ton of injuries this season, there will be little excuse for not advancing unless there are more significant injuries. While the Mavericks are a talented team with a great head coach in Rick Carlisle, they haven’t been all that impressive since acquiring Rajon Rondo.

Harden should be able to find success against a mediocre Mavericks defense. His numbers in the four matchups in the regular season weren’t crazy by any means, but they were solid, as he put up 24.8 points per game while shooting 44.3 percent overall and 40.0 percent from three.

The time is definitely now for Harden to step up. He proved all season long that he’s one of the best offensive players in the game, and now he needs to prove it when it matters most. I’m still not sold as the Rockets as legitimate title contenders, but they could be if Harden as well as Howard play to their peak abilities. Houston currently has 14/1 odds to win the title, the third-best odds in the Western Conference, per Bovada.