James Harden is back — presuming he ever left.
Harden, Cleveland’s 11-time All-Star guard, is in the latter stages of his career at age 37. But he’s still dangerous, and Miami will be hyper-alert to his presence on Friday night when the Heat host the Cavaliers.
On Wednesday night, Harden broke a slump and scored a season-high 32 points as the Cavaliers defeated the host Knicks 115-107.
The three-time NBA scoring champ entered Wednesday averaging just 15.3 points while shooting 36.4% from the field, which was on pace to be the worst marksmanship of his career.
After making 9 of 14 shots against the Knicks, including 5 of 7 from deep, Harden felt the need, in jest at least, to re-introduce himself.
“This is my 18th year (in the league),” Harden said. “My name is James Harden, and I used to score a lot of points.”
Turning serious, Harden said he has always been criticized, even when he averaged more than 30 points for three straight years.
“People would say, ‘You can’t win like that,'” Harden said of his one-man-wrecking-crew days.
Harden admitted “I’m not the same fast person I was five or six years ago,” but he also noted he is trying to find other ways to help the Cavaliers win, especially since this is his first full season with the team.
Donovan Mitchell is Cleveland’s biggest star, averaging a team-high 22.8 points. Post players Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are still solid starters, but the Cavaliers are now getting key contributions from players such as rookie Meleek Thomas, who was selected in the second round in June, and young veteran Peyton Watson.
Against the Knicks, Thomas scored 14 points off the bench. Watson had seven points, five rebounds, four blocks, four assists and no turnovers.
Meanwhile, the Heat start a five-game homestand after enjoying a 3-2 road trip out west.
Miami has won two straight games since removing Andrew Wiggins from the starting lineup and replacing him with Pelle Larsson.
Wiggins has averaged just 8.7 points — well below his 18.1 career norm. He has shot 33.3% on 3-pointers — down from 41.4% last season.
Larsson gives Miami’s starting unit more defense as he shared ninth in the NBA last season in offensive fouls drawn.
Offensively, Larsson leads Miami’s regulars in 3-point percentage (46.9%). He averages 11.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Miami’s top star, leads the Heat in scoring (27.7 ppg), rebounds (12.6 rpg) and blocks (1.0 bpg). But he hasn’t meshed as smoothly as some expected with Bam Adebayo, whose scoring average of 17.8 has shrunk by more than two points since last season.
The Heat have an older roster with six players north of 30, and all of this has drawn outside criticism.
Antetokounmpo, though, has brushed off his critics, saying: “I’m going to continue to focus on our team.”
In 11 games this season, Antetokounmpo has scored 25 or more points eight times. His rebounding average is on pace to be his best effort since 2019-20 – while his offensive rebounding average of 3.5 is on pace to be the best mark of his career.
