How James Harden Has Already Raised Cleveland Cavaliers Championship Ceiling

Don’t look now, but the Cleveland Cavaliers have begun to look like serious competitors in the East.

Even though James Harden’s impact with the Cavaliers has been just a small sample size of two games, it’s clear the ceiling of this team’s potential has drastically increased.

Harden has been undefeated in his two games with the Cavaliers, and he’s had to be the guy to step up in the clutch both times. For a player who hasn’t even returned to Cleveland for a practice, it’s a special thing to watch.

The Cavaliers ceiling officially went from a team that had an outside chance of surviving the East, to a team that could win an NBA Championship.

Clutch play

Over the past two games, Harden scored 23 and 22 points. He also totaled 15 assists and 12 rebounds with Cleveland.

Both games have been tight heading into the final moments of action, and both times Harden had to be a star to win.

He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter against the Kings to help out Donovan Mitchell with scoring and pushed Cleveland over the hump for the win. Against the Nuggets, Harden took over as a key ball-handler and drained a three to tie the game up in the final minute.

As good as Darius Garland was throughout the game, he was often criticized for his play in the biggest moments. Harden has been able to step up consistently, and that is something the Cavaliers have desperately been needing on offense.

Elevating the bigs

Even without Evan Mobley, Harden has been able to help Jarrett Allen step up and have one his best stretches of the season.

Allen’s last four games have all been double-doubles, averaging over 20 points each time. In his two games with Harden, he had games of 29/10 and 22/13.

Allen has managed to prove why the Cavaliers were smart to not trade him. Early on it seems Harden has unlocked more out of Allen.

Harden has always been great at getting his bigs involved, helping develop guys like Clint Capela and Ivica Zubac. Allen can easily be his next great big, and it’s exciting to think what Mobley will be able to do with Harden too.

Will it work in the postseason?

One criticism of the duo has been that both Mitchell and Harden have lacked any real playoff success in their respective careers. Harden has been to the finals once, but it was only while he was coming off the bench early in his career.

Since then, his playstyle has consistently been inefficient in the playoffs. He has stalled out numerous times in the playoffs and has struggled to really elevate his team to new levels.

The same can be said about Mitchell. He has been dominant in regular season games, put up great stats in the playoffs, but his teams have always come up short early in the playoffs.

However, with both Harden and Mitchell, they have lacked another guard who can match their scoring production.

Now Harden has played with some great scorers in Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard, but they have often been inconsistent or haven’t been able to match Harden’s production.

Mitchell should allow Harden to take a backseat in the scoring department, but still have the opportunity to step up when Mitchell begins to become inefficient.

Only time will tell just how well the duo can operate in the playoffs, but it feels like for the first time this season the Cavaliers are actual contenders, and not just destined for another early playoff exit.