James Harden took a page out of Kenny Atkinson’s book of questionable postgame takes after getting swept out of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star was a no-show with his team’s postseason survival on the line in Game 4 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Harden scored 12 points on 2/8 shooting to go along with two assists and four rebounds.
In what is becoming Harden’s signature playoff stat, the former NBA MVP once again had more turnovers (5) than made field goals (2). His Cavs got blitzed from the first quarter onwards, losing 130-93 without putting up much of a fight beyond the first two minutes of the contest.
Despite that, Harden did not think the Knicks were better than his Cavaliers. The 11-time All-Star was asked about what the talent gap was between his team and the squad that beat them.
“I can’t even answer that question, honestly,” Harden said during his postgame press conference.
“Yeah, it’s 4-0, but I don’t think we had a chance as far as our best shot from a standpoint of the circumstances. Obviously, they dominated us 4-0, but I don’t know if I can necessarily answer that question. Because genuinely, I do feel like we are the better team.”
Harden did admit that his stance that his was the better team “didn’t show” in the series, which hilariously feels like Atkinson claiming the Cavaliers were “analytically” better than the Knicks in Games 1 through 3.
The Cavaliers did look like the better team through the first 3.5 quarters of the series, when Cleveland led Game 1 by 22 points midway through the fourth quarter. But the Knicks came roaring back with to win by 11 in overtime, and it’s been all downhill from there for Cleveland.
When your team gets swept with an average margin of defeat of 19.3, nobody is going to believe you had the better team.
