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Seven biggest choke jobs of the NBA playoffs so far

NBA Playoffs

James Harden, shooting guard, Houston Rockets

James Harden

Harden bears a strong burden in Houston’s loss to San Antonio, mostly for his performance in Game 6. The Rockets’ season was on the line and Harden wasn’t just tentative, he was completely out of it, both mentally and physically. He went 2-of-11 from the field, 3-of-9 from three for just 10 points and seven assists. His first made shot from the field didn’t come until there was 6:19 left in the second quarter, and he turned it over six times.

All of this with Kawhi Leonard — San Antonio’s best defender — out of the lineup.

To put it bluntly, without window dressing or caveat, Harden choked. The Rockets were at home with the season on the line and Leonard out of the picture.

The Spurs more or less handed the opportunity to win by keeping Leonard out, hoping to save him for a potential Game 7. There was no Spur who should have had a prayer of defending James Harden. It should have been a relatively easy playoff win — a mere formality in advance of an epic Game 7.

Instead, Harden choked.

He didn’t attack, didn’t try on defense (he rarely tried throughout the playoffs after ratcheting up his defense to acceptable for most of the regular season), didn’t lead and didn’t care. Later that night, he was photographed at the club by TMZ — an acknowledgement that he felt Game 6 was a formality, just in a different way than the rest of us.

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