Trending
CLEVELAND (AP) -- James Harden endured plenty of criticism after the first two games of Cleveland's Eastern Conference semifinal series against Detroit.
With the Cavaliers in danger of falling into a 3-0 hole that no NBA team has ever overcome, the 17-year veteran showed he can still come up big in the clutch.
Harden hit three shots in the final two minutes Saturday to lift the Cavaliers to a 116-109 victory over the Pistons in Game 3.
"I love it. When my number's called, just getting to my spots," said Harden, who finished with 19 points and seven assists in 40 minutes. "Don(ovan) Mitchell had been working so extremely hard throughout the course of the game, just trying to find opportunities to help him. So that last minute and a half, two minutes, however long it was, it presented itself. And for me, just going out there and taking my shots."
Harden was 8 of 14 from the field after going 3 of 13 in Thursday's 107-97 loss at Detroit. His long-distance shooting also picked up as he went 3 of 7 on 3-pointers. He was 3 of 20 from beyond the arc in his last four games before Saturday.
"It's the James Harden I've seen for how many years he's been in the NBA. That's the James we needed tonight," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. "We were searching and we got some good screenings into the matchups we wanted and he went to work."
Harden was scoreless in the fourth quarter and took only two shots during the second half on Thursday, along with a critical turnover in the final minute that ended any hopes of a Cleveland comeback.
The 2018 NBA MVP had nine points in the fourth quarter on Saturday, with seven coming in the final 89 seconds.
With the shot clock running down, Harden drove the lane and hit a 16-foot step-back jumper with 1:29 remaining to push Cleveland's lead to 108-104.
After a driving dunk by Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Harden came up big again. He drove past Duncan Robinson and made a floating 7-footer in the paint to put the lead back up to four.
Cunningham responded with a 3-pointer before Harden provided the decisive blow with 25 seconds remaining on a step-back 3-pointer while being guarded by Tobias Harris to make it 113-109.
"(James Harden) We understand that he hit some tough shots and made an impact on the game. But we can be tougher than that," Harris said.
After committing 11 turnovers the first two games of the Detroit series and averaging 5.2 in Cleveland's first nine playoff games, Harden had only three on Saturday. It was only the second time he has committed fewer than four this postseason.
"I'm literally here to find my spots and figure out what needs to be done and try to contribute in the best way possible. So I mean, chatter is going to be chatter regardless. I mean, whether you do something good, whether you do something bad," Harden said.
"I've done an unbelievable job throughout the course of my career of just understanding what the job needs to be, especially as I get older and doing whatever it takes to win the game. So that's the most important thing."
Mitchell, who had 35 points and 10 rebounds, said there is a balance for opponents in figuring out who to guard because of the scoring ability of him and Harden.
"Having the ultimate trust in him and vice versa I think is why those moments happen. Every game calls for something different and you've got to be able to just kind of find a way to manipulate it and be selfless. And I think as a collective, that's the biggest thing," Mitchell said.
Game 4 is tonight in Cleveland.
Spurs' big loss
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Anthony Edwards had 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to help the Minnesota Timberwolves even their second-round NBA playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs with a 114-109 victory following the stunning ejection of star Victor Wembanyama early in the second quarter of Game 4 on Sunday.
Naz Reid took the fateful elbow to the neck from a frustrated Wembanyama and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds to help the Timberwolves finish strong after some shaky stretches.
Edwards hit a 27-footer to bring the Wolves within 94-91, turning to shout at the crowd for some help down the stretch as the Spurs quickly called timeout. His catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the wing with 5:12 left put them up 98-97, their first lead since midway through the third quarter.
Then the big men went to work without Wembanyama patrolling the paint. Rudy Gobert got a three-point play with 3:02 left off a slick feed from Reid and later threw down a dunk for a 107-101 lead with 1:56 to go after a pass from Julius Randle. Gobert had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Reid's follow shot with 40 seconds left gave the Wolves a seven-point lead, before Dylan Harper had a rebound, a drawn foul, a steal, and two free throws to help the Spurs pull within three. Ayo Dosunmu sank two foul shots with 9.8 seconds left to put the game out of reach and tie the series at two games apiece.
San Antonio hosts Game 5 on Tuesday, with Wembanyama's status to be determined by the league following the Flagrant 2 foul call and automatic ejection he was levied for the excessive contact to Reid.
Harper and De'Aaron Fox each scored 24 points and Stephon Castle added 20 as the Spurs guards unflinchingly took the baton from their 7-foot-4 superstar and turned the rest of the night into a mid-range clinic with an array of pull-up jumpers in and around the paint.
The crowd at Target Center went wild when Wembanyama walked off the floor with Minnesota leading by two, but the Wolves never fully took advantage of the gift created by his absence. They've long had a tendency of losing their edge, particularly defensively, when an opponent's star player is missing.
After committing six turnovers in a 20-point third quarter, the Wolves found themselves in another eight-point hole early in the fourth following Fox's 3-pointer.