In his highly anticipated debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers, James Harden immediately felt the impact of playing alongside Donovan Mitchell. It took a half for both and most of the team to feel out the change against the young Sacramento Kings, but ultimately, the revamped Cavs star duo combined for 32 of 39 fourth-quarter points to push the wine and gold to a 132-126 victory.
“Made all the big plays,” Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Harden's debut. “Two big threes obviously. I thought he had a great 1-on-1 duel with [DeMar] DeRozan there at the end and got a great contest on an important shot. He was the closer. Him and Donovan really synced up at the end to make the big plays. I mean phenomenal. Controlled the game, controlled the tempo, and obviously made the big shots.
“We've got a little bit of a run going here. We have a confidence. There's no panic. It reminded of last year where we're just calm in the moment. They were making incredible shots. They made some great shots; [Nique] Clifford made some great shots, DeRozan obviously. They played great. But we kept our calm. It helps when you have James Harden and Donovan Mitchell to help close a game like that.”
Harden scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, knocking down six of his final seven shots. He handed out eight assists, half of which went to Jarrett Allen.
In his first interview as a member of the Cavs, he didn't overthink the process of fitting in with his new group. Harden did, on the other hand, think about another part of his game being utilized more often than it has been in the past.
“We'll see. It's only been one game,” Harden said with a chuckle. “So we'll see what works, we'll see what doesn't work.
“I don't know how many catch-and-shoot opportunities I had this year, but this is the first time where I feel like I got at least four or five catch-and-shoot opportunities. Something I've got to get used to.”
Three of Harden's five made triples were assisted, one by Mitchell and two by Keon Ellis. Most importantly, he nailed two of the biggest shots of the evening from the same spot within 30 seconds.
“Very, very unselfish,” Harden said of his new backcourt partner in Mitchell. “Tonight, you didn't even know he got 35. So quiet, but he's just so effortless. He doesn't force. He just plays the game the right way, and it falls down the line.
“I'm just happy to be in an environment where I can get catch-and-shoot opportunities, so we'll see where it goes from there. But I'm happy to be here.”
Mitchell believes that is because Cleveland's roster offers different chances for the 36-year-old veteran.
“It's one of those situations where it's a lot of space,” Mitchell said. “You've got myself, you have him, you have Sam [Merrill] out there. You have [Jarrett Allen] and Keon, it could be Dean [Wade], you know what I mean? So it's just a lot of space, gives you room to attack.”
Impressed by his direct approach from the jump, Mitchell noted that Harden was telling him and Allen to “go” so he could create for them instead of focusing on his own scoring.
“But then, you're also telling him to go,” Mitchell said. “That's special when you have a guy that's established, that's done a lot, to come in and have that approach. I think at halftime, it kinda flipped for us, and we figured it out. But he's steady, man. It's great to be able to be off the ball, watch him pick apart the defense. We have our two different stints, but he's steady. And then when you need him, he's there.”
“Incredible,” Allen added. “At the beginning of the game, wasn't scoring as much as you'd expect, but he was distributing the ball to everybody. At the end of the game, he took over, made a couple stepback threes, and got us back in the game. Made every decision. Whether it was him scoring, giving him the ball in the iso, or finding a guy on the roll, and even on the defensive end, getting stops.”
Asked about the Harden-Mitchell pairing, Allen considers it a pick-your-poison choice that can be “dangerous.” Atkinson has repeated himself about the sharp basketball IQs they both possess, mentioning he didn't see a “your turn, my turn” approach from either on Saturday night. Mitchell agrees with him.
“I think the biggest thing that he did tonight was just kicking the ball ahead, allowing guys to create, then if they had nothing, now it's back to him,” Mitchell explained. “And now, we're in pick and rolls. As much as he is a hell of an isolation player, he's a phenomenal pick-and-roll player. Now it's like, we're in together, you run pick-and-roll, and I'm in the corner or Sam's in that corner, what are you gonna do? And if that doesn't happen, we have the second side. It wasn't perfect tonight; we're trying to get accustomed to all of that, but that's what you see
“I'm not gonna speak for him, but I would think he wants to… it's tough being in isolation over and over again; you kinda want a break to be able to get off it and do different things. When you have guys like we have in this locker room, especially for him and myself, being able to get off it and say, ‘Hey, go make a play.' We ran the ATO for Jaylon Tyson to keep it and get downhill; yeah, he missed, but that's what you want to see. Continue to make plays for each other. We are gonna get ours and them figure it out throughout, but continue to use it as a collective.”
What James Harden's passing proficiency can do for Cavs
Allen feels that Harden found every opportunity to exploit the defense, especially in pick-and-roll with him. In their first game together, the 27-year-old center produced a healthy 29 points on 11-of-12 from the field to go with 10 rebounds and an assist.
“Honestly, even if it wasn't a pass to me, we were just reading the action, reading gravity for players to bring it to us, and he'd find either Sam or Jaylon on the wing, cutting,” Allen said. “Everything we did worked out.”
“He's so smart, right,” Atkinson added. “That's what you do when you get to a new team. Jarrett Allen's 11-for-12 'cause James is hitting him in the pocket and finding him on the roll. That's how you ingratiate yourself with your teammates and your new team. You know James. His No. 1 attribute, I always felt like he makes others better. Everybody talks about scorer, iso guy, but he makes people around him better. That's why this is a fit; it's a fit for us. Good to see it manifest itself tonight.”
Before his debut, Atkinson highlighted that Harden is a master of the pick-and-roll and passing in general. It's not just the precision; it goes beyond it.
“He's got a great reputation for communicating with his bigs — angle of the screen, ‘Hey, am I slipping out? Am I holding it? Do you want to flip this?' — and Donovan does a great job of that, too,” Atkinson said. “Evan [Mobley] and JA, I think it helps them. Where do you want the screen? Do you want me to set it high? Do you want me to set it lower? All that communication during the game.
“You see what James did with Zu [Ivica Zubac] with the Clippers. They worked on it a lot, and I expect that to happen with our guys. Get them out there together and get reps as much as we can.”
Enthralled by the Cavs as an organization and as a team, Harden already liked what he saw in Game 1.
“We've got a combination of young guys who understand their role and play and their plays very well,” Harden said. “JT, obviously. The head honcho in Don. But you've got a bunch of guys that understand their role. You've got athletic bigs, you've got shooting everywhere, you've got coaching everywhere. I've just got to figure out where I fit in, but that won't be hard.
“I told the guys just do what y'all do, and I'll figure it out. I'm good enough to figure it out and insert myself in. But no practices, this is my first time playing 5-on-5 since probably a week ago, so it's a little rusty. We're just happy we got the win, and we've got some things to build on.”
