Kristian Winfield: James Harden's playoff disappearing act was predictable -- except to the Cavs

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on May 21, 2026

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NEW YORK — The end to the New York Knicks-Cleveland Cavaliers Eastern Conference finals was written long before the series began. It was an elephant in the room the second the Cavaliers miraculously upset the No. 1-seeded Detroit Pistons to punch a ticket to the Eastern Conference finals and a date with the Knicks.

Cleveland’s season was going to end one way — and one way only — the second the Cavaliers paired James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, two of the NBA’s most fraudulent All-Stars who joined forces to fall-apart in-tandem in the playoffs.

Harden was a no-show in Game 1 against the Knicks — 15 points on 16 shot attempts, three assists to six turnovers on his stat sheet in a blown 22-point lead — before completely vanishing through in Game 2 (18 points, 6-of-15 shooting, two assists). Mitchell scored 29 points through the first three quarters of Game 1, did not score or look to score in the fourth quarter or overtime, then had 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting through the first three quarters of Game 2 before filling the stat sheet in a late-game blowout.

Yet all of this was predictable, except to Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman and general manager Mike Gansey. Their home-run swing for a first-ballot Hall of Famer who doubles as one of the most polarizing talents in NBA history backfired in the most appropriate manner possible.

The Cavs traded 25-year-old All-Star Darius Garland for an 11-time, 36-year-old, well-past-his-prime superstar in Harden. Harden is many things — one of the league’s most gifted play-makers and, in his prime, isolation scorers — but he’s mostly been a disappearing act under pressure in the playoffs: 38% shooting from the field and 29% shooting from 3-point range in the semifinals against the Detroit Pistons, and now a 11 of 31 from the field with five assists and six turnovers through the first two games against the Knicks.

And this is the player Cavs brass entrusted with raising the ceiling of their franchise, a magician whose disappearing act rivals few others of his stature as an NBA-recognized Top-75 player. The Cavaliers brought him in to assist in helping another player who’s been prone to late-season meltdowns in his own right.

Harden was supposed to take pressure off of Mitchell. Instead, the opposite has transpired: His late-game absences put more pressure on Mitchell to deliver.

Maybe, for Cleveland, the mission is already complete: A Cavaliers team without LeBron James made the conference finals for the first time since 1992 and for just the second time in franchise history. The Cavs, who won 61 games last season and finished with the East’s fourth seed, pulled the upset and defeated the 60-win Pistons in the second round.

But they were supposed to have a puncher’s chance in a series against a Knicks team that’s been largely untested this playoff run. Entering the conference finals, the Knicks won their previous seven games against both the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers by a combined 175 points. They then outscored the Cavaliers, 44-11, to complete their massive Game 1 comeback on Tuesday before building a lead that swelled as large as 18 in their victory on Thursday.

And unlike Game 1 where Jalen Brunson relentlessly sought and exposed Harden’s defensive shortcomings, the Knicks needed none of the captain’s heroics in Game 2. They simply watched Harden do what he does best — vanish under pressure, leaving Mitchell holding the bag.

Harden could leave Cleveland holding the bag, again, in a month or so, when he can officially become an unrestricted free agent and find a new home much more to his liking than the vibrant, buzzing city of Cleveland.

Of course, there’s the alternative: an overpay from a city struggling to attract star power. With Harden running point, Evan Mobley can develop into a more well-rounded offensive player. Mitchell can continue to play his role off the ball. Jarrett Allen can continue feasting as a lob and dump-off threat.

And the Cavaliers can get used to the crushing feeling of thinking they have something special, only for the inevitable meltdown special — courtesy of the bearded one — to send them back to a reality the Knicks reminded with a gut-check as “Knicks in four” chants rained down in a blowout victory on Thursday.

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