Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals was a disaster for James Harden.
He was hunted by the Knicks and Jalen Brunson, a major culprit in the Cavaliers blowing a 22-point fourth-quarter lead.
Walt Frazier believes how Harden performs the rest of the series, however long it lasts, will be remembered for a long time.
“This is where Harden is now. He’s come to the fork in the road. Which way is he going to go? His legacy is on the line,” the legendary Knick said on The Post’s “Schein Time” with Adam Schein on Thursday afternoon. “If he gets torched again, he’s done. His career is over. This is all people are going to remember, this series. Not what he did in the regular season, but what he did in the playoffs.”
Harden has only reached the NBA Finals once, back in 2012, and he may not get another chance, at age 36.
Frazier does think that Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson is making the right decision by sticking with Harden despite his struggles.
“So if I’m Kenny Atkinson, I put Harden back in the game [in crunch time]. I don’t punish him, I encourage him,” Frazier said. “When we were in the playoffs and we were playing the Bullets, Red Holzman pulled me in the corner [and said], ‘Hey, Clyde, forget about offense, just focus on defense on Earl [Monroe]. Forget about offense. Don’t think about offense.’
“If I’m Kenny Atkinson, I go to Harden, and say, ‘Hey, man, I’m putting you back in there. This is why we acquired you. Look at your career. I know what you’ve done, you can do it.’ I leave it all up to him. This is what coach [Mike] Brown did to [Mikal] Bridges. Remember when Bridges was floundering? Everybody said take him out of the lineup. He didn’t take him out; [he] put him out there and now look at what Bridges is doing.”
Harden was the goat of the series opener, shredded by Brunson in the Knicks’ wild comeback.
It was also the sixth different playoff game in which Harden committed more turnovers than made field goals.
Atkinson has defended Harden and hasn’t second-guessed his decision to stick with him.
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