James Harden will return to what must be one of his least favorite road sites for the first time as a member of the Cavaliers on Thursday night when Cleveland closes out a three-game western road trip in San Francisco against the Golden State Warriors.
A 17-year veteran who has played all but 181 of his 1,217 career NBA games for a Western Conference team, Harden was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Cavaliers in February. He since has visited seven of his former western rivals, with the Cavaliers going 5-2.
The 36-year-old California native has struggled a bit as the Cavaliers have split games on their current trip, held to a total of 30 points and limited to 3-for-10 shooting on 3-pointers as Cleveland (47-29) won at Utah before Tuesday’s 127-113 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Counting playoffs, Harden has faced the Warriors 71 times in his career, going 36-35, including just 7-16 in four playoff-series losses. Oakland and San Francisco have been especially harsh on him, where he’s lost on 21 of 36 visits, including 11 of 12 in the postseason.
He’s had plenty of individual highlights in the San Francisco Bay Area, including a pair of 39-point games, a triple-double on a 44-point night, another during a 15-rebound performance and a third while running up 15 assists. He also had 45- and 41-point outings in playoff wins for the Houston Rockets in 2015 and 2019, respectively.
Add it up and he ranks fourth among active players in points scored against the Warriors with 1,122, with a chance to pass Russell Westbrook (1,134) for third on Thursday. He’s also currently first in 3-pointers (139), third in assists (347) and steals (78), and sixth in rebounds (261).
Harden was still a member of the Clippers when the Warriors, without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green, went to Cleveland in December and shocked the Cavaliers 99-94. Pat Spencer led the way with 19 points.
The Warriors will be without Curry and Butler for the rematch as well, while the Cavaliers will have Max Strus and Sam Merrill, who also missed the earlier meeting.
Harden says having two important role players alongside makes a difference.
“Two of the smartest basketball players that I’ve played with,” the veteran said to reporters recently. “Obviously they can shoot the crap out of the ball, but their body movement – knowing when to screen, when not to screen, how to screen – is very, very important for somebody that can actually shoot the ball like them.
“It’s rare that you can have that. When you find that, it means you got something special.”
While the Cavaliers attempt to keep pace with the New York Knicks (49-28), who beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, in their duel for third place in the Eastern Conference, the Warriors (36-40) will be looking to keep from losing ground in their battle for ninth place in the West with the Portland Trail Blazers (39-38), who host New Orleans on Thursday.
Coming off a 127-113 spanking at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs on the front end of a back-to-back, the Warriors are hopeful of having Curry, who has missed 26 straight games with a sore knee, back by the end of the week.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr gave an encouraging report before Wednesday’s game.
“Everybody said he looked good and felt good,” Kerr said of a five-on-five trial run in which Curry participated Tuesday. “He’ll have another scrimmage in the next couple of days. That’s the next step.”
The Warriors play Sunday against one of Harden’s former teams, the Rockets.
