Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers were down 3-0 after a 121-108 loss to the New York Knicks at Rocket Arena on Saturday, James Harden remained confident about surviving the series during his postgame interview.
“We’re still confident. Our confidence is never going away. We’re more than capable… Make some shots, and the series turns around,” Harden said.
No team yet in NBA history has ever come back and won a series from this position.
The Cavaliers went 42-84 with 50% from the field, but were just 12-41 from distance, and they had shot 29.4% from three over the first two games and remained consistent here. It’s just not the kind of consistency you want.
The 36-year-old star struggled with 1 of 7 from triple, compared from inside field goals with 8 of 15. Harden finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and five assists and did not attempt to take a shot in the fourth with six turnovers.
“When you’re not making shots, you put more pressure on your defense,” Harden said. “So you’re going to be on defense much more. Then you got to take the basketball out of the rim… Basketball is obviously both sides of the ball. But if we can make some shots, it gives our defense a chance to get back in and set up half-court,” Harden added.
New York went 43-77 (55.8%) from the field and 11-28 (39.3%) from beyond the arc here. They were just picking apart that Cavaliers defense, and Harden explained why they struggled on that end.
“They played a little bit faster. We never could really get a grip on the game. We had times where we played well both ends of the ball, but just more times than not, they just played a little bit faster, and they made some shots,” Harden added.
The Cavaliers look forward to Game 4 on Monday,
