James Harden dishes 11 assists as Cavaliers cruise past Wizards in home debut
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CLEVELAND — James Harden needed only four field-goal attempts to leave his mark on his first game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The veteran guard finished with 13 points and 11 assists in 28 minutes, guiding Cleveland to a 138-113 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Harden shot 1-for-4 from the floor but converted 10 of 12 free throws. His 11 assists generated 26 points, including six baskets by Sam Merrill. The reserve guard poured in a career-high 32 points, knocking down four of his nine three-pointers directly off Harden passes.
“I’ll figure it out,” Harden said after the game. “Tonight I took four shots and we won by 25. That’s the most important thing.”
The Cavaliers greeted Harden’s home debut by handing out novelty “beards on a stick” to the sellout crowd, which gave him a standing ovation during pregame introductions.
Quick impact since trade
Cleveland acquired Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 3. He scored 23 points in his Feb. 7 debut at Sacramento, including 17 in the fourth quarter of a 132-126 victory. Two nights later in Denver, he hit a game-tying three-pointer before Donovan Mitchell’s free throws sealed a 119-117 win.
Harden now owns two double-doubles in three appearances with the Cavaliers. “He sees the game at a different level,” Mitchell said. “His gravity opens the lane for everybody else, and he’s even coaching in the huddles.” Mitchell has reached 30 points in each of the three games since Harden joined the lineup.
Cleveland keeps rolling
Wednesday’s result pushed the Cavaliers’ winning streak to five and improved their record to 17-5 since Dec. 29, the NBA’s best mark (.773) over that span. The team has integrated Harden, Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis during the past two weeks without a full practice, relying instead on film study and optional shootarounds.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson said the upcoming All-Star break will provide a chance to refine roles. “You can see they have immediate chemistry,” Atkinson noted. “We ran one play for Sam eight times, and James was the architect of it.”
Source: ESPN
