“We don't need it every night; he's fine with that. He needs to be a guy who makes the right (play); he's our super IQ genius that knows how to make the right play over and over.”

That was what Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said about James Harden after his best performance as a member of the team. Harden impressed in Madison Square Garden, ending a six-game losing streak in the arena for the Cavaliers.

32 points on 9-14 shooting, with five three-pointers as well. An efficient game and one where he played with the right mindset. He only had four assists, but he kept his turnovers low and ended with only two.

The biggest story of the night was what Harden had to say after the game about his performance.

“I knew it was going to take a little bit of time to get adjusted to the speed, the pace, all of the above. I'm not young, so I can't just be ready (immediately)," he said.

He isn’t wrong. He is 37 years old and going into his 18th NBA season.

Getting into Shape

Harden made it seem like he is back into it. Going into the season, it was said he was not in good shape; he said it himself. That he had not played much, if any, pickup basketball in the offseason 

Using the regular season to play himself into shape. Which is not the greatest thing, but at that age, it is going to take time to really speed things up. Now, after this Knicks game, he is making it seem like he is right there.

At least he acknowledges that he was not in shape and needed to get there. If he was just playing that way and refusing to acknowledge that he took a step back in the NBA and that he is not the player he used to be, the team would be in a worse spot.

Criticism

Many reporters and beat writers brought up how bad Harden was playing compared to when he was off the court. Everybody on the team was playing significantly worse when he was on the court with him.

Over this early part of the season, Harden might’ve had some of the most criticism he has ever had. He was playing zero defense for the Cavaliers, and his playmaking ability looked like a rookie playing his first NBA game.

One defender was having to do the work of two defenders with him on the court. Early into the game last night, there were some flashes of James picking up his player on defense; it was a little surprising. By the end of the night, he was responsible for some important stops and hit some clutch shots to win the game.

Cleveland still has a few problems to solve, but if Harden is saying he is in shape for the season, they can cross that one off the list.