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Oklahoma City players attempted 120 shots in the regular season during games in which the scoring margin was three points or fewer in the last three minutes of regulation and overtime. Durant and Westbrook took 103 of those shots, per NBA.com. Harden took five. He made one. James Harden, Sixth Man of the Year and likely All-Star next season, made one basket the entire season in the last three minutes of a close game.
He has already taken five such shots in six postseason games, compared to six attempts for Durant. This is a sea change happening instantly, a strategic switch so dramatic you almost wonder if Scott Brooks has been waiting all season to unleash Harden on unsuspecting defenses. He couldn’t have just now discovered that Harden is the team’s best playmaker, and that perhaps Harden should touch the ball now and then at the end of close games, right? This cannot be a sudden, spontaneous revelation, can it?
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As a critic of Brooks, I'd be surprised and impressed if this happened to be the case.. but either way it's interesting.