James Harden is letting the Toronto Raptors know.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star guard was blazing right out of the gate of Wednesday night’s Game 5 against the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The former NBA Most Valuable Player torched the visiting Raptors in the opening quarter, where he scored 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field to go along with three rebounds and two assists. He went 2-for-5 from behind the arc and made all of his four attempts from the foul line.
Harden’s throwback performance surely got people’s attention.
“Best quarter of James harden on the Cavs,” a fan said.
“14 first quarter points for the BEARD, ‘James Harden,'” a social media user on X shared.
“James Harden just completely carried the Cavs through a hot Raptors shooting 1st quarter. He was unbelievable. Hopefully that long 3 gets Donovan going,” another one commented.
“James Harden is taking this game over tonight. Completely dominant first quarter and I’m not surprised one bit,” a different fan said.
“LetEmKnow🤎💛. Cavs in 6,” another comment read.
It has been quite a series for James Harden. He had 22 and 28 points in Game 1 and Game 2, respectively, which were both Cavs wins. His form seemed to drop over the next two games, scoring only 18 points in Game 3 and 19 in Game 4, both Toronto victories.
But if his first-quarter performance in Game 5 was any indication, Harden could be in for a huge scoring night in a pivotal contest, as Cleveland looks to grab the driver’s seat again before a potential closeout game in Game 6 in Toronto.