James Harden Gets Called Out for Cavs' Playoff Issues by Udonis Haslem
The Cleveland Cavaliers fought their way through a seven-game series against the Orlando Magic, winning Game 7 to draw a second-round matchup with the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons.
In Game 1, the home team won 111-101 to take a 1-0 series lead, with the Cavaliers’ backcourt of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell combining for 45 points in the losing effort.
However, Cleveland also had 19 turnovers in that opening game at Detroit, with the former NBA MVP Harden recording seven of them.
During Prime’s NBA pregame coverage of Game 2, Udonis Haslem, a three-time champion with the Miami Heat, sounded off about Harden having those sorts of mistakes despite his extensive playoff experience.
“There is five guys who have been in the NBA that have went to the playoffs 17-plus consecutive times. Stockton, Malone, Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, James Harden. Why the hell are you turning the ball over so much? You have been in the playoffs and know what it’s like to be in the playoffs. Why the hell are you turning the ball over?” Haslem said.
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“It’s so self-inflicted wounds. One-handed passes. Things that I would take my son out the game for if I was coaching him for throwing passes like that. Why are you having these kind of passes and plays in the 2nd round of the playoffs? I don’t understand that,” he said.
While he’s been to the playoffs often and has played in 173 postseason games, Harden has competed in the NBA Finals only once. That was way back when he was a member of the young Oklahoma City Thunder squad featuring Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
According to Statmuse, Harden was fifth in the NBA this past season with 245 turnovers. Only the Houston Rockets’ Durant, Portland Trail Blazers’ Deni Avdija, Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic, and Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown had more.
In the Cavs’ first-round series win over the Toronto Raptors, the 36-year-old Harden averaged 6.1 assists and 5.1 turnovers as the team’s main ballhandler. However, he also averaged over 22 points and certainly can take over games.
With Game 2 on Thursday evening, Haslem’s criticism looked like it might gain further evidence. As of this writing, the Pistons held a nine-point lead, with Harden shooting just 2-of-10 and turning the ball over three times in the first half.
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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 7:49 PM.