James Harden appeared to conquer his eternal elimination game woes by turning in one of the best late-series playoff performances of his career to save the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 6 against the Denver Nuggets.

Columnist Dylan Hernández writes that James Harden looked nothing like the player with a reputation for stinking up arenas at this stage of the season.

But he reversed the trend, scoring 21 first-half points. If you're a pessimist, you'll note that he only scored seven points in the second half, but now you're just getting picky. A big elimination game out of James Harden is not something to quibble over, because it doesn't happen often.