Sean Barnard details his top James Harden player props for Sunday’s Game 7 NBA playoff game between the Cavaliers and the Raptors.
James Harden and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be looking to land the knockout punch and advance to the second round of the postseason. The home team is undefeated through the opening six games in this series, and tonight’s action will be taking place in Cleveland. The Cavaliers brought in Harden at the trade deadline with the hopes he could be the difference maker in a postseason setting, even with his past playoff scars in mind. These are the moments that Harden was brought in for, and plenty of eyes will be on him tonight.
The Cavaliers enter as 8.5-point home favorites for Game 7 on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Raptors are +260 underdogs, with the game total set at 210.5 points.
Let’s dive into my favorite James Harden player prop for Sunday’s Game 7 showdown.
Best James Harden prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
James Harden Over 6.5 Assists (-145)
While there was a time when James Harden was the most dynamic scorer in the NBA, he has become increasingly comfortable pulling the strings as a true point guard in the later seasons of his career. Harden has led the NBA in assists twice, along with his three scoring titles, and is aware that this is still largely Donovan Mitchell’s team. Across his 26 regular-season games in Cleveland, Harden has averaged 7.7 assists per game and tallied over 6.5 assists in 19 games. Since the playoffs have kicked off, the former MVP has seen his assist average slip to 6.7 per game. He has posted assist totals of 10, 4, 4, 8, 5, and 9 in this series, going 3-3 to this prop line.
While it would be unfair to characterize this level of play as poor, Harden has left production on the table to this point. Cleveland has failed to exploit Toronto’s lack of interior presence at a great enough rate. While Evan Mobley and especially Jarrett Allen are not blameless in this, it is largely Harden’s responsibility to operate the pick-and-roll and generate these looks for the big men. Harden also has embraced the role of being more of a complementary guy in the later stages of his career and expect this to show in the assist category tonight. This is especially the case with the size and athleticism of this Raptors’ roster. The 6.5 assist line is too low for my liking based on how this game should be expected to play out and back him to clear this for the fourth time in this series.
James Harden Over 19.5 Points (-109)
While backing James Harden’s points in a Game 7 playoff setting holds some sticker shock in itself, his postseason shortcomings are a bit overstated, and this is a low enough bar that he should not have trouble clearing. After being traded to the Cavaliers, Harden averaged 20.5 points per game and scored over 19.5 points in 14 of his 26 regular-season games played. He is averaging 21.0 points per game across this series, posting scoring totals of 22, 28, 18, 19, 23, and 16.
The more noteworthy trend has been Harden’s volume of shot attempts. He has attempted at least 13 field goal attempts in each game and is averaging 5.8 free-throw attempts across this series. Harden is not as much of a master of getting to the free-throw line as he once was. But as the game slows down in this Game 7 matchup, expect this habit to be put back on display. The Raptors still have quite a few youthful defenders who can get caught up in Harden’s ball fakes and landing spot tricks. Expect the savvy veteran and experience of Harden to show tonight and for him to take over the offense for stretches, especially if Donovan Mitchell’s struggles continue. Count on the 19.5 point line to be completely manageable and for the 11-time All-Star to score 20+ for the fourth time in the series tonight.
