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“Try And Break James Harden’s Record And Drop 60”: Rockets Guard Reveals His Mindset Facing His Former Team Cavaliers

Published 02/03/2022, 7:30 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Kevin Porter Jr was drafted into the league in 2019,  by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played there for one season while averaging decent stats for a rookie. Kevin was then let go from the franchise due to internal troubles. However, since then Kevin Porter Jr has improved his game.

Kevin Porter Jr. was acquired by the Houston Rockets last season. He put up a pretty promising performance as he averaged 16.6 points, 6.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds. Kevin has been playing well this current season too.

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After the Houston Rockets v. Cleveland Cavaliers game, Kevin talked about his mentality facing his former team. “My mindset before tip-off was to try and break James Harden’s record and drop 60” said Kevin. Kevin wanted to prove to his former team that they lost a good asset.

Kevin Porter Jr. did not drop 60 points, however, the Rockets won by a comfortable 11 point lead. The final score was 115-104 in favor of the Rockets. Moreover, he contributed a lot to the game by scoring 16 points, 7 assists and 1 rebound.

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Why is Kevin Porter Jr known as the next James Harden?

There are a lot of similarities between Kevin and James Harden. Both of them are extremely crafty and flashy. They both share the Shooting Guard position. Due to their craftiness, they become really efficient scorers. However, it is important to mention that Kevin’s game is nowhere close to Harden’s game right now.

Kevin Porter Jr. is just 21 years old right now. He has a lot of time to develop on the potential that he has already exhibited he has. James Harden himself had not reached his peak at the age of 21. It took James Harden a few years to settle into the league.

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Just like James Harden, Kevin Porter has great ball handling skills. The good thing about possessing ball handling skills is that players can create shots for themselves. Just like Harden, Kevin Porter Jr is improving on his pull-up dribble and step-back shots.

Kevin Porter Jr. is currently averaging 13.3 points, 6.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds. These are good stats for a young shooting guard. However, he has a lot of room to improve on his shooting percentage since he is currently averaging only 38.3% field goal percentage. Kevin also commits 3.7 turnovers per game.

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Kevin is a young player who is still learning about the league and the sport. Once he solidifies his fundamentals and improves his shooting, he will definitely be a James Harden caliber player.

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Written by:

Abhinav Bhalla

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Abhinav Bhalla is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He is a 5th year law student and has had a passion for Basketball and NBA since his early childhood. He has competed at school, university and national levels himself, and has a deep analytical appreciation for the sport.
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