James Harden says Cavs were the ‘better team’ in spite of Knicks sweep

The New York Knicks may have easily swept aside the Cleveland Cavailers in the Eastern Conference Finals, but according to James Harden, the Cavs were the better team.

Yes, you read that correctly.

After getting blown out in Game 4, Harden stepped to the podium for his postgame press conference. And when he was asked by a reporter how much better the Knicks were than his team, he refused to give in to the premise of the question and actually said he felt like the Cavs were better.

James Harden was asked if the Knicks were better than the Cavaliers

“It was 4-0, but I don’t think we had a chance as far as our best shot. They dominated us 4-0. but I don’t know if I can necessarily answer that question. Because genuinely I do feel like we’re the better team” pic.twitter.com/8CAMItRK2H

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) May 26, 2026

“I can’t even answer that question honestly,” Harden said. “Yea, it was 4-0, but I don’t think we had a chance as far as our best shot from the standpoint of the circumstances. Obviously they dominated us 4-0, but I don’t know if I can necessarily answer that question. Just because genuinely I do feel like we are the better team. But series wise we didn’t show it. Tough question to answer.”

This response from James Harden is mind-bending. You can’t get swept in four games, with the fourth of those games being a 37-POINT BLOWOUT ON YOUR HOME COURT and say that you were magically the better team. For James Harden himself to step up and say that after going 2-8 in Game 4, averaging more turnovers than assists, and shooting 17% from three in the series takes some real courage.

And circumstances? What circumstances is he talking about? Is it that he was destroyed on every defensive possession in Game 1 in an epic collapse that melted the Cavs’ brains and turned them into the Washington Wizards?

The Cavs lost every game of the Eastern Conference Finals by double digits, even Game 1 where they were blown out in overtime. In no universe are they the better team than the New York Knicks. The Knicks are literally in the midst of the most dominant stretch of games in NBA history given their scoring margin over their 11-game playoff win streak.

This is some all-time copium. James Harden sounds like an SEC football coach with all these hypotheticals. Between this and Kenny Atkinson praising the Cavaliers’ expected point totals, maybe they should just go ahead and hang the banner in Cleveland because the actual games must not matter.

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