James Harden Reaches NBA Playoffs Milestone in Raptors-Cavaliers Game 1
The Cleveland Cavaliers opened their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, entering the postseason as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavs had a solid start to their 2025-26 campaign but chose to aggressively upgrade their roster midseason by acquiring 11-time All-Star James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers in February in exchange for two-time All-Star guard Darius Garland and a 2026 second-round pick.
The trade made headlines, and Harden's impressive stats later backed it up. In 26 games after the deadline, the 36-year-old averaged 20.5 points, 7.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds. Playing next to Donovan Mitchell, Harden provided the veteran ball-handling the Cavs needed to stabilize their roster before the playoffs.
In Game 1 against the Raptors, he moved into 13th place on the NBA's all-time playoff scoring list. He entered the game with 3,895 career postseason points and passed Larry Bird (3,897) in the first half. He now trails Dwyane Wade and Tony Parker as he continues his first postseason run with Cleveland.
Congrats to @JHarden13 of the @cavs for moving up to 13th on the all-time PLAYOFFS SCORING list! pic.twitter.com/pQta1hCVJa
— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2026
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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 2:27 PM.