Lamar unlike Harden played extremely well in the second half of the game to put us in position to first take a lead and then to at least tie the game.
Harden is much worse and as someone who really loves basketball the idea that these 2 are similar is insane to me.
Lamar is more like Giannis who erases shit performances from his second (Middleton) and third stars (Dame). Giannis is their best rebounder, defender, scorer, and passer on a team built around him having to do everything.
Here's a stat (I am not arguing outcome, it's a team sport) Harden in the last 5 elimination games has averaged 14.2 points a game. When you need him he disappears, doesn't engage with the offense when the ball isn't in his hands, and doesn't play defense on the other side.
Win or lose, we have never felt like Lamar wasn't trying his hardest.