OAKLAND -- In the biggest game of the season, the game that needed to be won to keep hope alive, James Harden failed his team.

He shot 2-for-11 from the floor, finishing with 14 points and committed an NBA playoff-record 13 turnovers as the Houston Rockets' season ended with a 104-90 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night.

It was -- and always has been -- up to Harden to keep this season going, and he provided superstar-level play in Game 4 when he scored a playoff-career-high 45 points to lead the Rockets to their only win of the series.

But it was a different Harden on Wednesday night.

"I think he turned down a few shots that he probably could have had in different areas," coach Kevin McHale said. "I mean, look, James didn't play well, but as I've said all year long, we don't win the division, we don't win 56 games, we don't have home court, we don't beat the Clippers in Game 7 if it wasn't for James. He had a tough go tonight."

At times it seemed as if Harden's teammates didn't want him to have ball, particularly late in the game. With the Rockets rallying to make a game of it late in the fourth quarter, Jason Terry missed back-to-back, contested, 3-point attempts on the same possession while Harden stood alone at the top of the 3-point arc.

This was just a disjointed game with each team playing not to lose. The Warriors looked tight, and the Rockets looked lost.

None more so than Harden.

The Warriors used different defenders on Harden, from Klay Thompson to Andre Iguodala to Harrison Barnes.

"He's long and athletic," Harden said of Iguodala. "But just the crowd, just trying to play in a crowd, trying to do a little bit too much, and I turned the basketball over and gave them easy opportunities in transition. You know, it is what it is."

Harden took drives to the basket and drew some calls, shooting 13 free throws, but other times it looked like he was hoping for a foul instead of just trying to score.

Even when Harden went to the line, he didn't look like himself, missing three free throws. He had missed a total of four in 40 attempts in the series coming into Game 5.

But it was Harden's lack of aggression that was alarming late in the game.

When Harden returned with 9:46 to play in the game, the Rockets were down eight. He touched the ball 15 times, missed four shots and passed it six times, leading to two assists, and he committed two turnovers. He had the ball when Dwight Howard was called for an offensive foul setting a screen and he dribbled out the clock.

During a quick 6-0 run for the Rockets that cut their deficit from 15 to nine with 4:48 remaining, Harden didn't touch the ball. It was like he was ghost on the floor just watching the game go by.

This was a much different Harden than the one we've seen in the regular season, who was a killer. He would split double-teams, do the EuroStep, hit step-back jumpers and take over games. That was the guy who finished second in the league in scoring and in MVP voting to Stephen Curry. Harden played well this postseason, but in a season-saving game on the road, he wasn't a factor.

McHale trusted Harden to make the plays necessary to get his team through the tough Southwest Division and a No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

Harden said he was up to the challenge, and his season shouldn't be viewed as a failure, but "thirteen turnovers is unacceptable," he said.

Fatigue might have played into it. He played all last summer in the FIBA World Cup and took on more of the ballhandling duties for the Rockets when the NBA season started despite the presence of a traditional point guard in Patrick Beverly. Howard missed 41 total games due to injuries, so Harden's responsibilities to score increased.

Harden looked tired during the postseason. He wouldn't admit it, but all the games he played in the summer and in the winter months had to have taken a toll on him.

"I'm all right, I'm 25 years old," he said. "I'm all right."

A summer off should help him.

"Yeah, hopefully; it would have been nice if it would have been another month from now," Harden said. "But just time to relax and clear my mind and just be ready for another battle next year."