CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Beard has barely brushed against his new home, and its people have already fallen for him.

About 40 minutes before new Cavs guard James Harden played his first home game at Rocket Arena, young fans fought for position in the front row closest to Cleveland’s player entrance. With their arms outstretched, children begged: Sign my hat, my basketball, my jersey. Sign the beard mask fans received upon entering Wednesday’s game.

Sign anything. We love you.

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The kids aren’t alone. In the nine days since Cleveland acquired Harden for All-Star guard Darius Garland last week, Cupid’s been firing arrows all over this locker room.

Star guard Donovan Mitchell told cleveland.com last week that Harden gives Cleveland a higher competitive ceiling. Starting center Jarrett Allen could tell after one game that his new pick-and-roll partner serves easy looks “on another level.”

And Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson mentioned before Wednesday’s 138-113 win over the Wizards that Harden made two observations during a recent film session that even his coaches hadn’t considered.

“I’m just going to keep shouting out the IQ,” Atkinson said of Harden. “He’s just doing stuff on the fly. He’s going to help our role players. He’s going to help our coaches. It’s already manifested itself this early.”

Almost like Harden has done this before.

Specifically, Wednesday’s warm welcome marked the sixth different home debut of Harden’s 17-year career, the fourth in his last six seasons and the third after a midseason trade. From Oklahoma City to Houston to Brooklyn to Philadelphia to Los Angeles to Cleveland, Harden has mastered the hoops honeymoon phase.

He respects the turf of star teammates like Mitchell; feeds easy buckets to role players; asks coaches questions without overwhelming them; and he wins plenty of games in the process.

But like a longtime basketball bachelor, he’s still searching for the bond that brings a ring.

Before Cupid caught the Cavs, Harden impressed Clippers coach Ty Lue with his hoops IQ. Before then, Sixers star Joel Embiid told reporters that Harden was “completely different from what you see (in the media).”

And before Embiid defended Harden’s honor or Nets coach Steve Nash called the guard “one of the premiere players in the world,” Rockets guard Chris Paul told reporters in 2017 that, “I haven’t been this excited about basketball in a while,” when introduced as Harden’s co-star.

None of these partnerships led to titles, or even an NBA Finals appearance, and context can help explain each shortcoming. Paul hurt his hamstring during the 2018 Western Conference finals against Golden State. Harden hurt his during the Nets’ 2021 playoff run. Embiid (76ers) and Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) battled injuries as Harden’s teammates, too.

But this is where Cavs fans cover their eyes: Their new star also struggles on the playoff stage, particularly when his team needs a push. For his career, Harden averages 1.6 fewer points per game (from 24.1 to 22.5) on worse scoring efficiency (from 43.8% to 42.5%) and 3-point shooting (from 36.2% to 34%). And over his last five seasons, he’s scored just 13 points per game on 31.1% shooting in five elimination games.

Small sample size, to be sure. And Garland’s numbers aren’t much better (13.8 points per game, 30.5% shooting) in must-win playoff games, in part because he’s less durable.

But long runways are reserved for the regular season. The Cavs acquired Harden to help solve their playoff problems. And at 36, he’s running low on time to amend his reputation.

This time — with this team — feels different, however. The Cavs are younger than Harden’s Clipper teams. His Cleveland co-stars are more durable than Embiid, Paul and Leonard. He’s already fitting faster than expected,

During Harden’s first three games, Cleveland has scored 129.6 points per game on 51% shooting. He assisted on four of Sam Merrill’s nine 3-pointers Wednesday night. His fingerprints stain Allen’s recent stat lines (24 points, 10.7 rebounds per game).

And Mitchell, who has spent the last three-plus seasons in Cleveland looking for someone else to trust with the team’s reins, strolled through the postgame locker room Wednesday playing music on his phone and cracking jokes with teammates. He’s never looked more confident in his surroundings since arriving here.

By the way, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley is still healing from a calf strain. Sharpshooting forward Max Strus will return soon, too. The Eastern Conference counts no juggernauts.

Could this be the team that Harden helps lead to a championship?

“Yes,” Harden said Wednesday. “And you can’t really say that — I don’t know how many times I’ve really said that throughout the course of my career.”

I can name a couple.

Before the 2021-22 season, Harden told Nets reporters that, “At full strength, nobody can beat us.” In January 2023, he said the 76ers gave him the best chance of his career to win a title. And just five months ago, Harden said on Clippers media day that they had the requisite roster to win it all.

Now he thinks the Cavs can be his trophy team, and the city is falling hard. The coaches love Harden’s brain. The players like his passing. And the kids waive their pens, hats and basketballs at The Beard.

None of them care that most honeymoon phases fade.