The Clippers have been very inconsistent over the past five weeks. They have gone from losing six games in a row to winning five games in a row, and every point in between. The only thing that has been consistent for them is their longevity.
Since Harden joined the Clippers through trade, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George had played all 18 games together. This meant that the team’s star power had not been tested during the five weeks since Harden arrived.
After hurting his hip in Tuesday’s win over Sacramento, George was out because of what the team called a “sore hip.” Harden proved why he was brought to Los Angeles: to raise the team’s ceiling when they are healthy and provide superstar insurance when they are not.
In a game that was interesting for both who was playing and who wasn’t, Golden State’s Draymond Green was serving the first game of his indefinite ban by the NBA. The Clippers survived a great shooting performance by the Warriors’ Klay Thompson thanks to James Harden’s return to his dominant form. The Clippers won their sixth straight game, continuing a run that began two weeks ago with a win against Golden State on the same court.
In their last 14 games, the Clippers (14-10) have won 11 of them.
With 21 minutes left in the game, Harden tied his season high with 11 assists. He finished with 15 of his team’s 27 passes, which led to 36 points for his teammates. He also scored 28 points himself. He also made five of six three-point shots and eleven of twelve free throws. With a layup in the third quarter, Harden scored his 25,000th career point. He is now one of only 24 players to hit that mark.
On defense, he kept the Warriors from scoring by stealing the ball from rookie big Trayce Jackson-Davis under the basket and then from Jonathan Kuminga on the outside, which led to a fast-break layup by Terance Mann. And when it looked like the Clippers were stuck in the middle of the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, Harden stopped Brandin Podziemski with a high swipe. The Clippers then scored on their next possession to make their lead even bigger.
It would have been interesting if Harden had done it by himself. Harden and Russell Westbrook, a backup guard, played off of each other on Westbrook’s backdoor cut for an alley-oop. This was the most time they had spent together since they had not played against each other in four games. There was one second left in the first half, and the ball had not yet left Chris Paul’s right hand when Westbrook’s right hand swung around it and sent it flying out of bounds.
As a way to party, Westbrook smiled at fans in section 116 of Crypto.com Arena and waved his index finger back and forth. He is known for his angry face on the court. Nine points came from Westbrook, and 21 came from Norman Powell, who came off the bench.
Amir Coffey scored 18 points in 30 minutes, taking over the job he played two years ago as the big wing when George got hurt and had to be replaced. Kawhi Leonard also scored 27 points.
Even though the Clippers were ahead by as many as 16, they could not beat Golden State until the very end. Thompson would not let the game get away. In the third quarter, he scored 16 points to get Golden State within six points going into the last 12 minutes.
Thompson led Golden State with 30 points, making eight of his 12 three-point shots. Stephen Curry had 17 field goal tries, which is the same number of points he had.
With 30 seconds left, Coffey missed a corner three-pointer that would have given the Clippers a four-point lead. Leonard sprinted into the paint to grab an offensive rebound. He made both of the free throws after being fouled. The game was over, but the run of wins was still going.