Clippers Ride Harden, Leonard to Big Road Win in Sacramento
There was no beam to be lit on Wednesday night as the Clippers got a much-needed win.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A mere eight hours after LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue told media at shootaround that he was hoping to see a more aggressive James Harden, the Clippers got exactly that on Wednesday night.
Harden began the night exceptionally, scoring 17 of his season-high 26 in the first quarter as he helped the Clippers (8-9) to a beautiful offensive flow that kept up for the duration of the night en route to a 131-117 win over the Sacramento Kings (10-7).
The Clippers led by double-digits for the final 28 minutes.
When they traded for Harden at the end of October, this was partly what the Clippers had imagined could be the case, even if for one night.
“Constant dialogue,” Lue answered when asked postgame what led to Harden’s emphatic night of aggression. “I think James just wanted to prove to y'all that he is James Harden.”
Prove it he did.
Harden finished with those season-high 26 points to go with six assists, three rebounds, and a season-high five steals. Harden made eight of his 14 field goal attempts including five of his eight long-range efforts.
“He can do that on a nightly basis,” said Lue postgame. “We just got to get more pick and rolls, we got to get more and more comfortable. I think our bigs are really doing a good job now. He's working with (Daniel) Theis and Zu (Ivica Zubac) after every practice, just showing them the angles of pick and rolls, when to get off of it, where to be at when he's coming downhill. They're starting to get a great combination.”
A lot had been made of Harden’s fourth-quarter troubles — a frame where he’d attempted just two shots in his previous 23 minutes and the Clippers had been outscored by 21 points in that time. While Harden didn’t attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night, it wasn’t truly needed.
“It’s not even about the fourth quarter,” opined Harden after the win. “It’s about the entire game. It’s just me knowing what the hell I’m supposed to be doing and doing it. This is the first time I’ve heard that [public perception of his lack of aggression]. I don’t really — I live in, like, the real world to where I control what I can control, focus on what I got to do every single day and that’s all I can control. I don’t really — I don’t pay attention to it. "
Wednesday marked the third time in his 12 games as a Clipper that Harden had topped the 20-point mark.
It wasn’t just Harden that showed up in this one, though.
Kawhi Leonard tallied 34 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal on a highly efficient 14-for-18 from the field. Leonard played 37 minutes, and after the game said he’s feeling great despite the heavy minutes workload as he’s played every game to start the season.
“It was years trying to get through that wall,” Leonard said following the victory. “I've been dealing with this right knee injury for a while, since like you said, 2016-17, even going through the Raptors’ run, that being my first year going so far, just put another toll on it and now I feel good coming out of games and I don’t feel anything. So, just want to keep going and that’s my goal is just to stay healthy and the rest will play itself out.”
Leonard has played in all 17 of the Clippers’ games to start the season, averaging 34.1 minutes per contest. That per-game mark would equal the highest of Leonard’s career, which came in the 2020-21 season when he played in 52 games for the Clippers.
“His body’s feeling good, he’s feeling good and so it’s just good to see,” Lue echoed after the game. “He’s pushing through playing back-to-backs. It’s the most games he’s played in this stretch since 2016 this early in the season. So, just everybody sacrificing, giving up a lot to try to be a good team and that’s what it’s all about.”
Starting center Ivica Zubac finished the night with 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three blocks at the rim of Sacramento All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis.
Paul George added 19 points, seven assists, and three rebounds in 40 minutes while Terance Mann scored a season-high 18 points plus had three rebounds as the starting lineup went plus-17 in 28 minutes together on the night.
That new starting lineup has gone 5-2 and has outscored opponents by 69 minutes in those seven games.
The Clippers shot 53.8 percent for the game, connecting on 14 of their 28 three-point tries. They attempted 12 alone in the first quarter. The Clippers also got to the free throw line 22 times, sinking 17 of them.
But a big story in this game was their lack of turnovers. The Clippers registered 28 assists to just seven turnovers on the night, and they only had three miscues through three quarters as they staked themselves to a 21-point lead entering the fourth.
The Clippers now travel to play the Golden State Warriors (8-10) on Thursday night, the last of the team’s quick road trip up north. A win would drag them back to .500, and despite their early season wobbles, there is still a team in here that people within the organization believe in.
Or as Lue put following Wednesday’s victory: “I still got positivity in this team and I just like our team, and once we start figuring out and having more games like tonight [where] we're making quick decisions, we're making the right pass, right play, getting to the paint, spraying out for threes, then that's how we got to play.”