Harden Helps Clippers End Skid as Late Rally Stings Hornets

It wasn't pretty. But wins are more important than looks in basketball.

(Photo by Justin Russo, Russo Writes)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — There were several reasons why the LA Clippers traded for guard James Harden two months ago — chief among them was raising their championship chances.

However, Tuesday night in downtown Los Angeles showcased the other, perhaps more important reason the Clippers went ahead with the deal: surviving without Kawhi Leonard.

The forward missed his third consecutive game due to a left hip contusion, and while there isn’t cause for concern yet, the Clippers had lost two in a row and were uncompetitive in each contest. Tuesday represented the best chance for the Clippers to nab a victory, something that Harden would have to be responsible for.

To that point, Harden was more than brilliant as he spearheaded the Clippers to a 113-104 victory and sent the Charlotte Hornets (7-21) to an eighth straight defeat.

The talented guard finished with a game-high 29 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds, plus two steals and a block, in 40 minutes. Harden knocked down six 3s, and at one point late in the third quarter had as many 3s as the rest of the players in the game combined.

“They brought James Harden back in the game,” Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford said in a postgame interview with Bally Sports Southeast’s Ashley ShahAhmadi when asked what changed in the fourth quarter after Charlotte secured the lead.

Clifford continued: “He was the best player in the game. When he was out, we took good advantage of it. When he came back in, we just couldn’t guard him. We tried everything we could do basically and he crushed every part of it. So, [when] he was out we were in good shape. He came back in, and the game changed.”

The Hornets, much like Clifford alluded to, threw everything at Harden to stop the Clippers offense. They blitzed, fired, trapped, and tossed the whole shebang at Harden defensively. It didn’t matter. Harden picked them apart both with his scoring and his decision-making en route to the win.

Harden checked back in with 8:13 to go in the fourth quarter and the Clippers staring a six-point deficit square in the face thanks to a 24-7 Charlotte run that spanned the end of the third quarter and the beginning parts of the fourth. It turned a 77-67 Clippers advantage into a 91-84 Charlotte lead at one point.

“When we were up 10, [we] just [had] a couple of bad shots,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said after the game.

“Shot selection was bad. Messing around with the game. Had three chances to go up 12. I think [Ivica Zubac] missed two free throws, [we] turned the ball over and they were able to get back in the game. So, just got to be professional, just playing through the game and can’t take bad shots, can’t mess around with the game when you get up.”

The Clippers didn’t appear focused for long stretches of this one, enabling the Hornets to grow in confidence as the game went along. And grow they did.

After starting just 1-for-13 on 3-pointers Tuesday night, the Hornets would connect on five of their next nine attempts as they reached their largest lead of the night.

“[Steve Clifford]’s teams are going to play hard,” said Lue. “They’re always prepared, organized, know exactly how they want to play and they came back and took an eight-point lead, so it was a good win for us.”

Harden attempted just one shot in the fourth, but it was a big one.

With the game deadlocked at 93 apiece, Harden hit his patented side-step 3-pointer to break the tie. The Clippers never trailed after that as they used a 16-0 run to seal the game and deliver the team’s 18th win of the season.

Considering they were without Leonard yet again, it was a positive development to see the team overcome some struggles even if it was more than they would have bargained for when the game opened.

“We’re next man up,” Clippers guard Paul George said following the victory. “Keep the ship going. When Kawhi comes back, he will be healthy, and we’ll continue to rock. But regardless of who’s in and who’s out, it’s our job to keep going. It’s no different who’s out.”

George finished with 25 points, four rebounds, and four assists in 37 minutes, sinking 10 of his 25 field goal attempts and five 3s. George scored seven of his 25 in the fourth.

Russell Westbrook supplied 14 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists in 28 minutes off the bench, including knocking home a pair of 3s — one of which came in a 3-point game towards the latter stages of the fourth quarter.

“Russell was really good off the bench for us,” opined Lue. “Saved the game for us.”

Center Ivica Zubac notched his 10th double-double of the season as he tallied 18 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. Zubac did have some trouble in this game with free throws, making just four of eight attempts.

Daniel Theis chipped in with 10 points and four assists off the bench, rookie Kobe Brown netted two points and two assists, and Norman Powell had seven points on seven shots but did hit a crucial 3-pointer with 9:12 to go in the fourth to kickstart the 16-0 run.

Amir Coffey got the start in place of Leonard, his fourth starting nod in a row, and finished with four points and two rebounds. Terance Mann also scored four points.

Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists while Terry Rozier and PJ Washington each supplied 18 points. Nick Richards had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Charlotte accumulated 42 points in the paint in the first half, a number the Clippers were not comfortable with surrendering.

“Yeah, I mean we talked about it,” said Lue. “They were 1 for 12 [on 3s] at halftime with 42 points in the paint. And so, we wanted to protect the paint coming into the game, wanted to be a shrink-first team, and we didn’t do that. In the second half, we talked about at halftime, we want to protect the paint at all costs and then build back out to the shooters. I felt our guys did a better job of doing that in the second half, but first half was just a little too easy for those guys in the paint.”

Any win the Clippers achieve without the services of Leonard is one they should be happy with, even if it doesn’t look the prettiest to those observing from afar. The Clippers were just 11-19 last season when Leonard was not in the lineup as they were outscored by 154 points in those 30 contests.

It’s just one win, and it was against a team that hasn’t won since Dec. 8, but on Tuesday the Clippers showcased one of the reasons why they went out and got James Harden: to stabilize them on nights when their best player isn’t there.

Or, as Lue put it following the win: “I thought James was really good.”