Clippers can’t keep pace with Knicks in James Harden’s debut
NEW YORK — The story was supposed to be mostly about James Harden’s first game with the Clippers and how the team was going to form a dynamic Big Four with Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook.
But Monday’s game turned into much more than just Harden making his debut and having a solid performance.
It was about the Clippers losing 111-97 to a New York Knicks team still trying to find its way.
It was about Clippers coach Ty Lue pulling his starters late in the fourth quarter when they were down 16 points because they weren’t getting the “defensive stops” he wanted.
It was about the Clippers losing key reserve Mason Plumlee to a sprained left knee that he’ll have reevaluated Tuesday.
It was about the Clippers’ Achilles’ heel of poor rebounding and not taking care of the basketball rearing its head again.
Coach Tyronn Lue says the Clippers will have a plan in place when James Harden makes his debut on Monday night against the Knicks in New York.
So, yes, there was so much for the Clippers to unpack, starting with Harden scoring 17 points on six-for-nine shooting, going two for four on three-pointers and handing out six assists.
It was a solid debut for Harden, who forced his way out of Philadelphia and was traded to the Clippers last week.
“I feel kind of weird out there,” Harden said. “But just not really having a preseason game or an opportunity to participate in the full training camp or none of that. It was just out there and just basically winging it. But try to go off my basketball instincts and what I’ve been doing for the last few years or whatnot. I just went out there and playing and thinking the game and trying to make the game easier for everybody else.”
Harden played 31 minutes, 22 seconds, his wind still not there.
“I was tired,” Harden said. “It’s moving fast, but I mean, I got adjusted to it. It was going to take me a few games to kind of get used to the pace, but other than that, it was still basketball at the end of the day.”
Harden has had a few practices with the Clippers in the last few days.
Still, the last time he played in an NBA game was May 14 in the 76ers’ Game 7 loss to the Boston Cetics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“He got tired, a couple stints or whatever and had it come out, but I thought overall, orchestrating, making the right play, making the right pass and pick the rules, he was really good,” Lue said. “So it’s going to take him a little time to get in game shape. We understand that, but his presence on the floor was definitely felt.”
Westbrook (17 points) and Kawhi Leonard (18) also were solid, but George had only 10 points, missing nine of his 11 shots and five of his six three-point attempts.
Clearly, it’s going take time for this foursome to get comfortable with one another.
Lue said he’s looking at “10” games for Leonard, George, Westbrook and Harden to find their rhythm together.
And, it was just their first game playing together, Lue reminded reporters.
“I’m not going to overreact,” he said.
Even so, Lue found some fault with the defensive effort of his starters.
He called a timeout with 4:25 left and the Clippers down 104-88.
When play resumed, Lue had pulled starters Harden, Westbrook, Leonard, George and center Ivica Zubac.
The Clippers had already given up 34 points in the third and were on their way to giving up 35 in the fourth.
“They had 34 points in the [third] quarter, so we wasn’t getting stops,” Lue said. “So, it wasn’t no need taking a chance on someone getting injured. No way we could have won a game down 16 the way they were playing offensively, and so I just got my guys out.”
The bad news for the Clippers was when Plumlee was carried off the court by the team’s medical staff in the third quarter after a collision with Julius Randle. Randle was chasing a loose ball when he ran into Plumlee’s left leg, sending him to the court in pain.
James Harden says he wants to build trust with his Clippers teammates and coaches and prove he can help the franchise capture its first NBA title.
“[It’s] just a sprained knee,” Lue said, “[and] that’s all we know.”
Lue also knows the Clippers can’t keep turning the ball over at a high rate and they can’t keep getting beat up on the boards.
They turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 35 points for the Knicks.
They gave up 18 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second-chance points.
“It [was] the same thing that’s been killing us the last couple years — just to rebound the basketball,” Lue said. “They had 18 offensive rebounds and then [we turned] the basketball over. We had 22 turnovers. So, you can’t beat the good teams when you give up 18 offensive rebounds and then you turn the ball over 22 times. It’s just too hard to win a game.”
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