James Harden‘s debut with the Clippers was spoiled by the Knicks, who pulled out a 111-97 win on Monday in New York. But Harden said after the game that he sees “unlimited possibilities” for what he, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook can do together, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Harden, who admitted that he felt “kind of weird out there” playing in his first game since the spring after not having a training camp with his new team, scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and handed out six assists in 31 minutes of action.
As Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports writes, it looks like Harden will defer primary play-making duties to Westbrook to open games, then sub out early before returning to spearhead the team’s second unit. Despite Monday’s loss, head coach Tyronn Lue was pleased with what he saw from his club’s newest guard.
“He did a good job his first game in a while,” Leonard said, per Youngmisuk. “And it takes time to get his legs under him as far as conditioning. But he did a great job to me, got everybody involved running pick-and-roll very well.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Clippers reserve center Mason Plumlee had to be carried off the court by a pair of team staffers following a collision with Julius Randle on Monday, Youngmisuk notes. The original diagnosis for Plumlee is a left knee sprain, but he’ll undergo further evaluation on Tuesday before the team officially announces a recovery timeline.
- Lakers big man Anthony Davis dealt with spasms in his left hip on Monday and had to leave the team’s loss to Miami late in the first half. However, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, Davis said he’s “very optimistic” that the hip issue won’t force him to miss additional time. “Everything’s going to be fine,” Davis said. “I’ll be ready to go for Wednesday, for sure.”
- Although he’s getting a three-year deal and a spot on the Warriors‘ standard roster, forward Gui Santos is expected to continue spending much of his time in the G League with Santa Cruz, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN, who says Santos will split his team between the NBA and NBAGL squads.
While there are certainly gripes with how the Clippers first game with Harden went, you can’t really lay much of it on him. Paul George going 2-11 and Bones Hyland going 2-9 are the main culprits, plus PG and the bench playing hot potato with the ball instead of basketball. Getting utterly outrebounded by seventeen boards certainly didn’t help.
No offense to Hyland, but with the talent on the team if he is being cited as a reason for a loss there are issues.
Hyland is either the sixth man over Powell, or right behind him. First guy off the bench is a critical role on basically any team, unless they don’t have a bench at all. He played 22 minutes and spent almost every second of it fumbling. Him playing terribly gave the Knicks ample opportunity to continue piling on, rather than getting the Clippers back in it. That matters a lot.
For this game, it was a contributing factor. Both guys going 4 for 20 hurts, no matter how everyone else played.
It also made sense to go to him. Brunson played really poorly for the Knicks last night, and they aren’t necessarily known as the best team in terms of 3pt defense (almost exactly league average last season, though they were better once they got Hart), so bringing in a mobile shooter like Hyland (who has played well so far this season) made perfect sense on paper, especially since they were getting worked at the rim and needed to get back into the game. It just didn’t work this time (partly because the Knicks did a solid job on defense, but not all of it; a lot of Hyland’s shots were rushed or not part of designed plays because other guys couldn’t get open).
*on defending Hyland.
The Knicks team defense was very good, but there were a handful of late contests and rotations onto Hyland. It just didn’t matter much.
Santos is a good player who will be a bench piece for GSW next year. You could see a lot of improvement last year in his game.
I predict that the Clippers will continue to have a multitude of player injuries and mounting discord between players vying for being the big dog. Harden will just add to the fun.
Please learn it’s a long season. I’m not a big Randle guy. But I know he will do what he does. When he plays well. Then he plays all around. When his shot is off. Then he’s the drama queen I’ve been saying for 4 yrs now. Thibs loves him. So it is what is …..
Randle – 37.5% (3PT), 6/6 FT, 27 pts,
10 reb, 3 ast, in 27 mins.
Knicks biggest strength is their depth. And it showed last night. Mitch had 13 and 15. And dominated with his rebounding and defense. The bench scored and played both ways. Knicks top 5 may not be as good as top contenders. But their top 10 is as good as any. It’s a team sport. So this will work for the long season. It’s the playoffs where you need that major talent or two.
It’s Thibs 4th year. Imo the “The Trade” will happen this year. It could take till TD.
Harden looks fat. No basketball player should have a roll around his belly. Played ok. Still no D.
Three point shooting is what it is…..
Knicks – 38.7%
Clippers – 34.4%
But when you get killed on the boards.
Knicks – 48reb, Clippers – 31reb
It means more shots and better D
Knicks – 41/88 shots, Clippers – 36/73 shots
Knicks needed this win at home. Glad they showed up.