James Harden scores 17 in debut as Clippers fall to Knicks،
NEW YORK – Even though it seems “a little weird” to play his first game of the season without training camp with the LA Clippers, James Harden had no trouble seeing what he, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook can do it together. .
“Unlimited possibilities,” Harden said.
Harden made his long-awaited debut with the Clippers on Monday night, and while the New York Knicks squandered the occasion with a 111-97 victory at Madison Square Garden, the Clippers kept their eyes on the situation in his together and about what they thought they were. exciting times ahead.
Harden made 6 of 9 shots and finished with 17 points and six assists in 31 minutes. He admitted it was strange playing in his first game without going through training camp or a preseason with the Clippers after last week’s trade from Philadelphia.
“I feel a little weird out there,” Harden said. “But I didn’t really get a preseason game or the opportunity to go through the full training camp or any of that. It was just [being] over there and just fly it. Try to get away from my basketball instincts and what I’ve done the last few years or whatever. I just went out there and played and thought about the game and tried to make the game easier for everyone. “
The Clippers started their four-star team with center Ivica Zubac. While all four scored in double figures, with Leonard finishing with a game-high 18 points, the Clippers seemed out of sync while trying to feel out on several occasions.
They turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 35 points for the Knicks. They were outscored 48-31 and gave up 18 offensive rebounds. And they couldn’t stop in the second half, giving up 69 points to the Knicks after halftime.
Worse yet, the Clippers could have suffered a major blow to their second unit. Backup center Mason Plumlee had to be carried away by two Clippers personnel after Julius Randle flew to the side of his left leg. Plumlee was ruled out in the third quarter with a sprained left knee and will be further evaluated Tuesday.
Harden may need to do more with the second unit. After Clippers coach Ty Lue started Harden, he also asked the point guard to lead the second team.
While Lue said Harden was understandably tired in his first game of the season, the coach saw things he liked in Harden. On an early pick-and-roll with Zubac, Harden delivered a pinpoint bounce pass that wrapped around a defender and spun to Zubac, who fouled inside.
“I thought overall it was just orchestration,” Lue said of Harden’s play. “Making the right play, making the right passes and the right pick-and-rolls, he was really good. It’s going to take him a little time to get in shape. We understand that, but his presence on the court definitely made itself felt.”
Lue believes that after 10 games he will have a better idea of how it will work and what he potentially needs to tweak.
“He did a good job in his first game in a long time,” Leonard said of Harden. “And it takes time to get his legs under him as far as conditioning. But he did a great job with me, he got everyone involved really well in running the pick-and-roll.”
Lue said entering the game he wrote down how he would shift his stars with the second unit and his rotations “a thousand times.”
He certainly didn’t envision having to permanently remove his starters from the game with 4:25 left and the Clippers trailing 104-88.
But Lue said he wouldn’t overreact and “I’m not going to panic right now.” He saw the sacrifice of his stars and the will to make it work.
Westbrook finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists while making 8 of 13 shots. But George calmed down after his hot start to the season with 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting.
However, he emerged from Monday evening very optimistic.
“As far as the talent aspect goes, it’s one of the [most] “The talented teams I played for,” George said. “We’ll figure it out. First play. Lots of moving pieces, but it was fun. Playing on the field with those guys was fun and it gave me a lot of optimism for the future.”
