LOS ANGELES — Ten games. That’s how long James Harden and Tyrone Lue said to give the Clippers before judging them after the franchise made an all-in move to land the former MVP.
The first five games were a disaster, but then things started to turn around — the Clippers won four of the next five and had the best defense in the NBA over that stretch. Russell Westbrook had agreed to move to the bench, the starting five with Terance Mann in his place was dominating, and Harden’s fit with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George seemed to be coming together.
Then came game 11.
It was a punch to the gut that showed just how far these Clippers still have to go to be taken seriously, a 113-104 home loss to a Nuggets team on the second night of a back-to-back and without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon. It was the Clippers’ worst loss of the season, the kind that makes fans question the logic of pairing four stars who may be past their prime and stylistically are not a natural fit.
Monday former Clippers Reggie Jackson (35 points, 13 assists) and DeAndre Jordan (21 points, 13 rebounds) carved up a slow Los Angeles defense all night.
Reggie Jackson ⏩ DeAndre Jordan (x5)
— NBA (@NBA) November 28, 2023
This duo was cooking ALL NIGHT, linking up for 5 (‼️) ally-oops in the Nuggets victory 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mW5z2LwQFz
Things were not better on the other side of the court with Harden trying so hard to sacrifice that he took only three shots in the first half and zero in the fourth quarter.
“Tonight, offensively, I just thought we were nasty offensively,” Lue said. “Too slow, too methodical and only taking 20 3s [the Clippers’ goal is 36 3-point attempts a game]. Not really getting to what we wanted to get into. So that’s me, I take full responsibility….
“Guys are frustrated offensively, but they should be frustrated defensively as well. That’s when you should get mad. It’s on the defensive end, but I take full responsibility, like I said, and we’re just not going to play this style of basketball.”
The offensive frustrations start with Harden, who is struggling to adjust to a system trying to blend three isolation shot creators — himself, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George — who as a group were stopping the ball and playing next to each other, not with each other, much of the night. Leonard had 31 points on 10-of-26 shooting and was by far the bright spot of the starters. George shot 2-of-13 while Harden was 3-of-7 for 11 points with four assists and long stretches where he just floated through the game and wasn’t
aggressive.
Lue talked pregame about simplifying decision making for Harden and the entire team — easier defensive reads, and on offense after makes having Harden get the ball up the court quickly and into one of three sets. The goal was to get a more aggressive Harden.
“I’m just trying to get him comfortable,” Lue said. “Like I said, having PG and Kawhi on the floor at the same time I think kind of takes away from his aggressiveness even more. Shots he’s turning down but I think he could be even more aggressive in the pick-and-roll.”
“I think it’s just adjustment, just changing game and a habit,” George said of Harden’s role, playing more off the ball than he is used to. “Habit is a thing and I think he’s just, his rhythm has been so accustomed to off the bounce and creating space and catching rhythm off his dribble, that it is different now in catch-and-shoot situations. I just think the more reps he gets at it, the more he sees in-game that those catch-and-shoots are available, I think more in rhythm he’ll be. But it’s an adjustment.”
It’s early enough in the season and the process that the Clippers can say they are still adjusting, and they can argue it was their third game in four nights (it was that for Denver, also). Still, we’ve also seen enough to question if the pieces can fit together at a championship level — and that’s what the Clippers have to target. Putting four stars on one team was an all-in move that brought expectations of being more than a play-in team (which is what they looked like Monday).
The Clippers looked better — not great, but better — when the second unit was on the court, where Westbrook pushed the pace and players such as Daniel Theis were making smart cuts off the ball. It just wasn’t near enough.
Westbrook said defensively that the team’s weak side rotations were late and the Clippers were just chasing all night. Which is an understatement.
“It’s gonna be a process, always,” Westbrook said. “There’s just gonna be the only time where things go well... [We] start off slow today and just kind of keep it going. It’s part of season, got to turn the page got two big road games coming up. Take care of business.”
Lue saw the upcoming games as a real measuring stick for the Clippers.
“We’re playing some really good opponents…" Lue said Monday night before his team came out flat. “We got Sacramento coming up, Golden State twice coming up... So just kind of see what we’re stacking up against these better teams and what tweaks we need to make and things that we can do differently.”
They didn’t stack up well against a shorthanded Denver squad. It felt like one step forward and two backward for the Clippers on Monday night, and a team now two games below .500 in a crowded West doesn’t have much time to get moving forward again.
