by Daniel Johnson
April 27, 2024
Though the Clippers are struggling with the Mavericks and are down 2-1 in the series, Harden has been a consistent bright spot during the Clippers postseason run.
At the close of the April 26 contest between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers, James Harden finished with 21 points, two boards, five assists, two steals and a block. Though his team lost 101-90, Harden received a consolation prize in the form of passing Magic Johnson on the all-time playoffs points list.
As Sports Illustrated reports, Harden was efficient from the field, shooting 7/13 from the field and five of eight from three during 44 minutes of playing time. After passing Magic, the next player on the list for Harden to pass is Houston Rockets great Hakeem Olajuwon. Olajuwon sits in 15th place on the list with 3,755 career playoff points.
Though the Clippers are struggling with the Mavericks and are down 2-1 in the series, Harden has been a consistent bright spot during the Clippers’ postseason run. On the Mavs side, Luka Doncic has been praised for his defense of Paul George, Harden, and Kawaii Leonard. Despite not being known for his defensive acumen, Doncic has been showing up on that end of the floor, which makes Dallas more difficult to deal with.
Doncic told Sporting News that he accepts the responsibility of being targeted on defense. “That’s fine. I accept it,” Doncic said when asked about the Clippers attacking him defensively after game 2. “Gets me going on defensive end, so they want to attack me, that’s fine. I think I played good defense today, so gotta stay locked in.”
George, as Bleacher Report reports, remained optimistic about the Clippers chances in the series, telling reporters after the game he believes the Clippers have “enough talent in this locker room” to compete. George also praised Harden, saying “James is still one of the best in the world, Russ is still one of the best in the world. Myself, I mean, we still have enough.”
Leonard, meanwhile, has been in and out of the lineup as he has dealt with a lingering knee injury and was limited in game three due to how his knee held up after game two. The performances from the Clippers’ biggest stars have so far left a lot to be desired, as even without Leonard being available at his best, the Clippers have four potential Hall of Famers on the roster, and outside of Harden, have largely failed to show up thus far in the series.
George’s optimism is helpful for a team that is struggling and will likely have major questions going into the off-season if they fail to get out of the first round in this year’s playoffs.
George said, squaring some of the blame for the team’s struggles on his shoulders. “It puts pressure on James (Harden) — James had to play 44 minutes,” George said of his repeated foul trouble. “It just puts us out of sync, now (Clippers head coach Tyronn) T. Lue is in his rotations earlier than expected, guys aren’t playing at the times they’re used to playing. It just throws the whole team off. So, I take the blame on that.”
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