James Harden made his much-anticipated debut for the Los Angeles Clippers on the grand stage of Madison Square Garden, the mecca of basketball and the home to the New York Knicks. In this contest, the Clippers lost 97-111, with Harden putting up 17 points, three rebounds, and six assists.
Fans weren’t pleased with his performance or the team’s.
Final. pic.twitter.com/99vbVE46Kl
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 7, 2023
One fan was quick to throw the blame on head coach Tyronn Lue.
https://twitter.com/FeelLikeDrew/status/1721719628378812710
Fans were not pleased with Harden’s passive play and the coaching scheme not highlighting him.
https://twitter.com/ClipsLand/status/1721719581708841341
Some fans praised James Harden and Russell Westbrook for their ability to score the ball.
James Harden and Russell Westbrook have both scored with ease tonight any time they’ve hunted their own shots.
Both players have been unselfish, and have still combined for 27 through three quarters.
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) November 7, 2023
Harden had some big moments in the game, which prompted a lot fans to get excited.
JAMES FUCKING HARDEN COOK UP KING pic.twitter.com/gKfBE4a0WS
— Sai (@LeGoatedOne) November 7, 2023
Many fans of both Harden and the Clippers have attacked each other over the last 24 hours. One Harden stan saw ‘The Beard’ play and already started yearning for the days in Butler busted you off the court.
clippers are ass why tf couldnt harden stay in philly
— JH4L (@kaneyzyi) November 7, 2023
Fans were happy to see the Clippers suffering a loss in this game, calling Harden dysfunctional.
Glad the knicks didn’t let dysfunctional ass James Harden come to MSG and get a win
— Its a go for OG (@GODSONN) November 7, 2023
More fans mocked the Clippers, claiming they traded Harden to keep reading water in the Western Conference.
The clippers traded for harden just to be ass?!🤣🤣
— Pepe Ruiz (@Pepe_10201) November 7, 2023
The Clippers struggled to score the entire night, despite addressing their point guard problem by acquiring James Harden. Russell Westbrook also had a solid night, leaving with 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists. That wasn’t enough for the Knicks dup Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson, who combined for 53 points on the night.
Harden didn’t excel in his normal playmaking role, playing more off-ball to also maximize Russell Westbrook’s chance of succeeding. Harden is a master of reading the game at the halfcourt line and the Clippers could have used that ability instead of relying on his off-ball movement and shooting.
Did The Clippers Make A Mistake?
The James Harden trade has the potential to catapult the Clippers into winning their first title. However, this was a whimpering start as the Clippers couldn’t even manage to score a 100 in this game. Westbrook and Harden were efficient but should have attacked more to ensure the team could make it competitive towards the end.
With the loss of Mason Plumlee to an incident with Julius Randle tonight, the Clippers have taken another massive blow to their roster. Their rotation is thin and Ivica Zubac is the only reliable big man that can take the workload away from Plumlee unless Ty Lue wants to try Kobe Brown out of position and play him as a backup five.
Mason Plumlee goes down after Julius Randle dives for the ball and goes into his left knee.
Very reckless/dangerous play here. pic.twitter.com/Esj0DwYkrl
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 7, 2023
The Clippers do not need any major change at this point to try and rectify this. It’ll work better to be patient and see what they can do with this roster before deciding in February. The team will head back to Los Angeles feeling gutted about this loss, as it drops them to 3-3 on the season.
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