The Clippers dismantled the Nets 126-89 tonight in a 37-point win over James Harden’s former team. During the third quarter of the game, a scuffle broke out underneath the basket when John Collins pushed the Nets rookie Egor Demin for wrapping up Harden on transition defense.
John Collins pushes Egor Demin after he wraps up James Harden on a fastbreak. Terance Mann comes in and shoves Collins with some words for him after.
Vet sticking up for the rookie. pic.twitter.com/CMCIyXz2XW
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) January 26, 2026
The 19-year-old rookie was simply trying to help Harden back on his feet. Terance Mann, the former Clippers player who now plays for the Nets, did not appreciate this aggression from Collins.
He came to the rookie Demin’s defense and pushed Collins away from him before being separated by the officials. Following the game, Collins justified his actions, saying anyone unfairly touching his teammates brings out this side of him.
“It’s everything that I stand for. Whenever I’m challenged, I feel like it brings the dog out of me. Especially when you wanna be physical as well and be physical with my teammates.”
“It turns me up, it’s a part of the game, I try not to get too carried away, but if you’re gonna go touch Uno, I’m gonna come see you too. I’ll be around,” warned Collins.
“A bond or not, you go over there and do that to my teammate, I’m going to come over there,” Collins further added when asked about the chemistry such incidents build internally for a franchise.
“Obviously, my relationship with James is continuing to build, but I just don’t like anybody treating my teammates like that at all. Like having his back, that type of thing strengthens the bond as well,” concluded Collins.
The nine-year NBA veteran took exception to what seemed like a normal basketball play that defenders use to avoid letting a player initiate contact to draw the foul and get an additional foul and go to the free-throw line for three potential points.
This is something that Harden has been famous for doing throughout his career: initiating contact to draw fouls, and thus a completely normal defensive strategy that other teams have also used against him in the past.
Even for 10 of Harden’s 19 points scored tonight, he went to the free-throw line 10 times. He finished with six rebounds and eight assists to go with those 19 points while shooting 3-8 from the field (37.5%) and 3-5 from the three-point line (60.0%).
Considering that the Clippers were 31 points ahead at the time of the incident, Collins’ reaction to me seems like an overreaction, especially from a player who has been in the league for nearly a decade now.
The Clippers have improved to 21-24 following this win as they continue their upward surge in the second half of the season. They move on to face the Jazz in Utah for their next game on Tuesday night (January 27).
Meanwhile, the Nets fell to 12-32 tonight and extended their losing streak to five games. They will next face the Suns on Tuesday night in Phoenix.
