What the Clippers have learned through 10 James Harden games, and the lessons still to come

LA Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue usually establishes a trial period of at least 10 games once he decides on a set lineup and rotation to begin a season. After James Harden ’s debut at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 6, Lue had to reset the timeline “for me to get used to them, understand what I need to do.”

The following Friday, the Clippers hit the nadir of what was ultimately a six-game losing streak, losing 144-126 on the road against the Dallas Mavericks in a game that they led by as many as 12 points but trailed by as many as 32 points. On that night, Harden echoed Lue as to when things would need to be evaluated appropriately.

“For me individually, this is only my third game,” Harden said after the Dallas loss. “I didn’t have a training camp, I didn’t have a preseason. So everything is still moving fast speed for me. I need about a 10-game window, then kind of see where I am from there.”

On Saturday night, in the most tangible progress the Clippers have made since the Nov. 1 trade, they defeated the visiting Mavericks 107-88. It was LA’s fourth win in five games and it was one of the most impressive of the season as it came against a Mavericks team that entered the game with a 10-5 record and the NBA ’s third-ranked offense.

In a matter of 15 days, the Clippers’ defense went from allowing their most points in a non-overtime game in nearly seven years to being the first team to hold the Mavericks offense below 100 points this season. On Saturday night, the Clippers who lead the NBA in steals per game (9.9), had only two against the Mavs, the hardest offense to turn over in the NBA. While All-Stars Luka Dončić (30 points, 12-for-27 field goals) and Kyrie Irving (26 points, 11 of 22) combined for 56 points, the Clippers held the rest of the Mavericks to 11-of-42 shooting (26.2 percent) from the field.

Perhaps the biggest lesson the team has learned in their 10 games with Harden is that their defense will have to carry them. In the five games the Clippers played prior to Harden’s debut, the Clippers ranked 10th in defensive efficiency. In Harden’s first five games, played between Nov. 6-14, the Clippers dropped to 23rd in defensive efficiency. In the last five games, the Clippers have allowed the fewest points per 100 possessions in the NBA, and that’s including Friday night’s defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans that saw Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram both top the 30-point plateau in LA.

“I think we got good defenders, we have willing defenders and we have length,” Paul George said Saturday night. “We have versatility, and I think us switching a lot of stuff kind of forces teams to play isolation, and not every team is geared to an isolation style of play. So, I think that kind of helps us and we’re just sticking to a game plan.”

The Clippers struggled to defend well with Harden on the floor in his first five games, allowing 18.0 more points per 100 possessions in his minutes on the floor compared to off. But in the last five games, Harden has been an asset defensively, with the Clippers allowing 96.1 points per 100 possessions in his minutes. Harden’s 6-foot-5 frame and 6-foot-10 wingspan allows him to be competitive even if he is switched onto players such as Dončić or Williamson.

“A lot of parts of my game get overlooked, but just trying to be in the right spots and communicate and be as effective as I can defensively,” said Harden, flashing the defiance that he showed from his introduction earlier this month. “That’s really my main focus. We’ve got guys that can score the basketball, so it takes a lot of pressure off of me offensively. For me defensively, it’s making sure I’m engaged and getting my hands in passing lanes and being in the right spots. Just watching film, communicating with coaches, and making sure I can always learn and do better.”

The fits defensively have coincided with the Clippers learning their hard lessons about being too small and lethargic at the same time. The game in Dallas was a catastrophe in part because of a lineup that had Russell Westbrook , Bones Hyland , Norman Powell and P.J. Tucker in at the same time with one of George or Terance Mann . The road loss to the Denver Nuggets was the team’s sixth in a row and was pockmarked by the team’s poor play with big lineups, one that led to a double-digit deficit. Then, the small lineup that initially sparked a comeback but was pummeled by the size and activity of Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon . The Denver bigs took turns hammering George, Kawhi Leonard and Mann in the post as the Clippers were without a center on the floor.

Since the Clippers started winning with Harden, the only team to beat them was a Pelicans team that has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the teams. Size was an issue in that game too, with Mann unable to handle Williamson at the start and then Williamson figuring out that Tucker should not be able to contain him after halftime. But other than that, Lue and the Clippers front office have put together a more sensible roster and rotation.

The new starting lineup that features Harden, Mann, George, Leonard and center Ivica Zubac features five players no smaller than 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds. The signing of 6-foot-8, 245-pound backup center Daniel Theis gives the Clippers an experienced player who is competitive and switchable defensively while offering a semblance of an interior offensive presence to go with occasional shooting competency. Theis makes up for Mason Plumlee ’s long-term injury absence and allows the team to keep developmental two-way contract center Moussa Diabaté out of the rotation.

While Hyland has lost playing time because of the numbers game at his position, 6-foot-7 Amir Coffey has shown that he will be ready to play on the wing if needed. That was the case in San Antonio when top reserve Norman Powell could not finish a game because of groin soreness. Lue specifically cited how the team learned a lesson about not going too small — specifically along the 2-4 positions — as to why Coffey would play over Hyland. Saturday night, Lue found a way to get Mann going, as Mann found extra run in the second unit at the expense of Tucker’s second half minutes. The results: season-highs of points (17), field goal attempts (14) and playing time (31:42) for Mann.

And then there is Westbrook’s place in the process to get Harden to these 10 games. The Athletic reported last week that Westbrook’s move to the bench was a team decision rather than Westbrook’s initiative , a move intended to establish Harden as the lead point guard and to have Westbrook be the second unit point guard. The results had been mixed for Westbrook, as he shot only 27.8 percent off the bench in his first four games backing up Harden and bottomed out with only 13:53 while missing 7 of 8 shots in the loss to the Pelicans.

But Westbrook responded positively Saturday, producing four rebounds and five assists without a turnover in the first half against the Mavericks and then targeting Dončić repeatedly to score 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Westbrook’s 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) mark from the field against the Mavericks was his highest field goal percentage of the season, and his first time making better than 45.5 percent of his shots since Harden’s first game.

Russ drivin' to the rim for the And-1 pic.twitter.com/jOVfqjrCnX

— LA Clippers November 26, 2023

“It’s probably internally frustrating for him, you know what I mean, just because you know he wants to start,” Harden said of Westbrook Saturday night. “But I think tonight he did a really good job of embracing and coming out there and just playing some really good basketball. Taking shots and attacking the rim when necessary and then making some really good passes as well. And then defensively just being active. So he did it tonight, he did a really good job.”

Westbrook’s new rotation puts him in position to do the thing that helped bring him to the Clippers: bring out the best in George , like the Oklahoma City Thunder days. Of Westbrook’s 24 assists off of the Clippers bench this season, 10 of them are to George.

“How do we support him? I mean we all want the best for one another, so that’s an easy solution is to have his back,” George said of Westbrook Saturday night. “Whether we need to win or not, we know what the end goal is and we know what we’re going to get to. But we got to make sure everybody’s on the same page along the way.”

Westbrook already doesn’t have the salary that Harden, George, and Leonard have. He is the one who is no longer starting and no longer seeing the same minutes. He went from 72.4 touches per game before Harden’s debut, to 50.2 touches per game in games starting with Harden, to 43.4 touches per game since coming off the bench behind Harden. Westbrook only plays 2.7 minutes per game with both George and Leonard on the floor at the same time since moving to the second unit, whereas Westbrook averaged 21.8 minutes per game with George and Leonard as a co-starter. It’s an adjustment for Westbrook, one that he understands will require more focus on his part.

“The game will tell you what to do,” Westbrook said Saturday night in his first comments in Los Angeles since Harden debuted.

Asked Russell Westbrook tonight what he feels like he has learned the most about his team and himself this month

"Still learning, we're still trying to figure it out... it could be special. We just got to stick to it." pic.twitter.com/iQgkI8QID5

— Law Murray November 26, 2023

There is still more work for the Clippers to do with Harden. While the offense in the new starting unit has been good (117.0 points per 100 possessions), the Clippers rank only 20th in the NBA in points per 100 possessions over the last five games (111.1 points per 100 possessions). That’s an improvement over Harden’s first five games, in which the team scored 108.2 points per 100 possessions, 28th in the NBA. But the shooting has been an issue, with the Clippers ranking 26th in both 3s made (10.6) and percentage (32.3) over the last five games. Under Harden, the Clippers rank dead last in passes per game, averaging 16.2 fewer than the next lowest team ( Rockets ) since Harden’s debut on November 6.

The Clippers run an isolation-heavy offense that works when they don’t turn the ball over, but needs its best players to play well. The Clippers have struggled in close games, with a 2-6 record in clutch-time games, where the margin is five points or fewer with five minutes or less left in the fourth quarter or overtime. Flip that record and the Clippers are leading the Western Conference.

Harden and Leonard have struggled in fourth quarters all season, something Lue is aware of . Harden has been one of the league’s best players in both isolations and pick-and-rolls this season. But Harden’s specific goal after being with the Clippers for 10 games is to get the team to increase the quality of looks, and that is for the entire offense, not just himself.

“Individually, it’s not about me, I’m going to keep saying it’s about the team and the whole purpose of me being here,” Harden said Saturday. “Just finding ways to generate really good shots consistently, whether it’s myself or hitting our bigs for a layup or dunk or generating a really good 3. So I think that’s me, in the entire season and the postseason, is generating quality shots consistently.

“I feel like if we can do that and not turn the basketball over and make teams guard us and then get back and give ourselves a chance defensively in the half court, it’s going to be very, very tough to beat us. So obviously that’s the building process and that’s where we want to be at the end of the year.”

The Clippers have games coming up against Western Conference teams above them in the standings: a rematch with the Nuggets at home, a road back-to-back against the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors to end a stretch of five games in seven days, and a Saturday matinee at home against the Warriors. There are no moral victories, but there aren’t any apologies for winning either. Every week is a new opportunity for the Clippers to grow into the team that they have put together.

“We got to build on it,” Westbrook said Saturday. “Obviously Denver coming in, which is the defending champs. Got to be ready to play.”

(Photo of Paul George and James Harden: Katelyn Mulcahy / )