After acquiring James Harden, there were some early growing pains, but now that they’ve settled into a groove, they talk as though they can defeat any team, anywhere, at any time.
Tyronn Lue desired to envision the possibilities in PLAYA VISTA. Plenty of wins, lengthy playoff runs, and perhaps even a title. With James Harden, their recently acquired superstar, the Clippers would be unstoppable.
Lue responded, “I tried to,” then burst out laughing at the memories.
But before Lue and the Clippers could enjoy the fruits of their alignment of Harden with Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, and Kawhi Leonard, reality intervened. They lost their first game together as a team because they were a disorganized and dejected bunch.
Next up, another. And then two more came after that, shattering all hopes for immediate prosperity.
Lue stated, “I thought we had a chance to be a good team, you know, even though we got off to a rough start.” “With our four guys, we needed to sacrifice first, and then we just needed to figure out how to play together.”
The Clippers started to succeed as the Big Four got to know one another’s quirks and requirements in addition to making a significant amount of personal sacrifice. Harden became the team’s primary ball handler when Westbrook was benched. Leonard adjusted for fewer touches while George adopted a new role that involved playing off the ball.
As we approach the midway point of the season, the revamped Clippers have a 27-14 record, with winning streaks of nine and five games under their belt. Since their 3–7 start, they have won 24 of the last 31 games and 10 of the last 12. Despite being 2½ games behind the leaders in the Western Conference, they are in fourth place and exude confidence in their ability to win every game.
The Clippers have shown this by defeating some of the best teams in the league and winning games in a variety of methods with different players taking the court each night. Harden’s game-winning three-pointer in the last seconds to secure a one-point victory over the Golden State Warriors, Leonard’s 41 points against the Utah Jazz, and George’s four-point play with six seconds remaining to defeat the Houston Rockets are a few examples.
Then there was Sunday afternoon’s outstanding effort by Westbrook off the bench, which ignited a 22-0 run in the last five minutes to seal a 125-114 triumph over the Brooklyn Nets.
Lue remarked, “We’re just finding ways to win, and whoever it takes to win.” “We have numerous strategies at our disposal to defeat you and win. As I mentioned earlier, James and Russ had it going tonight since PG and Kawhi didn’t. They agreed to play through those guys and were willing to do so. It wasn’t an issue.
“Having players willing to make such a commitment means a lot to the club. And that implies that you’re creating a winning culture.
In a retaliation matchup with the Lakers (22-22), who have defeated them twice this season, the Clippers hope to carry that confidence into Tuesday night’s game. Before losing to their cross-arena foe the night before Harden’s debut, the Clippers had defeated the Lakers eleven times in a row.
The Clippers have experienced this before. They were 23-12 halfway through the pаndemic-shortened 2020–21 season and made it all the way to the Western Conference finals. The Clippers were defeated by the Phoenix Suns in six games without Leonard, who had sustained an ιnjury in the previous round.
George and Leonard are both healthy this season, albeit Leonard’s damaged hip kept him out of four games.