The LA Clippers picked up an important road win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, where James Harden said he found his “swag game” after some questionable performances of late.
The Clippers used a 34-point third-quarter outburst to turn a 60-50 halftime lead into a 24-point gap, 94-70, heading into the fourth quarter. After that, they never looked back, en route to the 116-103 victory.
After the game, James Harden spoke about the importance of the win and what did it for them, saying as shared by Clippers writer Joey Linn on X, formerly Twitter:
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“Details. Things we’ve been stressing about over the last few weeks. We put them on the line a little bit tonight. We still have things to work on, but it’s a spoils game for us. Like getting our rhythm back, our loot, our identity rediscovered…”
Paul George is the Clippers’ top scorer with 27 points. Kawhi Leonard added 24 points, including 17 in the third quarter, where they pulled away from the Trail Blazers further.
James Harden finished with 19 points and 14 assists in 36 minutes of play.
The victory ended a two-game slide for the Clippers (43-25) and gave them a game lead over the New Orleans Pelicans (42-26) for fourth place in the Western Conference.
In their last 13 games, the Clippers are 6-7 but are still in the top six, which will mean an automatic playoff berth.
They face the Trail Blazers (19-50) again in Portland on Friday.
Tyronn Lue talks about the trade that sent James Harden to the Clippers
The trade that sent James Harden to the LA Clippers from the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this season went well for the Los Angeles-based team. It’s something coach Tyronn Lue said they were considering when they finally gave the green light.
Speaking to the media after their game against the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this month, Lue said they weighed their options carefully before trading for Harden, even getting input from the former coach of “The Beard” in Philadelphia and now Bucks coach Doc Rivers.
He said Rivers, who was not yet back as coach when the trade took place, was for Clippers are getting tougherseeing how the former league MVP could help them in their campaign.
Lue said, as Sports Illustrated reports:
“I talked to Doc a lot about the James situation and just got his thoughts on what he thought worked and what didn’t work. He just thought it would be a great trade for us. was almost a no-brainer. Get a point guard who’s been an MVP, won scoring titles, won assist titles, he’s done it all.”
After a slow start to the Harden era with the Clippers, the team stabilized and became a consistent force in the Western Conference.
James Harden has played a key role in their progress, averaging 17.3 points, a team-high 8.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 60 games so far , in which he all debuted.
