Player of Week: Harden Helps Clippers Get Off To Fast Start
Veteran Guard Comes Up Big In Postseason
James Harden
James Edward Harden Jr.
Los Angeles Clippers1
34 years old (08-26-1989)
6 ft/5i n
Los Angeles, California, US
Point Guard
Philadelphia 76ersThe LA Clippers have assembled an All-Star lineup in an attempt to win an NBA title for the first time. It has caused some players to step back from their normal roles as the No. 1 option on a team, which is why when you look at James Harden stats while he’s been with Los Angeles, they aren’t quite what they used to be.
But when this NBA team needed him to step up in Game 1 of its first-round playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, Harden was able to recapture some of that scoring of the past.
The 34-year-old, who averaged just 16.6 points per game in the regular season, came up big with 28 points as the Clippers took the series opener, 109-97.
Harden’s breakout performance in his team’s 2024 NBA playoff debut helped him earn Player of the Week honors.
The offense was necessitated by the absence of forward Kawhi Leonard, who has been dealing with a knee injury that kept him out the last few games of the NBA regular season as well.
Leonard returned in Game 2, but the Clippers lost, 96-93. If Los Angeles is going to advance, it’s going to need more from Harden, who is a veteran of postseason play.
More Than A Scorer
Harden wasn’t among the NBA scoring leaders this season, as he has been many times in the past because the Clippers have so much offensive firepower already. Along with Leonard scoring 23.7 points per contest, Los Angeles also has Paul George, who averaged 22.6 points per game.
Harden, who came to the team in a midseason trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, settled into more of a point guard role for the team, ranking fourth in the NBA in assists per game with 8.5.
His 11.4 field-goal attempts per game were his fewest since the 2011-12 campaign when he was still coming off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also played fewer minutes per game (34.3) since his last campaign with the Thunder.
But the former NBA MVP still has the touch when needed, which is why the Clippers are still one of the NBA best bets to come out of the Western Conference.
Between Harden and Russell Westbrook, the Clippers have a pair of former league MVPs that are toning down their offensive games for the good of the team, but both are capable of big scoring outbursts if that’s what is required.
Still Plenty To Give
Harden continues to play the playmaking role for the Clippers, averaging 8.0 assists over the first two NBA games of the first-round series. He also scored 22 points despite shooting 2-of-10 from 3-point range in the Game 2 loss, grabbing six rebounds as well.
The Clippers’ offense was a little stagnant in Game 2 with Leonard back, as he was still shaking off some rust, and the rest of the team seemed to be trying to defer to him to get him going. But Harden may need to become more of an offensive threat, especially if the Mavericks are focusing their defense on Leonard going forward.
Harden has averaged 22.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game in 162 postseason contests in his career. He knows that his time in the NBA is going to be winding down in the next few years, and with the Clippers finishing well in the NBA team standings in the regular season, this team might be the best equipped to get him back to the NBA championship round.
But Los Angeles needs to get by Dallas first before it can think about further rounds. The Clippers need more scoring, and that might mean we get to see better James Harden stats in the games to come.
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