The Los Angeles Clippers made the headlines after beating the defending champions Denver Nuggets on the home court. Their 111-102 victory saw a memorable display from their star point guard James Harden as a facilitator. But despite his match-winning performance, Nuggets’ Jamal Murray candidly asked for aggressiveness from the 2018 MVP.
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Following the defeat, the 26-year-old shared his thoughts on Harden’s passiveness on the court for the Clippers. Demanding a more lethal approach from the 34-year-old, stated,
“I would like him to shoot more, honestly! He can shoot it”.
“But he does a great job of controlling the pace,” Murray added, reflecting on James’ role in his newest franchise.
Rather than rushing into an action, Harden has adapted to a more analytical mindset in the City of Angels. Jamal highlighted it, stating, “Sometimes, he’ll control the tempo,” as the 10x All-Star ran most of the plays.
“He does a good job of playing at his own pace and getting other guys involved,”
he mentioned, praising the basketball understanding of James.
This adjustment has worked well for the entire roster in recent games, as the NBA teams continue to transform their gameplay based on player availability. A great example of this has been the Minnesota Timberwolves of this season. Despite having Karl-Anthony Towns, they are letting him participate more in offense alongside Anthony Edwards. In the meantime, Rudy Gobert is facilitating the defense on the floor, resulting in the top spot in the Western Conference following a 16-4 run.
How James Harden impacted the Los Angeles Clippers
After months of controversy surrounding his future in the league, the Philadelphia 76ers finally agreed to trade James Harden to LA. The journey since then has been filled with ups and downs. The franchise went on a losing streak of six matches causing misery for the supporters.
Following that, the team went through a turnaround as they lost only three of their last ten matches. Banking on the game-reading ability of Harden, the roster recovered well after an early bump on the road. James’ 20-1-11 against the Denver side was proof of precisely that.
The starting five has revolved a lot around him since his arrival. The superstars such as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have found their feet in the latest setup. A silent contributor to the success has been Russell Westbrook as he willingly took a step back to benefit his organization.
With the team chemistry rising with time, the Clippers come across as a potent force at this stage of the campaign. Thus, it would be interesting to see how far they can go before running out of fuel.
