James Harden After Clippers Blow Big Lead To Bucks: ‘I Think We Were A Little Confused’

James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks despite being up 74-59 in the third quarter and the NBA star told reporters that execution cost him and his teammates a win. 

The Bucks went into a zone against the Clippers and Harden and Co. had trouble scoring. Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers also played small ball. 

“Knowing what we’re trying to do or get to,” Harden said, via The Athletic. “The middle of the floor is wide open in that small lineup. I think we were a little confused, as far as who sets the screen.”

The Bucks outscored the Clippers 40-25 in the fourth quarter and won by a final score of 113-106. LAC is now 39-21 on the season. 

“Everything is on us,” Harden said. “It’s not about anybody else. It’s not about our opponents, it’s not about guys in and out of lineups. It’s about what we do. If we do what we do, what we’re supposed to do every single night, possession by possession, we’ll live with the results. Majority of the time, we’ll come away with the win.”

Harden finished with 29 points, four rebounds and eight assists against the Bucks in 37 minutes while shooting 9-of-16 from the field, 5-of-10 from beyond the arc and 6-of-9 from the free-throw line. 

“We ran what we always run,” head coach Tyronn Lue said of the Clippers’ zone offense. “We just didn’t get to the basket. But we got open looks, got good shots. We just didn’t make the open 3s that we normally can make. But also, we didn’t attack the basket the way we could as well. So give them credit for going to the zone, and we just got to be better.”

Harden and Paul George combined to score 21 points in the fourth quarter. However, two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard had only one point.