When an NBA reporter asked Paul George how the Los Angeles Clippers could get James Harden out of his slump, the small forward didn’t mince words.
“I’m not a coach,” George said, via Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I’m not the coach. Next question.”
Harden is averaging 7.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists over his last three games while shooting 22.7% from the field and 20.0% from beyond the arc.
The Clippers lost their last game against the Sacramento Kings by 14 points. Harden finished with six points and five turnovers in 31 minutes while shooting a woeful 1-of-7 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3.
“It’s the way they played him,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said of the Kings. “I mean, they blitzed him all night, so (in) the pick-and-roll he couldn’t really get his shots off. Maybe I could do a little bit more iso (isolation) for him to try to loosen him up, but they showed they wouldn’t let him play. So in pick-and-rolls … we know they’re going to blitz (Paul George), Kawhi and James — that’s what we work on every single day, executing the blitz coverages offensively. We need to do a better job. I thought PG did a good job of getting off of it, throwing it to the screener and making a play off of it. But with James, they just wouldn’t let him play.”
Harden is averaging 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 8.5 assists on the season while shooting 43.3% from the field, 38.9% from beyond the arc and 87.7% from the free-throw line. He becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The Clippers are 47-28. They are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
If the regular season ended today, the Clippers would face the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
One of the best players in NBA history, Harden has career averages of 24.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Clippers. He has yet to win a title.
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