LOS ANGELES – Maybe it was the time of day. Historically, the Clippers have never done well in afternoon games.
Maybe it was their first home game after a three-game eastern trip that saw the Clippers lose three in a row. Or maybe the team still is trying to figure out how to integrate James Harden into their plans.
Whatever was bothering them last week was still there Sunday as they fell behind early and couldn’t turn a fourth-quarter rally into a victory, losing to the Memphis Grizzlies 105-101.
The four-point victory extended the Clippers’ losing streak that reached five, keeping them winless in the Harden era.
Coach Tyronn Lue held a team meeting this week to clear up what the team – and anyone else – should expect from Harden when he is in the game.
“He just has to be James Harden,” Lue said. “He led the league in assists the last two or three years and making plays is what he does in the pick and roll. He’s great. So, we have to allow him to be himself.”
So far, Harden, a former league MVP and three-time scoring champion, has been a shadow of his former self. He struggled again to find his place in his home Clippers debut, that is, until late in the game.
Lue put James back in with less than two minutes to play and he connected on a corner 3-pointer from 23 feet out to tie the game at 98 with 1:33 remaining. Bismack Biyombo then made one of two foul shots to take give Memphis a one-point lead.
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Kawhi Leonard got bottled up and missed a layup attempt. The Grizzlies came back and scored on a layup by David Roddy to take a 101-98 lead and then padded their lead 103-98 on a pair of free throws by Marcus Smart.
George followed with three free throws with 18 seconds to go to pull within two, but it was not enough to avoid another loss.
Lue said he had hoped to instill confidence in Harden by telling the team of his intent of playing through the point guard. He felt Harden had been trying too hard to fit in and again it showed. He finished with 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting and the Clippers were outscored by 28 while Harden was on the floor.
“So now he feels more comfortable, but he doesn’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” Lue said, “…but we need James to be James and so that’s on me to make sure I make him be James.”
Harden wasn’t the only Clipper who had trouble finding his touch in the early going. Paul George started slowly but finished with 11 points, three assists and four rebounds.
After going scoreless in the first half against Dallas – the first time that had happened since joining the Clippers – George said he had been in a “non-aggressive attack mode” and said he would not lapse into a passive mindset again.
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That promise didn’t last long. On Sunday, George didn’t make his first basket until the second quarter. Then something clicked and he went into full attack mode, scoring the next two baskets to fuel an 11-3 run that got the Clippers back into the game, a game the Grizzlies had dominated through the first 14 minutes.
George’s run came at a time when Harden was on the bench and Russell Westbrook was on the floor. Lue had said he wanted to, at times, split the two point guards and give them their own unit. Westbrook connected with George on two of his baskets in the second quarter. George finished with a team-high 26 points.
The Grizzlies had five players in double figures, led by Desmond Bane’s 27 points. Luke Kennard, the former Clippers guard, connected on 4 of 5 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.