James Harden, Clippers are back at .500. Whats changed in the past 10 games? -

LOS ANGELES — The LA Clippers may not have played their worst game when they visited the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets last month, but the 111-108 loss that dropped the Clippers to 3-7 was certainly a low point.

It also was a turning point.

That loss was the Clippers’ sixth in a row, the last five of those with trade acquisition James Harden in the starting lineup alongside Russell Westbrook. By that game in Denver, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was trying to separate the two guards as much as possible, even though both were starters. The Clippers overcame a 13-point, first-half deficit to lead by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter, a 20-point turnaround completed with Westbrook in the game. But Harden replaced Westbrook to close the game with 5:20 left, and the Clippers lost, with Harden contributing little in the fourth outside of a lone missed layup.

Flash forward to Wednesday. The Clippers hosted the Nuggets for the second time in 10 days. But unlike last week’s fiasco, the Nuggets were at full strength with Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon in the lineup. This was the 10th game of LA’s newly-established starting lineup of Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Terance Mann and Ivica Zubac. But that starting lineup was avalanched by Denver 3s, and the Clippers trailed 36-21 after one quarter of play.

It took Harden playing a full 12-minute second quarter to evaporate Denver’s lead in short order. And when Westbrook left the game with 7:02 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Clippers leading 92-89, it gave Harden and the Clippers a chance to show how far they have come.

The Clippers outscored the Nuggets by six points in Harden’s fourth-quarter minutes Wednesday, with Harden scoring seven points and adding two assists to Leonard in the final frame. The Clippers beat the Nuggets 111-102, the team’s first win against Denver since January 2022.

For the first time in four weeks, the Clippers are back at .500, reaching the 20-game mark with a 10-10 record.

“Just being on the court together,” Harden said after the Clippers went 7-3 after a 3-7 start. “Figuring things out on both ends of the basketball. Know what we’re trying to accomplish on both ends of the basketball. And just going out there hooping, having fun.”

Harden finished Wednesday’s game with 20 points and 11 assists. He’s seeing the floor as the primary pick-and-roll ballhandler at a high level, and this game was the latest example of that development. Last month, Harden wasn’t finding spots to attack in the fourth quarter in Denver. On Wednesday, Harden was able to follow a stepback 3 with a probing floater off a Zubac late-flip ball screen to help the Clippers maintain a late advantage:

The Clippers have now beaten the last two NBA champions in their last two games, both coming in clutchtime and after trailing by at least 15 points. Now that the Clippers have evened their record again, it is an appropriate time to highlight how the team has developed around Harden.

Three major changes have taken place for the Clippers within the first 20 games of the season. The first was debuting Harden after acquiring him and P.J. Tucker from the Philadelphia 76ers. The second was naming Harden the starting point guard and replacing Westbrook in the starting lineup with Mann. The third was fading Tucker out of the rotation in place of rookie power forward Kobe Brown.

That last change may have been the most notable development of LA’s win over the Nuggets, because it gives the second unit something to build off. It’s not that Brown has been spectacular; he only scored three points in 17:10 while racking up four fouls Wednesday. But those three points erased the Nuggets’ largest lead of the game, and it came off a Harden pass, no less.

Brown also assisted backup center Daniel Theis to complete a run of three unanswered baskets by LA’s replacement for the injured Mason Plumlee. Theis was signed in time to debut for the start of this 7-3 run, and now he’s being encouraged to provide a stretch-five element for the team behind Zubac.

Harden’s belated emergence leaves Westbrook as a strict handcuff at point guard. For the first time since Harden debuted, there were no minutes that featured Westbrook and Harden on the floor together Wednesday. While Westbrook has struggled mightily with his efficiency as a reserve (39.5 percent field goals, 19 percent 3s in 21.6 minutes the last 10 games), his assist-to-turnover ratio is much improved (4.4 assists, 1.2 turnovers per game in the last 10). Wednesday’s fourth quarter featured the best of Westbrook, as he grabbed one of his four offensive rebounds for a putback and blocked this Christian Braun alley-oop to spark a fast break finished by Norman Powell:

Despite nearly daily questions about Westbrook, Powell has been the team’s most indispensable reserve, as has been the case for the past 13 months. Powell has two roles on this Clippers team that were both on display Wednesday.

He is the only reliable scorer off the bench (he scored a team-high 11 of his 17 points in what was a 40-point second quarter). But Powell also has been a strong fit in place of Mann with the rest of the starters due to the threat of Powell’s shooting. While Mann has gotten off to a career-worst start from 3 (6-of-35, 17.1 percent, the third-worst percentage out of 274 players with at least 20 3-point attempts this season), Powell has made 36 of 79 3s (45.6 percent, seventh-best percentage of 123 players with at least 70 3-point attempts this season).

“T. Mann does a great job of just coming in, setting the tone, guarding the opposing team’s best player and let Kawhi and PG take that responsibility later on in the game,” Lue said. “If we need more shooting on the floor or something different, then we go with Norm. And so it’s just kind of like a feel and a read for the game. But T. Mann does a good job defensively being able set the tone early and gets us kickstarted, and (that) allows PG and Kawhi to take over.”

The Clippers outscored the Nuggets by a game-high 24 points when Powell was on the floor Wednesday. He was a big reason the Clippers outscored the Nuggets by 28 points in all lineups that did not feature the entire starting lineup, the best showing by the bench since Mann became a starter:

Clippers lineups +/-, last 10 games

Clippers plus-minus	Starting 5	All other linueps
vs HOU (W)	20	-14
at SA (W)	18	7
at SA (W)	6	1
vs NO (L)	-12	2
vs DAL (W)	18	1
vs DEN (L)	2	-11
at SAC (W)	17	-3
at GS (L)	4	-10
vs GS (W)	-7	8
vs DEN (W)	-19	28
Overall (7-3)	47	9

“I think it’s everybody sticking to it,” Powell told The Athletic about the team’s development over the last 10 games. “It’s frustration when you’re losing. Top to bottom, individually, what you want to bring to the game, bring to the team. But it’s sticking with it, sticking to what we’re looking for, what we’re trying to build. Getting comfortable. And it’s going through the process. I think that’s the biggest thing. … All trying to figure it out. The guys that are on the floor, those four guys trying to figure it out and how they can make an impact and help not only themselves, but everybody on the team. When you have that positive mindset and just everybody’s trying to win, things start to come together.”

The Clippers don’t make it back to .500 without leaning on what has been the NBA’s second-best defense since the starting lineup change.

Since Nov. 17, only the NBA-best Minnesota Timberwolves have allowed fewer than the 108.6 points per 100 possessions the Clippers have allowed. Once again, the Clippers used the full-strength Nuggets as an opportunity to show their teeth defensively.

The Nuggets were 8-of-10 on first-quarter 3s Wednesday but made only 4 of 21 for the remainder of the game. And even though Jokić finished with a triple-double of 22 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, the reigning NBA Finals MVP made only 9 of 32 field goals, had four turnovers and attempted only two free throws. The 23 missed field goals were the most in Jokić’s NBA career, and the 28.1 percent marked Jokić’s third-worst shooting game out of 162 with at least 20 field goal attempts (and his worst with at least 30 field goal attempts).

The Clippers kept Zubac or Theis on the floor for all but the last 32 seconds of Wednesday’s game. NBA Advanced Stats credited Zubac and Theis for holding Jokić to 6-of-26 shooting from the field, culminating with Zubac’s powerful block late in the fourth quarter:

Roles are being established with this team now. Harden is running pick-and-rolls, George leads in isolations and Leonard leads in post-ups. Mann is the first unit spark plug off the ball and the head-of-snake defender to start games, while Westbrook provides on-ball energy from the second unit. Zubac is the top roller to the basket, while Theis explores more space as a stretch option. Powell gets downhill with the second unit while spotting up with the first unit. Brown is the bigger-body rookie who makes quick decisions as a shooter or passer.

The Clippers hope to get healthier as well. Plumlee told The Athletic he hopes to return from a left MCL sprain before the end of this month. Backup wing Brandon Boston Jr., out for two months due to left quadriceps tendinopathy, will begin a rehab assignment with the Ontario Clippers in the G League this week.

Overall, the Clippers are almost where they want to be. Even at .500, the 18th-best win percentage in the league, the Clippers have the eighth-best point differential (3.6). Last season, the Clippers ranked 11th in win percentage but 17th in point differential (0.5). Winning close games against worthy competition while getting numerous positive bench contributions has allowed the Clippers to reset and prepare for the second quarter of the season. There is still more work to be done, as getting to .500 is only a goal when you are under .500.

“We still could have done a little better, I thought, as far as making some of the shots that we normally make, but it’s coming,” Lue said. “Denver’s been a tough team for us to play over the years. … We won this game, but now we can’t go to Utah (on Friday) and have a letdown. So we got to be able to validate it.”

Related reading