Though James Harden has yet to win an NBA Championship in his career, James Harden has accomplished a lot in his 16th season, Harden made history when he passed Wilt Chamberlain in 8th place on the NBA All-Time Triple-Doubles list. Harden proves that though he’s getting old, he can still be valuable on any team, including the Clippers. James Harden has been one of the true leaders of the Clippers team this season, without Kawhi, to begin the year, which has also proven why he’s an important asset to the Clippers as they are searching for the first championship for the franchise.
This past Thursday, the Clippers hosted the Washington Wizards, and as usual, Harden has continued to provide the strong nature of being a leader to a contender like the Clippers in a 110-93 dominating win. James Harden passed Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA’s all-time triple-double list. James Harden now has 79 triple-doubles good for 8th. In his 16th NBA season, James Harden continue to show why he’s one of the best in the league. Next on the list for Harden is to pass Luka Doncic who has 80 triple-doubles.
Though Harden is 35, he’s been truly making an impact on the Clippers which has been really helpful as the team is currently 6th in the Western Conference standings. Through 45 games this season, Harden averaged 21.3 points, 8.1 assists, and 5.8 rebounds. Though James Harden’s shots have been slumping, his turnovers have increased, which has helped lead the Clippers to wins.
During the first couple months without Kawhi on the floor, Harden has led the Clippers to be a playoff team, while also seeing more improvements and developments from Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac. The Clipper’s big 3 in Harden, Zubac, and Powell without Kawhi during the first half of the NBA season, have shown to everyone in the league that they’re All-Stars and that it also shows on the court that they are all so valuable to the team’s success as they’re chasing their first championship.
It’s also worth noting that the Clippers are 11-0 this season when James Harden attempts 10+ free throws. During the game against the Wizards on Thursday, Harden had 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists. The rest of the Clippers were all dominant in the win against the Wizards on Thursday. Norman Powell led the Clippers with 22 points, with 14 of them coming during the fourth quarter. Derrick Jones Jr. scored 19 points. Kawhi had 15 points and 7 rebounds in the 24 minutes he played against the Washington Wizards.
The takeaway from the game against the Wizards is that all of the starters were playing after they sat out the previous game against the Celtics. Norman Powell, Zubac, Kawhi Leonard, and Harden sat out for the Boston Celtics game. One of the exciting moments from the game came in the 2nd quarter, where the Clippers outscored Washington 19-4. As a team, the Clippers hit five 3-pointers during that span to take a 25-point lead. The Clippers increased that lead to 27 points in the third quarter, thanks to Derrick Jones Jr. The team also had 29 assists.
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