Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden did his best to explain the team's abysmal 5-15 start to the season.
James Harden scored 29 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed eight rebounds on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough as the Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks 114-110 for their fourth consecutive setback and their seventh in the last eight games. The loss pushes the Clippers even further down the standings at 5-15 and any playoff chances already look bleak.
After the game, Harden attempted to explain why the Clippers have struggled so much to start the season. It’s clear the horrid start is beginning to take a toll on Harden, who was short and blunt in his assessments to the media.
“The situation here is difficult,” Harden said. “We're not making shots offensively. Defensively, We allow the game plan mistakes. We allow that to happen too many times. That's one of the reasons why we lose games.”
Based on what we know about sports, you would typically imagine that such a rough start for a team with two bona fide superstars would create some friction or at the very least some communication issues. However, Harden insisted that’s not the case between him and Kawhi Leonard and that the Clippers just need to focus on getting back into the win column.
“It's not about me and Kawhi's communication,” Leonard said. “My communication with Kawhi is perfect. Us talking and communicating make us win games. We've got to go out there and actually win a game and do the things necessary to win games.”
Frustrations Mounting
When asked if this was the most frustrating stretch in Harden’s NBA career given his general abundance of success in the regular season throughout his career, Harden had no interest in comparing to other situations from the past but conceded that it certainly was a frustrating point.
“What do you mean? Losing is always frustrating,” Harden said. “It is frustrating. I don't know if I'm going to compare it to other situations, but it's definitely frustrating.”
The Clippers’ first attempt to right the ship (no pun intended) comes against the Heat in Miami on Monday, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. EST/4:30 p.m. EST. The Clippers previously lost their lone meeting to the Heat this season at the Intuit Dome in early November by a score of 120-119 despite 29 points from Harden. That loss pushed the Clippers to 3-3 after their 2-1 start to the season. As fate would have it, they’ve only won twice since.