By Mykell Mathieu
The Clippers end their six-game losing streak after a hard fought battle with the sizzling hot Houston Rockets defeating them, 106-100.
This win gives the Clippers their first win with James Harden on their roster after losing his first five games with Los Angeles. Harden knocked down the game winning four-point play with six seconds remaining to put the Clippers over the top.
Harden finished the game 24 points, seven assists and nine rebounds in 34 minutes.
“We’ve still got a long way to go, but obviously it felt good to get a win,” said Harden. “You can’t take those for granted. But like I continue to say, it’s a building process.”
In the first game with veteran guard Russell Westbrook relegated to bench for forward Terance Mann. The Clippers came out and put together are solid first quarter by leading, 29-23
The Clippers looked the best they have looked since the trade occurred a few weeks ago. A great start and a great finish.
The game went back and forth prior to the Rockets taking a 50-48 lead into the half.
The Clippers had 11 turnovers in the first half and you knew this game was going to be close down the stretch.
Los Angles found a way to pull this game out behind the play of Harden but also really good performance by Kawhi Leonard & Paul George.
Leonard finished the game with 26 points, eight rebounds and five steals. George added 23 points and eight rebounds.
But other then the game winning shot, the talk was all about the sacrifice of future hall of famer Westbrook.
“He’s been great for us, leading by example, his voice, the way he plays every single night, his mentality,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I think with that second unit, be able to push pace … we’ll just see how it looks.”
Leonard, one of the leaders on the team understands the sacrifice Westbrook is making and sees it as a positive for the team going forward.
“You know if he makes that leap like that, it shows the other teammates that are sitting on the bench that we all could sacrifice ourselves, you know, that’s what we pretty much been doing,”added forward Leonard.
Harden making plays. George making key stops. Leonard showing a smile. With Westbrook making a team friendly decision that helped the team pick up a win.
Its looks like good things are coming for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Now, the Clippers will look to build some momentum by hopefully defeating another Texas team when traveling to face the Spurs on Monday night.
