Los Angeles- The Los Angeles Clippers are now on a six-game winning streak after defeating the Golden State Warriors 121-113.
Behind a career night from James Harden, who became just the 24th player in NBA history to reach career 25,000 points led the way from the Clippers with 28 points, 15 assists, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
The Clippers were dealing with the injury of Paul George, who sat out today for the first time of the season due to a sore hip.
One of the main reasons James Harden was acquired from the Philadephia 76ers was for moments like this. As an insurance policy for the Clippers if Kawhi Leonard or Paul George would have to be withheld due to an injury,
“That’s what James does,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “PG was out tonight, so (Harden) raised his level of play. Having the ball more, he had to create more and make more plays for himself and his teammates. That’s what we brought him here for, and it was a huge game from him.”
Kawhi Leonard pitched in 27 points on 9-for-16 shooting for a 56% field-goal percentage, maintaining the good rhythm he has been in recently.
Amir Coffey who filled in for the missing Paul George contributed 18 points and Norman Powell had a huge game off of the bench with 21 points on 9-13 attempts from the field.
The Golden State Warriors were playing their first game without the recently suspended Draymond Green, who was suspended by the NBA indefinitely due to his punch thrown at Jsuef Nurkic along with his previous actions.
Klay Thompson, who led the Warriors in scoring with 30 points and connecting on eight three-pointers spoke about Draymond’s absence “It was tough, because Draymond is a huge part of what we do, and we’re going to miss him dearly,” Thompson said. “We know he’s going to come back even better, a changed person. I’ll miss him just as a friend and a brother. Love him to death, and I can’t wait until he comes back. Obviously there’s a big hole on our team right now, but we’re going to do the best we can in his absence and keep playing our hardest.”
Stephen Curry scored 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting due to the good defensive effort from Kawhi Leonard and Terrance Mann who took on that defensive assignment.
Clippers look to continue streaking as they prepare to take on the New York Knicks this Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
