LA Clippers look to James Harden to rain down points on LA Lakers
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Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade during the second half at Rocket Arena.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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LOS ANGELES – James Harden will attempt to resume his potent scoring spree when the Los Angeles Clippers square off against the host Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
He is averaging 33.6 points over the past eight games, including a franchise-record 55 on Saturday in the Clippers’ 131-116 road victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
The 36-year-old guard also equalled a career best by sinking 10 3-pointers during the explosion.
“Making the right decision,” Harden said of his ability to score with ease. “That’s how I play every single game. Some nights, I’m really, really good at it. Some nights, I’m not the best at it. And I try to be great every single night. Yeah, it’s just that simple.”
Despite Harden’s recent scoring exploits, the Clippers have dropped 10 of their past 12 games entering the clash with the Lakers in an NBA Cup matchup.
The Clippers and Lakers share the five-team West Group B lead with 2-0 records.
The Lakers have won four straight games, the past two with LeBron James on the floor for the first time this season. They defeated the Utah Jazz in both contests after James returned from a bout of sciatica. The 40-year-old averaged 14 points, 10 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the outings against the Jazz.
The Lakers’ other superstar, Luka Doncic, leads the league in scoring at 34.5 points per game to go with 8.9 assists and 8.8 rebounds. He averaged 37 points over the past three games, including a 41-point outing against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 15, his fourth 40-point effort of the season.
Doncic liked the club’s effort in the Sunday 108-106 win over the Jazz.
“We have each other’s back. Everybody has each other’s back,” Doncic said. “Great teams gotta find a way to win. (Sunday) by far was not our best game, and we found a way to win.”
Meanwhile, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is hopeful his team will begin to rack up wins. Kawhi Leonard (ankle) returned from a 10-game absence to score 20 points in their last game, a 120-105 loss to Cleveland. The Clippers went 2-8 without the six-time All-Star forward.
“If we just continue to stack days the right way, continue to understand what our foundation is on both sides of the basketball, then we’ll be a good team,” Lue said.
“I know we had some injuries and we’ve been fighting through that. But everybody in the league’s injured, so we just got to continue to just keep doing things the right way, and then kind of build from there.”
The Tuesday contest opens the teams’ four-game season series. The Lakers went 3-1 against the Clippers last season.
In NBA action on Monday, Caris LeVert had a season-high 19 points, including a pair of clutch free throws in the final seconds, as the visiting Detroit Pistons tied a franchise record with their 13th straight victory, 122-117 over the Indiana Pacers.
Jerami Grant scored 35 points to lead the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers to a 115-103 victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Tyler Herro scored 24 points in his season debut and Kel’el Ware paired 20 points with 18 rebounds as the Miami Heat defeated the visiting Dallas Mavericks 106-102. REUTERS
