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INGLEWOOD, CA — The Los Angeles Clippers opened the doors of the all new Intuit Dome on Wednesday night in what was an absolute show from start to finish. Unfortunately, James Harden and Ivica Zubac's club fell short against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns in overtime.
The Clippers dropped their opener, 116-113, despite the incredible home-court advantage that was finally on full display.
Clippers lose to Suns despite James Harden's big nights
After a slow start in which he shot just 2-of-11 from the field in the first half, James Harden finished the Clippers' season opener with a near triple-double: 29 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists.
The complete final line for Harden wasn't pretty — shooting just 10-of-28 from the field with eight turnovers in 40 minutes — but it was indicative of the workload he'll have as the Clippers continue to navigate life without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Head coach Tyronn Lue hopes he can keep up this type of performance and workload for his Clippers.
“I hope so, just not as many minutes,” Tyronn Lue said following Harden's 40 minutes of play. “I think the overtime put him into a spot we didn't really want to be in for as minutes, but we had no choice at that point.
“We need him to be special until Kawhi gets back, so good first game, good first start. We've got to continue to get better, like we talked about and just go from here, but this is a good game for us to learn some lessons, understanding what we're trying to do and capitalize on it. So, we'll get back to the drawing board on Friday.”
James Harden has continuously been asked if he's capable of taking on a bigger scoring and playmaking role for this Clippers team. This isn't Houston James Harden anymore given he's 35 years old, but he believes he has more to give than what he showed on Wednesday night.
“A lot of positives out of that game,” Harden said. “A lot of positives. I think we played extremely hard, which is going to be our calling every single game. Individually for me, I got to play way better. I think it was just having that week off, getting adjusted to the pace of the game. All of the above. Shooting the ball well is something that I can control, taking better shots and then just turning the ball over. Just getting a quality shot possession by possession, which gives our defense the opportunity to get back in transition and get our half-court defense set. My play has to be a lot better. So I seen a lot of really good things out of our group. I think everybody played well and the great thing about it is we can improve. So, that’s definitely some positives right there.”
Ivica Zubac's big night for Clippers
In his first start as a legitimate second or third option, Zubac finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes of play. He was in foul trouble early, which limited his impact and changed Tyronn Lue's first-half rotation.
Once the second half kicked off, he and Harden found their stride together and carved out the Suns' defense.
“Tonight, to start the game, they kept going under a lot of our screens and I had to get a better angle, To start the game, I wasn’t holding the screen long enough and didn’t allow James to put the guy on his back and we made that little adjustment later on, just holding the screen longer so he got more room to go downhill against a big. There’s still, we got to get into that game rhythm now. There’s still stuff, I wouldn’t say learning, it’s just adapting to the different defenses, and got to be quicker and better adapting to different coverages.”
Zubac is projected to have a big season for the Clippers given the scoring hole they'll facing. He played 34 minutes before fouling out in the overtime loss, which would obliterate his preivous career high.
The Clippers don't have much time once they hit the drawing board. They'll face the 2023 NBA Champion Denver Nuggets on the road before traveling to San Francisco for the Warriors home opener.
