On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Clippers dropped to 3-7 on the young 2025-26 NBA season with a tight home loss against the Atlanta Hawks. James Harden was mostly excellent in this one, registering a 35-point triple double, but the Clippers ultimately fell victim to a hot shooting night from Hawks reserve Vit Krejci, who scored 28 points and hit eight triples.
Late in the game, the Clippers had a chance to tie things up off of an Atlanta turnover, and Harden launched a three pointer from the logo despite the fact that there were still 15 seconds left on the clock.
Harden missed and the Hawks got the rebound, leaving Clippers owner Steve Ballmer in disbelief at the questionable shot selection.
James Harden takes an AWFUL early 3 to potentially tie the game at the end (with replays)
Including the reaction by Steve Ballmer (Hawks commentaryClippers and Hawks commentaries pic.twitter.com/SliWHS5qiJ
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) November 11, 2025
The Clippers would end up getting another chance to tie it after the Hawks missed two free throws, and Harden passed the ball down the court to Nic Batum. However, Batum ended up getting the ball knocked away by Krejci, and Hawks big man Mo Gueye then secured the loose ball and launched it down the court as the buzzer sounded.
A tough loss for the Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers now sit at 3-7 at this early juncture of the season, despite the fact that Harden is continuing to play at an All-Star level on a nightly basis.
Kawhi Leonard has been out of the lineup for over a week now, with no return date yet announced, and Bradley Beal was also out of the lineup for Los Angeles against Atlanta.
Still, even with those injuries, the Clippers and their fans were likely expecting a much better start than this, considering the fact that Los Angeles went to seven games with the Denver Nuggets in last year's playoffs.
The Clippers will get their first shot at the Nuggets this year when the two teams take the floor on Wednesday evening from Los Angeles. That game is slated to tip off at 10:30 PM ET from the Intuit Dome.
