Clippers Can't Afford to Put So Much on James Harden Every Night

James Harden had a career night against the Mavericks. That is not a good thing for the LA Clippers.

Nov 14, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; LA Clippers guard James Harden (1) looks on during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks in an NBA Cup game at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

James Harden took the matter into his own hands on Friday night and willed the Los Angeles Clippers to victory over the Dallas Mavericks to end the team's six-game losing streak. It was a vintage performance from the former MVP that the Clippers needed every bit of as Harden finished with 41 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists on 13/25 shooting from the field.

The most impressive part of it all was the fact that he played a career-high 51 minutes. Harden's ability to play extended minutes while carrying a massive offensive load in his age-36 season is certainly impressive. However, it doesn't set him or the Clippers up for success.

What Clippers Expects of James Harden Is Not Fair to Him

Ty Lue's desperation to end the losing streak is certainly understandable. His desire to play Harden as many minutes as he can handle just to get the win makes sense. At the same time, no 36-year-old starter should be playing 41 minutes in regulation in a regular-season game in November. Especially if that player is also tasked with shot creation every single possession.

Harden had a usage rate of 30.8% for the game. His usage rate for the season is similar to last season's, which was significantly higher than any of the previous campaigns since his 2019-20 season with the Rockets. Per NBA.com data, Harden has more isolation plays per game than any other player in the NBA, both in terms of raw numbers and portion of his possessions.

This is just not a sustainable offensive plan. The Clippers' offense is slow, predictable, and one-note. They give the ball to Harden, who dribbles the air out of the ball to create in isolation or pick-and-roll every single time. He is still an elite offensive weapon, so when his shot goes in, the Clippers can still survive. But there is a reason this team still only had a 107.3 offensive rating against the Mavericks, a number that would rank as the third-worst offense in the league, per Cleaning the Glass.

The Clippers are currently scoring 113.2 points per 100 possessions, and are the 23rd-best offense in the league. They need to find ways to be more creative and versatile offensively. Keeping Harden more off the ball, playing Chris Paul, using Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nicolas Batum more as facilitators, and playing through the post more with Ivica Zubac are all possible fixes for the problem.

This will be an easier problem to solve when Kawhi Leonard returns, but the Clippers can't afford to overwork Harden in the regular season, no matter how desperate they get.