James Harden Can't Gas Out Before the Playoffs

Let's jump in.

Now, I wanna start the show talking about the Clippers, uh, because if you go back to mid-December, you probably would have thought that the Clippers were dead in the water.

Uh, 6 and 21 as of December 18th.

Since that day when they lost their fifth straight to Oklahoma City.

Uh, they have run off a 15-3 record.

They have the fifth-best defense in the NBA during that stretch.

They have the 3rd-best offense in the NBA during that stretch.

Uh, great net rating, great numbers all across the board.

Kawhi Leonard.

Again, looking like one of the best players in the NBA.

Um, the Clippers right now, they're clinging to that number 10 spot in the Western Conference, but there's some room for them to maneuver if they can keep playing like this.

What do you think, ET?

Is this, is this more of what you expected the Clippers to look like?

And do you think this is kind of what they can be for the rest of the season?

Yeah, I kind of vaguely remember that conversation we had when they, uh, started the season off not too well.

And I remember being like, I think we both agree, like even though this isn't the most ideal situation, when the Clippers get rolling or if they get going or even get good enough to get into the 10th seed, they're still a dangerous team if the remnants of what we said of Kawhi shows up because Kawhi was a big question mark at the time, and James Harden was balling at the time.

But I think one thing that's even more impressive, they've had their other step up in huge ways.

It's definitely has been giving them experiences.

You look at the, the, the Sanders kid, the rookie, even the game in Toronto, how well he played and stepped up and put some great minutes in without, you know, Kawhi being there.

Even when you look at Cam Christie, who's been doing his thing, guys have come back, accept their role, but they've been playing desperate.

Yeah, they have to play damn near perfect basketball and uh for people that want a postseason, you comprehend what that takes and I think they've all been around each other.

You know, stepping up and, and, and doing what's best, but anytime you have Kawhi Leonard locked in and even 80% of what we know.

He, he's got a hell of a chance of winning a basketball game every single night.

And James Harden is still at a high, high, high elite level.

So that two-headed monster is, is, is enough aside from just a Ty Lue coaching when your offense as well, is starting to finally click.

Yeah, uh, Kobe Sanders during this last month is shooting 42% from 3.

Nick Batum over the last month is shooting 42% from 3.

So they're getting.

Three-point productivity from those guys and they badly need it.

Like they've needed some floor spacing all season long.

The last month, they've, they've been getting it.

Uh, the defense, this is what the defense should look like.

Like when they were a bottom 3rd defensive team in the first couple of months of the season, you kind of looked at them and like, huh?

Like Avika Zubach last year, one of the top defenders at his position.

Kawhi, still an all-world defender.

You just look at this team, you're like, how is it possible?

That they went from the 3rd-best defensive team in the NBA last season to one of the worst in the NBA in this season.

You had to figure there was going to be a reconfiguration.

Maybe the Chris Paul stuff and all that was going on there had something to do with it, you know, just, just, you know, the the fallout from the Balmer stuff, maybe that had something to do with it.

Maybe that penetrated the locker room .

There's a lot of things that maybe could have explained.

it, but I think the way the Clippers are defending right now is how they're capable of defending for the rest of the season.

Uh, a couple of variables though, when we talk about like, if the Clippers can build on this.

Uh, Kawhi's health is obviously paramount.

Like he's been healthy during the stretch.

I think he's played 15 of the 18 games.

Uh, that's incredibly important for this team.

Like they've got to keep him on the floor.

He is the engine of that team.

And James Harden.

So, like, we know Harden's a great regular season player, right?

Like he's he's been that way forever.

He has not been a great postseason player for the most part.

And I've, I've attributed that, Evan, to The kind of workload that Harden has taken on during the regular season.

And if you look at the numbers this season, he's actually playing more minutes this year for the Clippers than he played any year with the Clippers.

So I'm looking at that and I'm going, Harden's in his late 30s.

He's up around 35, 36 minutes per game.

Maybe he can do it for the rest of the regular season, but when you get to the playoffs, like, where is that gas tank?

That, that's what I'm, I'm.

wondering like, is, is it gonna go to empty really fast because the Clippers, look, I, I don't think they're getting one of the top 6 spots in the West, which means like they're gonna have to get through the play-in.

And when they get through the play, you're looking at Oklahoma City, at Denver, at San Antonio, maybe Houston goes on a run.

You're looking at elite, big physical teams with great defensive players, man.

Damn, the West is that good, eh.

Yeah, that's a joke.

I, I just took away my whole thought process, um.

One thing with James Harden, we're 37 now.

Like, when, I remember in 2016, 2017, I love James, one of the best offensive players ever.

I, I think We don't harp on it, but we understand what a game 7 James is.

Do you comprehend?

So I don't even want to make it as an age thing cause it's like, shoot, in these moments, respectfully, James, you're on a, I wish I could hoop like you.

You never showed up in that sense, like, never.

I think there are certain games in the playoffs where it'd be like, man, you left with 12 points out of all, you know what I mean.

So I don't, I don't, I don't look for him to do that on top of the fact that like when you're playing in the playoffs, the game is way different.

These coaches are so smart, these defenses so set, they know your tendencies.

So if you're struggling to, you know, score efficient in the regular season, they weren't ready for you, of course, in that, in the playoffs is going to be naturally tough.

You got, you can ask Kyle Lowry that, you know what I mean?

I just think we, that your cheat code is shoot.

Michael Jordan nephew, Kawhi Leonard.

If it, if it's getting close, uh just make sure he's healthy, make sure he's mentally right, and make sure he, he's in mid-season form because you and I know as well, it's like, man, it's like, I just, if Kawhi's out there, and Kawhi is going.

He, he's, he's damn near a step below prime LeBron in the sense of like his presence means maybe 4 or 5 times more than normal, especially in clutch situations.

Am I wrong for saying that?

No, you're not wrong, but it's not enough to me to beat one of those top tier teams.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right about that.

Yeah, yeah.

So never mind.

We're in the east.

Yeah, I, I don't, the west is, is, man, the west is too loaded.

Like it's a, it's a.

I see why they're in the 10C.

Like it's a joke.

Like damn, like, bro, you said, you said OKC Houston, San San Antonio, Denver, Denver, like bro, that's a joke like um.

How we view like who, like Sacramento Kings from back in the day, like the best team that never was.

I guess this is that type of conversation because it's, it's going to be very tough and I think coaching is going to have to step up and that veteran leadership is going to have to step up and really take out, you know, some of these young guys.

But man, the Spurs is, man, I don't, bro, the Spurs is tough.

I just I, I just put a lot of it on Harden.

Like, you know, he's got to be an efficient, reliable #2 option.

He's got to be a bucket in the playoffs for them to have any chance of beating one of those top teams.

Uh, yeah, you stumped me, Chris.

I don't.

Oh shit, I'm gonna take my little money and just put it back in my pocket .

I thought I had a sleeper in it, man, damn, the West is so loaded, bro.

Yeah, I, I, I just think it's, it's like I'm looking at the minutes that Harden's logging right now and I don't know, I think the numbers in January are even higher.

Like he's been, he had at least one forty-minute game in January.

Like he's, this has been a problem, you know, where in Houston, it was a problem.

In LA it's been a problem.

Like, because of the, the load he carries during the regular season.

It, it bleeds into the playoffs and the game is so much more physical in the playoffs and defense is so much tougher in the playoffs.

And, and like, let's say hypothetically, it is Oklahoma City.

You got a team that's gonna throw Lou Dort at you, Alex Caruso at you, Cason Wallace at you, or if it's somebody like Houston, Ahmed Thompson at you.

Like there's just so many, so many great wing defenders on those top teams in the Western Conference.

I, I just think, like if I'm Ty Lue, And I understand it's a tough needle to thread, right?

But I gotta find a way to get Harden's minutes down.

Like you gotta, I know you gotta win games to get into the play.

I get that and they've had to do this to get him to this level, but if he's averaging 36 minutes per game in, going into the playoffs.

Not gonna happen.

Not gonna have enough left.

Yeah, we don't even bring up the first month of the season where like he was going out of body to even try to keep them somewhat close.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like he, before Kawhi came back, he was still having great games and overly exerted energy.

We're like, damn, James looks like the fountain of youth, but like, do you want him to be hooping as hard at 36?

Like, you know what I'm saying.

So, I, I don't know how to go about it.

You're absolutely right about uh James has to be a Uh, valid second option, and I mean like valid, like these dudes have to be explosive together like, and, and just to point out some of the numbers like he's scoring over this last month, right, where we were talking about the way the Clippers have been on the surge.

Like Kawhi has been awesome, about 32 points per game, 51% from the floor, 43% from 3.

That's MVP kind of numbers.

Harden, Harden has put up the points 25%.

Game, but in the last month he's shooting 39% from the floor and 29% from three.

So the efficiency numbers are way down, and he's averaging about 36 minutes per game, averaging more minutes than Leonard during that, that stretch.

So this is a, a concern, uh, uh, for the Clippers.

They've got to get his minutes down because a gas James Harden is not gonna be effective.

Uh, yeah, and also too, the Clippers as well, they have to get back to a couple of years ago when they were the best three-point shooting team in the league, like, you know what I mean, like.

There's a lot this offense is missing 100%, but, uh, I, I think, uh, if anybody can get her done, they got time to do so.

I, I'm a big fan of Ty Lewis.

It's just goddamn, the Western Conference.

I don't even wanna, you know, yeah, it's rugged, no question.