At a morning shootaround before Thursday night’s nationally televised game in Los Angeles, Clippers forward Paul George weighed in on the astonishing season to date from Houston Rockets star James Harden.
Harden leads the league with an average of 38.9 points per game, which over a full season would be the highest of any NBA player in the last 56 years. The 2018 MVP also averages 7.4 assists and 6.0 rebounds.
But in the eyes of George, who finished third in MVP voting a season ago, the production by Harden is about more than simply individual numbers.
When asked about Harden’s scoring binge, George said:
Y’all see what he’s doing. I don’t have [any] answers for that one. He does what he has to do for them to win.
The Rockets (18-9) and Clippers (21-8) split a pair of games in November, with the home team winning by a close margin in both instances. With the teams separated by just one game in the loss column in the Western Conference standings, Thursday’s game is a big one for both sides.
Regarding the matchup, George said:
It’s always going to be a hard-fought game. You’ve got a team that plays defense and a team that prioritizes offense. It’s going to be a clash, and that’s what it’s going to be tonight.
To this point, it’s hard to argue with George’s assessment. The Clippers have been a slightly better team than the Rockets so far, mainly because the advantage Houston has over Los Angeles on offense (No. 3 in net rating, compared to No. 7) isn’t as large as the edge the Clippers have relative to the Rockets on defense (No. 5 in net rating versus No. 16).
If the Rockets are to win Thursday’s game at Staples Center, where George, Kawhi Leonard, and the Clippers are 14-1 this season and have won 10 straight, they’ll need to execute at a high level on both ends of the court. The Harden-led offense should give them a chance, but it will likely have to be paired with a strong defensive showing to win on the road against a team as talented as the Clippers.
