James Harden entered Wednesday night’s game determined to start his Thanksgiving a little bit early......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
The Los Angeles Clippers guard scored 43 points in his team’s 121-96 takedown of the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. He had 23 points in the first quarter, reached 31 by halftime and spent the fourth quarter on the bench, having completed his highest-scoring performance since March 2021.
Jonas Valanciunas and Malcolm Brogdon had 17 points apiece for the Wizards, who have lost 13 in a row. Brogdon was one of a host of defenders Coach Brian Keefe asked to slow Harden. Nobody found a way. The 35-year-old shot 13 for 22 from the field, made 7 of 11 three-pointers and added seven assists as the Clippers improved to 12-8.
“He was trying to get the switches, trying to hit the step-backs,” said Bilal Coulibaly, another player who took on Harden. “He hit them, so there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The Wizards (2-15) went 8 for 33 (24.2 percent) from three-point range.
Returning from a two-game absence because of a hip injury, Jordan Poole made just one of his five threes, with two of the misses coming from well behind the arc on consecutive possessions. Corey Kispert went 1 for 4, dropping his three-point percentage for the season to 30.8. Rookie Kyshawn George, who went 0 for 3 from deep, is shooting 26.1 percent.
“We’re missing open looks. We had a lot of them — myself included,” Kispert said. “… The way the ball bounces on the rim and the way that shots kind of work is attached to energy and attached to rhythm. And it’s a dance more than anything. Tonight, we were kind of off in our dance steps.”
This Wizards losing streak might not end anytime soon. Washington doesn’t face a team with a record below .500 until a Dec. 19 matchup with Charlotte.
Up next are road games Saturday against Milwaukee, which has won five straight, and Tuesday against Cleveland, which has the best record in the NBA at 17-2. Then come home games against Dallas and Denver, each of which has an MVP candidate in Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.
If Washington loses all four of those games, it would eclipse the franchise-record losing streak of 16 (achieved twice, most recently last season).
“It’s still really, really early, but to run into this much adversity early stinks and stings,” Kispert said. “And it’s testing the culture that we put in. … There’s still a lot of positivity within the room, and there’s still a lot of encouragement. … While things are tough … they’re not toxic and not unbearable.”
Asked about the skid before Wednesday’s game, Keefe praised his team’s character. He said the group he took over as interim coach midway through last season fought to the end. He said this year’s players are similarly “unwavering in their commitment.”
After Tuesday’s 19-point loss to Chicago, Brogdon said he spoke with a few players in the locker room and offered a message he picked up from Nate McMillan, his former coach with the Indiana Pacers: Believe.
Brogdon, who said he picks his spots when speaking up, on why he did so after the Bulls loss: “In moments like this, you can get discouraged, especially in this league. There are no easy games. … You got to pick yourself up. It’s really you against you out here. … At the end of the day, it’s about you performing up to the level you know you can play at.”
Kuzma exits early
Kyle Kuzma exited after playing eight minutes and was ruled out for the night with a left rib sprain. He missed both of his field goal attempts, grabbed two rebounds and had an assist.
This is the second injury of the season for Kuzma, who missed five games with a groin strain. The forward, who is adjusting to a new role in the offense that involves more play off the ball, has struggled, entering Wednesday’s game shooting 42.5 percent (which would be a career low over a full season). He averaged 17.3 points and 5.9 rebounds in his first 11 games.
Keefe did not have any details to offer on Kuzma’s status after the game.
