James Harden has looked pretty clunky in his first two games for the Clippers and he’s spoken honestly about his struggles.
The Clippers endured their second loss since Harden arrived when they went down to 100-93 to the Nets on Wednesday.
Harden finished the night with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists to go with a whopping five turnovers.
He also lobbed a massive pass to one of the Nets announcers on the sideline.
But, The Beard at least took ownership of his mistakes.
“Tonight was on me as far as letting the ball get away,” Harden told Law Murray of The Athletic. “Think it’s really the 4th quarter… tonight, I turned the ball over, they get easy points.”
He definitely looks like a man that didn’t train much over the summer or participate in training camps leading up to the season.
The 10-time All-Star’s clunkiness in playmaking is painfully obvious out on the floor, and he’s hesitant to throw up catch-and-shoot three’s, even when good opportunities present themselves.
Instead, he’ll dribble out of it and then make a semi-contested shot. This failed on Wednesday when Mikal Bridges blocked the shot.
“The more I do it, and I work on it every single day, it’s just, I don’t get them in the games,” Harden told Law. “So it’s weird to me. Tonight, I made one, shot two, should have shot maybe four. So as the games go and I get more comfortable, I’ll start shooting more.”
The Clippers next game will be a big test for Harden, as his new team will go up against one of the best scorers in the league – Dallas’ Luka Doncic during Friday’s In Season Tournament.
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