“Exactly what you said”: Kawhi Leonard hysterically gives an nonchalant analysis of James Harden’s game winner
Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers put an end to their six-game losing streak on Friday, following their 100-106 home win over the Houston Rockets. This was also the first win of the James Harden era for the franchise (1-5), with the former NBA MVP making the biggest shot of the night with seven seconds remaining and the game tied at 100.
After the game, Leonard spoke with the media and shared his thoughts on what happened in this winning play.
"Exactly what you said. No magic to it. I had the ball, I trusted him, he is one of the Top 75 players this league has ever seen, I gave him the ball and he made the shot," Kawhi Leonard said, via Joey Linn of Sports Illustrated.
Harden finished the game with 24 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in 34 minutes on the floor, flirting with a triple-double, while Leonard and Paul George added 26 and 23 points, respectively.
The Clippers have now won four of their first 11 games, with the fourth megastar of this team, Russell Westbrook, coming off the bench to help his fellow stars build chemistry.
Kawhi Leonard praises James Harden for his performance vs the Rockets
As we said, James Harden was the one who handed the Clippers their first win after six straight losses with his tiebreaking four-point play in the final seconds. Harden finished the game on 8-11 shooting and got high praise from Kawhi Leonard post-game
"He played great. That’s a great ratio with as much as he has the basketball. We know how good he is," Kawhi Leonard said, via NBA.com.
For his part, Harden called these games a 'building process' for the Clippers, but noted that victories like this help the team earn some more time to work and get better.
"We've still got a long way to go, but obviously it felt good to get a win. You can't take those for granted. But like I continue to say, it's a building process, and I can see a lot of (areas for) improvement on both sides of the ball to correct and get used to," the former NBA MVP said, via NBA.com.
The Clippers moved to 1-2 in the NBA In-Season Tournament, whereas the Rockets dropped to 1-1 and 6-4 overall in the West standings as their six-game win streak came to an end.
The Clippers will seek to regain momentum when they travel to San Antonio on Monday to face the Spurs (3-9), who have lost their last seven games.