James Harden says Clippers' "swag game" helped beat Portland
The LA Clippers chalked up an important road victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, where James Harden said they found their "swag game" following iffy performances of late.
The Clippers used a 34-point explosion in the third quarter to turn a 60-50 halftime lead to a 24-point gap, 94-70, heading into the fourth quarter. They never looked back after that, on their way to the 116-103 victory.
Following the game, James Harden talked about the significance of the victory and what did it for them, saying as shared by Clippers beat writer Joey Linn on X, formerly Twitter:
"Details. Things we have been stressing out the last few weeks. We kinda put it into play tonight. We still got some things to work on, but this is a swag game for us. Like getting our rhythm back, our swag back, our identity back..."
Paul George top-scored for the Clippers with 27 points. Kawhi Leonard added 24 points, with 17 coming in the third quarter, where they made a wider separation from the Trail Blazers.
James Harden finished with 19 points and 14 assists in 36 minutes of play.
The win stopped a two-game slide by the Clippers (43-25) and put them a game ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans (42-26) for fourth spot in the Western Conference.
In their last 13 games, the Clippers have gone 6-7 but are still inside the top six, which will mean an automatic playoff spot.
They once again face off with the Trail Blazers (19-50) in Portland on Friday.
Tyronn Lue talks about trade that sent James Harden to Clippers
The trade that sent James Harden to the LA Clippers from the Philadelphia 76ers early this season has turned out well for the Los Angeles-based squad. It was something that coach Tyronn Lue said they were envisioning when they eventually gave the nod to it.
Speaking to media following their game against the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this month, Lue shared that they weighed their options carefully before trading for Harden, even getting input from the former coach of "The Beard" in Philadelphia and now Bucks coach Doc Rivers.
He said that Rivers, who was not yet back to coaching when the trade happened, was for the Clippers getting Harden, seeing how the one-time league MVP could help them in their campaign.
Lue said, as reported by Sports Illustrated:
"I talked to Doc a lot about the James situation and just getting his feedback about what he thought worked, what didn't work. He just thought it'd be a great trade for us. Pretty much just a no-brainer. Get a point guard who's been an MVP, won scoring titles, won assist titles, he's done it all."
After a slow start to the Harden era with the Clippers, the team has steadied and become a constant force in the Western Conference.
James Harden has been a key part of their push, with averages of 17.3 points, 8.3 assists (team-high), 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 60 games so far, which he all started in.