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ramona shelburne
Inglewood, California – less than a month ago, james harden and this LA Clippers They were near the bottom of the Western Conference standings and had little to feel optimistic about.
But after the fourth consecutive win, 119-105 Above washington wizards On Wednesday night at the Intuit Dome, and their 11th win in their last 13 games – the best record in the NBA during that span – Harden told ESPN he thinks the Clippers “can absolutely come back.”
Considering how poorly the Clippers started the season, getting back into playoff contention would be a huge accomplishment. At one point, they were 6-21 and had nothing but a series of controversies in a season that had started with great expectations.
“Some teams, when things get that bad, they take the wheels off,” Harden said. “I had interviews where people were asking me, ‘How do you get confidence?’ And I’m like, ‘The confidence is there. The loss is disappointing, but the confidence is still there.
“I think making a little bit of a change and being a lot better defensively really helped us. … Now we have to take it one game at a time, just like when we were in the hole. We can absolutely come back, but we have to bounce back, step up and really build some momentum going into the All-Star break.”
The Clippers are currently half a game behind memphis grizzlies For 10th place and last place in the play-in tournament.
hard and kawhi leonard Looking forward to being a part of All-Star Weekend at the Intuit Dome on February 13-15. Both are strong candidates after this recent surge. Leonard is averaging 32.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.6 steals during this 11-2 run. Harden is averaging 24.8 points and 7.8 assists.
“We probably talk more than anybody,” Harden said of Leonard. “Once I saw him flip the switch, it was like, ‘Okay, yeah, it’s time to go.’ This is the poet we need. My job is just to facilitate, let him go, let us go. So it’s been a complete 180.”
Harden recently passed Shaquille O’Neal for ninth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, a special feat for a player who grew up watching O’Neal win championships in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Lakers.
“That was a surreal moment as a kid growing up watching Kobe [Bryant] And Shake, The Lake Show, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, all those guys. Going to somebody that I literally grew up watching, it’s really surreal,” Harden said.
As far as his time in Los Angeles, Harden dismissed the notion that he would want to leave his hometown amid the Clippers’ early season struggles.
“It’s hard to explain,” Harden said. “Being at home, it’s like the opportunity of a lifetime for me. Just being able to hang out in front of my family, friends, people I grew up with, people who raised me. It’s a different feeling. So as much as people talk all the time. It’s social media, that’s people’s job to talk. To me, it’s just like I’m actually living in it so I can’t get caught up in what people talk about, how people feel, whatever the case may be.
“I’m from L.A. and I’m lucky to be here.”
