James Harden was struggling this season until he saw the Wizards’ defense.
Losing for an entire month straight in the NBA seems difficult to achieve. At some point, these world-class basketball players should get hot and win a game. But the Wizards are making it look pretty easy. They fell to the Clippers, 121-96, in a game that felt exactly as close as the final score indicates. James Harden broke out for 43 points, the most he has scored in a Clippers uniform. The Wizards responded by shooting 24.3% from three and finished with only three players in double-digits. To add injury to insult, Kyle Kuzma left in the first quarter with a left rib strain and did not return.
Washington struggled from the open in this one. They were down 10-2 almost immediately and the first quarter continued to spiral. Harden torched the Wizards for 23 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Clippers took a 15-point lead before Harden sat down. Washington fought back in the second quarter, thanks to Jonas Valanciunas. The big fella put up 12 points in five minutes with the help of Malcolm Brogdon. They pulled within two points before the Clippers closed the half on a 16-2 run. LA didn’t look back from there.
Brogdon and Valanciunas led the charge for Washington with 17 points each. Brogdon did everything you could ask for from the UVA product. He ran the offense efficiently and played solid defense. If both these players kept scoring like this, they may be heading out of Washington soon as trade pieces. Alex Sarr was the only other Wizard to finish in double-digits with 13 points on 12 shots. He got hot early in the second half, which was nice to see after he regressed from his recent play in the first half.
Everyone else struggled to varying degrees. Corey Kispert put up 9 points and 4 rebounds, but shot poorly from three and got roasted by James Harden whenever they shared the court. Jordan Poole and Bilal Coulibaly had rough nights. Poole shot 1 of 7 from the field, but at least got to the line for six free throw attempts. Coulibaly shot 1 of 6 with zero free throws. Coulibaly’s lack of aggressiveness was evident tonight and is becoming a pattern again. Coulibaly’s three points tonight mark the fifth game in his last seven with single-digits.
The Wizards have one last chance to win in November. They face the resurgent Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday the 30th. Hopefully, Washington can return with full bellies from Thanksgiving and end the Bucks’ five-game win streak. More importantly, everyone from BF hopes you have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating!