The Los Angeles Clippers’ quest to devalue their 2025 first-round pick swap headed to the Oklahoma City Thunder is off to a tremendous start, as they won two of their three opening-week contests. The headliners were two victories in a brutal back-to-back set at Denver and at Golden State on Oct. 26 and 27.
Norman Powell showed out in the former, proving he’s perfectly capable of occupying a major offensive role as a starter with 37 points on 21 shots. Then, Ivica Zubac bludgeoned an undersized Warriors front line with 23 points, 18 boards and six assists the next night.
James Harden was inefficient (36.2 percent from the field, 19.2 percent from deep) through L.A.’s three opening-week games, but his return to an extremely high-usage offensive role seems to have produced results. Much like he did back in his peak Houston Rockets days, Harden is getting to the foul line 10.3 times per game and leads the league with 11.7 assists per game.
There’s plenty of time for things to get as grim in L.A. as many foresaw when the severity of Kawhi Leonard’s knee issues became clear. For now, though, the Clippers are getting what they need from their best offensive threats and have been able to put capable defensive units on the floor. Harden remains a sieve, but things look sturdier when head coach Ty Lue trots out Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn and Terance Mann with Zubac anchoring the middle.
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