James Harden admitted not having a proper preseason affected his Clippers debut: ‘Felt kind of weird’

James Harden finally played his first official game in almost six months as he made his debut for the Clippers. Despite The Beard dropping 17 points, he wasn’t able to stop his team from losing to the Knicks in Monday night’s 111-97 at the Madison Square Garden.

However, there were flashes of brilliance between the Los Angeles new four-star system, just a little rusty. The 34-year-old admitted postgame that he wasn’t feeling 100% in his first match wearing the Clippers jersey and needs time to adapt.

“Felt kind of weird out there,” he revealed. “Not really having a preseason game or an opportunity to participate in a full training camp, none of that. I was out there just basically winging it, but I tried to go with my basketball instincts and what I’ve been doing for the last few years and whatnot, and just going out there and playing and thinking the game and trying to make the game easier for everybody else.”

James Harden in his Clippers debut:
17 PTS
67% FG
50% 3PT
100% FT
6 AST
2 STL

First game in 6 months, still produced. 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/XYBD09DjVI

— Sai (@LeGoatedOne) November 7, 2023

The veteran point guard finally landed in L.A. after a controversial summer in which he opted for requesting a trade out of Philadelphia as he lost his trust in former boss Daryl Morey. Despite him jumping straight into the starting lineup, his coach Tyronn Lue is well aware his new star needs time.

“So just because you acquire a guy like James Harden doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to win,” he said postgame. “You’ve got to put the work in and you’ve got to be ready to sacrifice.”

Harden’s name was the last of the Clippers to be announced at the Madison Square Garden, and was loudly booed by the crowd. He was able to play a bit over the first half of the game before his trainer decided to pull him out of the match.

James participated in 31 minutes of the contest and led his squad with six assist. He displayed a powerful third quarter with intelligent passing and hitting long three-pointers, leaving his team tied at 76 before the fourth.

“It’s not going to happen overnight and so guys have to sacrifice minutes, shots, touches,” Lue insisted. “If they do that, we can be a really good team and so tonight’s going to be the start of it.”

Despite the rough start, Harden believes that the potential inside the Clippers roster has ‘unlimited possibilities’

When asked about playing alongside Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and former teammate Russell Westbrook, Harden said the potential has “unlimited possibilities.”

“We had a solid three quarters. We couldn’t really catch a rhythm offensively. We missed a lot of easy shots that we’re gonna make. This game came down to one quarter, that fourth quarter,” the 34-year-old said. “We gave opportunities. Turnovers and offence rebounds. That simple.”

“It’s going to be a process,” coach Lue assured. “And I love the process we gotta go through to get to where we want to get to, and we’re going to get there for sure. But just trying to keep everybody in rhythm, with four dynamic scorers, it’s tough.”

The Clippers next challenge will be against the Brooklyn Nets, then followed by the Dallas Mavericks in the In-Season Tournament.