Ty Lue says James Harden will need to ‘be special’ for Clippers until Kawhi returns

The clock was ticking last night with only seconds remaining at the new Intuit Dome, and James Harden the ball in his hands. As they were down by three, all The Beard could really aspire was to shoot from range, but rival Grayson Allen knocked the ball away and sealed Phoenix’s 116-113 win in California. 

Once the games was over, the Clippers point guard couldn’t hide his frustration. “I’m so disappointed that we didn’t get the win,” Harden said, after he nearly pushed his squad over the Suns’ trio of stars as he ended the season opener with 29 points on 28 shots, 12 rebounds, and eight assists.

He knew how important it was to win their first historic contest in their new arena. “That’s probably one of the most frustrating things I can think about, as far as tonight, just history in Inglewood, in Intuit Dome. The fans came out and showed out, but we just, we got the short end of the stick,” he assured postmatch.

Ty Lue said James Harden will need to "be special" until Kawhi Leonard returns.

Harden had a near triple-double in a narrow overtime defeat to the Phoenix Suns 🥴 pic.twitter.com/jINa5AfOsW

— Ball Exclusives (@ballexclusives) October 24, 2024

Despite only dropping in 35.7% of his field goal attempts, plus only 2-of-9 from beyond the arc, Harden was still LA’s biggest offensive threat. “That’s a shot you saw him shoot at shootaround 40 times when you guys had the cameras on him, just practicing that shot time and time again, trying to get it right. Just didn’t make the shot,” Ty Lue expressed.

Now that Paul George is in Philadelphia, Russell Westbrook was traded out to Denver, and Kawhi Leonard continues to recover from the same injury that sidelined him during the past playoffs, so much responsibility falls on James. “That’s all we can ask; you’re not going to make every shot,” said his head coach. “We need him to be special until Kawhi gets back.”

The Beard is well aware on what this will entail, as he’s had to take on this kind of weight before, especially during his time in Houston. Curious enough, it was during his time in both Brooklyn and Philly, when he had to share too much spotlight and didn’t thrive alongside his fellow stars.

“The sacrifice role a couple years ago was another conversation,” Harden said after their opening loss in Los Angeles. “For us with this team, I think it’s a little bit of both. It’s a little bit scoring, a little bit of playmaking and making guys’ jobs a lot easier.”

As a Los Angeles native James Harden explained why playing at new Intuit Dome ‘means everything’ to him and his community

The brand new Intuit Dome, which cost $2 billion to create, has now hosted about 25 concerts and two preseason games. But up until this Wednesday night, it still hadn’t received an official NBA game. Despite losing the season opener against Phoenix, James Harden hopes to deliver the rest of the year.

According to the Los Angeles native, this new arena has a huge significance for him. “It means everything, man. Just growing up, being from LA and you had the Staples Center, obviously you had the Forum,” he told the press before their start of the campaign against the Suns.

The veteran recalled the history of basketball in the city. “The Forum was initially the big arena where the Lakers played and Magic [Johnson] and all those greats here in Inglewood,” he shared. “And then it moved over to the Staples Center, you know what I mean? But just being here in the hood of L.A. … Steve Ballmer did it. He did it. He’s a genius.”

Harden knows that the Intuit Dome should become their fortress. “I feel like we have to show out,” he anticipated. “I’m not going to individualize myself. I think us as an organization gotta show out and show that since we quote ‘lost’ or we’re ‘not a championship contender’ from outsiders, that we want to show out and bring some energy into this building and win a lot of games.”