Clippers are in trouble if James Harden continues to slump

Harden attempted just nine shots in the LA Clippers’ 131-115 loss in Game 5 of their first-round series with the Denver Nuggets. In the last two games, both Clippers losses, Harden made eight baskets and committed eight turnovers.

Starting a playoff series hot and disappearing in the later games has become a disturbing pattern for Harden. Last season, he averaged 26 points in the first four games of the Clippers’ series with the Dallas Mavericks, before putting up seven points in Game 5 and shooting 1-of-13 on three-pointers in the final two losses. In 2023, Harden scored 45 points in Game 1 and 42 in Game 4 against the Boston Celtics, before averaging 11 points in the final two games, going 1-of-11 from deep.

In 2022, Harden scored 14 and 11 points in the Philadelphia 76ers’ losses in Games 5 and 6, getting only three free throw attempts. He was playing through injury in 2021 and shot 2-of-12 behind the arc in the Brooklyn Nets’ Game 7 loss.

At 35, Harden doesn’t have the same first step and lift that he used to. His decline in three-point shooting and his ability to get to the foul line later in a series suggest he wears out as the playoffs continue. The Clippers already attempt the second-fewest three-pointers in the NBA, and Harden takes the most on the team. If he can’t be a threat from deep, the Clippers’ offense is in trouble.

The Clippers have dropped two very close games in the series, so it’s possible they can win the next two and advance — but they can’t do it with Harden disappearing offensively.