Harden drops season high 50 on Pistons

INGLEWOOD: James Harden scored a season high 50 points on Wednesday night, elevating the Los Angeles Clippers to a 123 – 115 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Harden’s dominance helped the Clippers get their second win in their last eight games and broke their three-game losing streak. He made 14 of his 24 field goal attempts and sunk 6 shots from deep on a 46.2 per cent clip. That gave him 34 points, and his 16 made free throws brought him to 50. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ivica Zubac contributed 23 and 22 points respectively.

Cade Cunningham’s 37 and Dennis Schroder’s 21 weren’t enough to withstand the storm. Regardless, the loss was only the Piston’s second in their last 12 games.

The Game  

The Clippers controlled the first quarter, almost solely due to James Harden who scored an incredible 23 points in the frame. After Cunningham opened the scoring with a floating jump shot, Harden would respond with his first three-point basket of the night. Harden would sink a jump shot, followed by a couple free throws, and another three pointer not long after that. The 35-year-old guard then drew a foul on another three-point attempt, earning three free throws, all of which he sunk. Harden continued to find contact on the perimeter, earning and making more free throws, while also finding success within the arc. In the last minute of the frame, he would hit two step back three pointers, to put the Clippers up 32-26.

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Harden slowed down in the next quarter, only scoring five more points to bring his total to 28. That left the door open for the Pistons to level the score. The pistons attacked the paint early to put them within two before the end of the first minute. But, the Clippers would fend off their comeback, and after Zubak and Bogdanovic scored a bucket each, Los Angeles had a comfortable nine-point cushion with eight left in the quarter. However, Cunningham and Schroder continued to pick at the lead, with the latter of the two hitting a floating jump shot, followed by a make from deep, to equalise the score 55 – 55. Cunningham then made a step back jump shot to give the Pistons a two-point lead. The half would end with the scores level once again, 57 to 57, after Nicolas Batum made two free throws.

The third frame was more of a back and forth, with multiple lead changes. Harden had another eight points in the third, which came from a step back three pointer half way through the frame, a step back jump shot, a layup, and a technical free throw. Cunningham led all scorers with 13, but thanks to Zubac’s pressure on the inside, which provided another 10 points, the Clippers ended the quarter in the lead, 91-89.

Harden’s 14 points in the final frame put the game out of the Piston’s reach. A minute before the halfway mark of the frame, the game was still up for grabs, with the Pistons leading by two, 99 – 97. Howwever, Bogdanovic would hit back to back three pointers, putting the Clippers up by four. Then Harden took over, making a dunk and a floating jumposhot. Malik Beasley and Schroder kept the Pistons alive, with the former hitting one three pointer, and the latter making two. But, it wasn’t enough to stop Harden. He would hit his own three pointer in between Schroder’s two. Shortly after, with a little over three minutes remaining, Harden made a bank jump shot to give the Clippers a six point lead. The lead continued to balloon in the final minutes, as Harden had five more free throws, and Bogdanovic added four points of his own.   

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The Clippers won 123 to 115. Los Angeles is currently placed eighth in the Western Conference with 33 wins and 29 losses. The Detroit Pistons are sixth in the Eastern Conference with 35 wins and 27 losses.