With James Harden and Amir Coffey out, Clippers struggle in loss to Rockets

Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times on Dec 9, 2024

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Having three days off allowed the Clippers to get some much-needed rest and a mental refresh after a slew of tough games.

But the time off didn’t make the Clippers whole.

With team leader James Harden and key role player Amir Coffey unable to play, the Clippers couldn’t keep up with the Houston Rockets in a 117-106 loss Sunday night at the Intuit Dome.

“Overall, I thought we did a good job,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I thought we competed. Like I said, we scrapped. So, every night we step on the floor we got to make it tough for guys to play against us, and I thought we did that for the most part.”

The sore right groin that kept Harden out of his first game this season meant the Clippers didn’t have their second-leading scorer (21.6) and their leader in rebounds (6.8), assists (8.5) and minutes-played (33.9).

The Clippers have four days off before they play at Denver on Friday night. The hope is Harden will be back by then.

“It’s not serious but just had some tightness in his right groin,” Lue said about Harden. “It stemmed from [the] last game [on Wednesday night] as well and so we’re just going to be cautious and make sure we’re doing the right thing and seeing if it’s a little rest and help him out.”

The right shoulder contusion that kept Coffey out of his first game of the season meant the Clippers didn’t have their fifth-leading scorer to provide them a lift. Coffey sustained the injury during pregame warmups.

Then came news during the first quarter that Derrick Jones was out with right hamstring soreness. Jones, who had two points against the Rockets, was fourth on the team in scoring (10.4) and is one of the team’s best defenders.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Jones said. “I’ll be all right. Just got a little tight.”

The Clippers battled as long as they could behind a double-double from Ivica Zubac (21 points, 12 rebounds), 22 from Bones Hyland off the bench, 19 from Kevin Porter Jr. and 17 from Norman Powell.

With Harden out, it meant Zubac and Powell had to carry more of the load.

Zubac was nine for 15 from the field, but Powell struggled, going five for 18 from the field and one for eight from three-point range.

“Definitely more (on our shoulders) when you lose a guy like James,” Zubac said. “He’s not only scoring 20-something a game, he’s averaging almost 10 assists. He’s setting up players, pointing out plays, putting people in their spots on offense. So everything changes. The game is a lot different. So it’s a lot more on us, and even with just being vocal out there to lead the team, James is our leader on the court, so we got to step up more.”

The Clippers turned the ball over just eight times — a good sign. But they were out-rebounded 50-33, their lack of size showing. They gave up 12 offensive rebounds to the Rockets.

“I thought we did a great job,” Powell said. “Guys stepping up in their opportunities played well, played together. ... We were right there, got within 10, got to within eight late in the game. But every time we [got] to 10, they hit a three, got a foul. We come down and we miss.

“I think it was one of those nights. We got great looks, guys played well, guys were talking, communicating. That’s the type of team that we have.”

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