Fans of the LA Clippers are going to do their best to forget the team's epic collapse against the Denver Nuggets on Monday. After two of their former players put on a show to hand LA the loss, the Clippers are looking at some glaring issues that must be fixed if they are to avoid becoming a massive disappointment.
One of those issues is their offense. It is no secret that things are not operating nearly as smoothly on that end of the floor as they could be for LA. With a roster featuring four hall-of-fame talents, there is no excuse for the Clippers to be consistently putting up lackluster performances in scoring the ball.
After the loss to Denver, Head Coach Tyronn Lue spoke about his team's troubles in that regard. "We were nasty offensively," said Lue. "Too slow, too methodical. I take full responsibility for offensive and defensively as well."
Ty Lue: "I thought we were nasty offensively, too slow, too methodical. I take full responsibility for offensive and defensively as well."
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) November 28, 2023
Tyronn Lue believes the Clippers' offense is too slow
Of course, the Clippers' offensive struggles largely point back to James Harden. While LA continues figuring out where exactly Harden fits into their offensive scheme, he is not doing himself any favors in the meantime.
From day one, we knew much of the trouble in adding Harden to this roster was the fact that he was going to take the ball out of the hands of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George at crucial moments of the game. While that has happened as expected, it has been even more of a disaster than many thought.
The primary reason for this is that when Harden has the ball, he is often not being aggressive enough. Last night, for example, he took just seven shot attempts and scored 11 points. It does not help that he has turned the ball over three times per game in LA's last four games, either.
With the Clippers' stars all being up there in age, there is not as much burst and athleticism in the starting lineup as there once was. Add in the continued confusion surrounding integrating Harden and his lack of aggression, and it is no wonder the offense is struggling so mightily.