James Harden Praised for Unselfish Play Despite Loss in Clippers Debut vs. Knicks

The Los Angeles Clippers will have to take the good with the bad at this point.

The most obvious bad for Monday was the result in an 111-97 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Los Angeles is now 3-3 on the season and looked anything but the part of a serious championship contender in the showing.

However, there was a silver lining.

It was the first game for James Harden in a Clippers uniform since he was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers, and he impressed for extended stretches on his way to 17 points, six assists, three rebounds and two turnovers on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from deep.

If nothing else, he was a bright spot and fit in nicely alongside Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook in a lineup of veterans and some of the biggest names of their generation.

He also drew some praise for his showing:

It was fitting that Harden broke out his signature stepback shot for his first basket with the Clippers as he helped build a halftime lead for the visitors. He also didn't have a turnover in the first half, helped on the boards and looked to facilitate.

Things seemed to be trending in an ideal direction as he set up others and took advantage of the additional space he figures to receive with the attention Leonard and George draw on the wings. He also didn't try to do too much and played within the offense instead of forcing the issue, even though he did mix in a deep three-pointer near the end of the third quarter.

Still, it was far from enough in a lopsided defeat that will leave questions about the overall ceiling of a team largely built around players in their mid-30s.

Los Angeles will look to turn things around Wednesday when it faces the Brooklyn Nets on the road.