Clippers’ James Harden breaks silence after forcing Game 7 vs. Nuggets

Batum finished with six points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals, and three blocks while finishing with a team-high plus/minus of +11 in his 34 minutes.

Harden seemed more aggressive from the jump, recording a couple of buckets and three assists in the first quarter. Tyronn Lue changed his substitution patterns for Game 6, starting both Kawhi Leonard and Harden together to open the second quarter. And that’s where Harden got going.

With a Clippers’ lineup consisting mainly of Harden, Leonard, Norman Powell, Nicolas Batum, and Bogdan Bogdanovic, James Harden scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line in the second period.

“Us going over our offense and what needed to be done for me to be aggressive,” Harden said as to the reason he was able to get going often So we talked about it, we showed it, and we did it.

“Just win or go home. We’ve had, and we still had some mistakes tonight, but I think our energy defensively and offensively, our aggressiveness was different, which starts with me. So, watching the film, get better, figure out things that I can continue to get better at, and do it one more game.”

James Harden was the subject of criticism over Games 4 and 5 against the Nuggets, but said he wasn’t paying attention to any of it with the series down to its potentially final game.

“I didn’t even see the criticism, but like, internally, I know what needs to be done. So I’ve had multiple conversations with T-Lue. And even after Game 5, he came up to me on the plane and was like I need to get you more involved. And just because I have the ball in my hands, it often seems like I can just do anything, but we still have an offense to run. Tonight, the game plan was more of me being in attack mode and making sure our spacing is right, and as a result, I’ll be aggressive.”

Both teams will now head back to Denver where the Nuggets will host the decisive Game 7 on Saturday night. The game will determine who wins the first round series and advances to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have been waiting for a week to find out who their second round opponent will be.

Games never come down to just one or two plays, just James Harden says Game 7 will come down to the little things.

“Attention to detail for a full game, however long that game is, whether it’s regulation or overtime,” Harden explained on the keys to Game 7. “But attention to detail. Like, Jokic is… He’s just special in the sense of like, he can score the basketball but he’s more deadly when he’s playmaking and getting everybody else involved. So it’s like one second that you think you should be helping, or you do help, you’ll pay for it. You really have to be on your [keys] and locked in on what you’re supposed to be doing.

“And then it’s like who you’re guarding. So for us, it’s like understanding what we need to be doing as a team, and then individually, limiting our mistakes. Whatever team can make the opposite team make more mistakes, you’ll give yourself a chance to win.”

Game 7 of Clippers-Nuggets is set to tip off at 4:30PM PST on TNT.