INGLEWOOD — Clippers point guard James Harden will be appearing in his 16th NBA postseason, an interrupted journey that began back in 2010. He has not missed the playoffs in nearly two decades.
Yet, the prospect of playing additional games never grows old for the 35-year-old guard. Each series presents new challenges, new players and another chance at winning a title, something that has eluded Harden so far.
Harden and the Clippers kick off the quest for their first NBA championship on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against the 2023 champion Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of a best-of-seven first-round playoff series.
“It’s another opportunity to reach the goal, the ultimate goal,” Harden said Tuesday of how he views the playoffs. “You don’t really take it for granted, you know what I mean? A lot of guys don’t get an opportunity to make the playoffs, so for me, I don’t ever take it for granted.
“Each game, each possession is different, each series is different. So, you just take it one game at a time … don’t get too high, you don’t get too low, but another opportunity for me to do something special.”
Harden has done what many might think has been unthinkable at his age. The veteran is averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game and played a huge role in leading the Clippers to a 124-119 victory over the host Golden State Warriors in Sunday’s regular-season finale, which clinched the No. 5 seed and kept them out of the Play-In Tournament.
Harden hit consecutive 3-pointers, connected on a pair of free throws and scored on Jimmy Butler’s goaltending call in overtime to finish with 39 points and 10 assists. He posted a triple-double two nights earlier in a 101-100 road win against the Sacramento Kings.
His play is generating talk of him being named to an All-NBA team, which would be the eighth nod of his career.
“I think the individual accolades are great, but I think for me, for the entire team, we got one goal,” he said. “Of course, if I’m selected, it’s an honor. I mean, I’m grateful for it, but I’ve been having so much fun with this team, man. The ultimate goal for us is to be the last team standing, so that’ll be even more of an accomplishment.”
Before he can think about any postseason honors, Harden must rise to the challenge that the fourth-seeded Nuggets present. Denver is led by three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic, who is averaging a triple-double for the season and remains one of the league’s most dominant players. He could give the Clippers problems inside and out.
Jokic is averaging 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists this season, a slight increase from his play last season.
Harden isn’t fazed by Jokic or the Nuggets’ other two frontcourt weapons in Michael Porter Jr. (18.2 ppg/7.0 rpg) and Aaron Gordon (14.4 ppg/5.2 rpg).
“We know who we are defensively,” he said. “We have to be great every single night and then offensively it can be any one of us that gets it going, I mean to where (Ivica) Zubac is getting post-ups or Kawhi (Leonard) or Norm (Powell) or myself or Bogie (Bogdan Bogdanovic).
“So, for us, I think the game is going to dictate who’s got it going. But defensively, I think that’s the most important thing, just us making sure we locked in on that side of the basketball.”
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