The LA Clippers turning the ball over 29 times against the Oklahoma City Thunder is not a sign of an off-night for the team, or a coincidence of Mark Daigneault’s group of young men experiencing a lucky break. It is the consequence boiled down to James Harden’s play-style.
Harden did not even play due to a left calf contusion. Yet, because everyone was in the bad habit of watching the former MVP isolate his defender on an island and only give up the ball in the event of a trap, the rest of the team was clueless about how to coexist.