James Harden reacts to Clippers loss against historic shooting Celtics

James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers were blown out of Beantown by the Boston Celtics on Monday night, 126-94. The contest wasn't much of a competition after the midway point of the second quarter, with the Celtics going up by as many as 32 points and at by least 15 points for the final 30 minutes of play.

Following the second game of a back-to-back set, Harden chalked it up to it being just one of those games.

James Harden reacts to Clippers loss against Celtics

James Harden finished Monday's game with a near triple-double consisting of 19 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists in 30 minutes of play. Ivica Zubac added 23 points and 10 rebounds for a Clippers team that was throrrled by insane three-point shooting.

“They got shooters.” Harden said. “It's obviously the defending champs,”We're coming off a back-to-back. They're a great team, we didn't really have time to game-plan. They hit us in the mouth and it was one of those games.

“We weren't getting stops. We still had opportunities, but we didn't get stops. We had an okay start, and then in the second quarter, they kind of blitzed us.”

The Celtics led 27-20 after one quarter of play in which the Clippers competed admirably.

Boston proceeded to shoot 12-of-17 from three in the second quarter, setting a new franchise record and tying an NBA record for three-pointers in a single quarter. As a team, the Celtics shot 17-of-24 from the field as they went on to outscore the Clippers 51-29 in the period.

“The Celtics are one of the best offenses we have in this league, if not the best,” Harden added. “They shoot a lot of threes, they make you huddle your man, they get layups, and for us, we had some good stints, so just watch film, get better, and keep chipping away.”

Through the first month of the season, James Harden has seen a considerable amount of double-teams as opponents look to take the ball out of his hands more. Through 19 games, Harden has an assist percentage of 39.7 percent, which is higher than guys like LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, and Giannis Antetokounmpo while trailing only LeBron James, Chris Paul, Nikola Jokic, and Trae Young.

“Teams are guarding me a little different in the sense of like trying to put two on the ball, trying to show bodies, and things like that. So me, when I want to be aggressive, for the most part having my head up so when opportunities like that present itself, I can make the pass whether there's a cutter or a guy ready to shoot the three. It's possession by possession for me.

“I've always been comfortable in that role. Tonight was just a messed up game, but overall, I think we're in a good space. And as far as me communicating and showing my leadership, we've got a lot of guys that are on the same page and I think that's what's helping our success.”

Without Kawhi Leonard for the foreseeable future, the Clippers will continue relying on James Harden to lead them offensively. The good news is that, following a four-game absence due to a hamstring strain, scoring guard Norman Powell has been upgraded to questionable for the Clippers' contest against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

Should he be cleared to return, the Clippers get back a guy averaging 23.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 48.7 percent from three.