James Harden stat really sums up his disappearing act in Clippers-Nuggets series

Another chapter of the "Clippers Curse" is just one loss away from being etched into the franchise's cruel postseason history.

After being stunned by Aaron Gordon's historic buzzer-beating dunk in Game 4, the Los Angeles Clippers return to Intuit Dome down 3-2 after mustering little resistance against the Denver Nuggets in a 131-115 Game 5 loss at Ball Arena on Tuesday night.

Nikola Jokic recorded the most modest of triple-doubles by his standards with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. He got plenty of help from his supporting cast, most notably Jamal Murray and ex-Clipper Russell Westbrook. Murray scored a game-high 43 points, including eight 3-pointers, while Westbrook provided 21 points off the bench.

Ivica Zubac (27 points) did all he could in his tough matchup against Jokic, and Kawhi Leonard (20 points, 11 assists) performed far from his best. However, it has become clear that the Clippers' season will indeed end Thursday if their star point guard continues to be a glaring no-show.

James Harden managed only 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting and finished a team-worst minus-16 on a night when the NBA's third-best regular-season defense got carved up by Denver's 29 assists on 48 made baskets and 55.8% shooting, including 17-of-33 on 3-pointers (51.5%).

The most damning stat for Harden was one that quantified just how ineffective he was on offense.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Clippers averaged only 0.72 points per play on the 35 plays involving Harden. Both marks are his lowest of the series, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

If it felt like James Harden wasn’t that involved tonight, he wasn’t. According to @ESPNStatsInfo LA averaged just 0.72 points per play on the 35 plays Harden was involved in. Both are his lowest marks of the series.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 30, 2025

For the second straight game, Harden bolted before reporters entered the locker room. While he didn't answer questions from the media, he'll have to come up with a robust response in Game 6 for L.A. to send the series back to Denver for a decisive Game 7.

With a healthy Leonard and a Denver squad run by an interim coach in David Adelman, the Clippers have no excuse not to reach the Western Conference semifinals. Harden actually showing up is a giant part of the blueprint.

“We gotta respond," Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters. "We blew them out in Game 3. They came back and responded in Game 4. We gotta do the same thing.

"I don’t know what changes you could make. They made shots. ... Coming back home, Intuit will be rocking. We’ll be fine.”

I'm sure James will have a response Thursday one way or another https://t.co/HRcm8qoynZ
— Law Murray 💭🚫 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 30, 2025