James Harden’s Clippers debut at Madison Square Garden draws an audible exhale

NEW YORK — James Harden audibly exhaled when asked late Monday how it felt to get back to basketball “after the last four months.”

The formerly unhappy 76ers guard technically turned the page last week, when his overnight trade to the Los Angeles Clippers finally came to fruition. But making his on-court debut with his new team — and in the 2023-24 season — inside Madison Square Garden was another notable step. Though Harden flashed his facilitating and shot-making in totaling 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and six assists, he acknowledged bouts of fatigue and ended the night on the bench after the New York Knicks built a comfortable lead in a 111-97 victory.

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“It felt kind of weird out there,” Harden said. “Just not really having a preseason game or an opportunity to participate in a full training camp or none of that, it was just out there basically winging it. But tried to go off my basketball instincts … thinking the game and trying to make the game easier for everyone else.”

“After the last four months” was a generic reference to Harden’s messy saga with the Sixers that began in late June and ended on Halloween. He surprisingly exercised the $35.6 million player option in his contract and simultaneously demanded a trade from the Sixers, then called president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a liar, then was in and out of team activities throughout the preseason.

Yet the word “Sixers” was never uttered during Harden’s comments Monday. The only time his former team publicly came up the past two days was when directly asked about it by The Inquirer on Sunday afternoon, when Harden said he has not “really been watching” the Sixers (despite technically being on the roster for their first three games) but praised rapidly ascending guard Tyrese Maxey. A source close to Harden reiterated to The Inquirer on Monday that Harden’s sole issue with his former team was with Morey.

Instead, how the Clippers will integrate Harden with fellow All-Stars Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook was the primary topic. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged the significance of putting those players together for the first time inside basketball’s “Mecca.” It was also a particularly interesting spot for Harden to make his Clippers debut.

That building is where Harden dazzled in his second game with the Sixers in February 2022, totaling 26 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists in front of a throng of vocal fans who made the trip from Philly. It’s also where a Christmas morning ESPN report that Harden was considering returning to the Houston Rockets in free agency first dropped. It’s also near where Harden spent less than 13 months playing for the Brooklyn Nets, before turning frustrated there and opening a path for Morey to pull off the February 2022 blockbuster involving Ben Simmons.

Monday evening, one could hear Harden coming up the ramp that leads from the team buses to the Garden’s floor level, as he rapped along to the music inside his headphones. Then, reminders that Harden is one of the NBA’s more polarizing players peppered the atmosphere.

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When he jogged from the visitors’ locker room to the tunnel for his pregame shooting routine, a player on the Junior Knicks exclaimed, “I just saw James Harden!” During the Clippers’ pregame layup line, Spike Lee rose from his courtside seat to dap up Harden. But Harden was booed by the home crowd when introduced last in the starting lineup, and when he got the ball on the Clippers’ first couple of possessions.

He initially squashed that reaction by zipping a slick pocket pass to big man Ivica Zubac to draw a foul under the basket. Harden then connected on his first shot — a baseline jumper over two defenders — early in the second quarter. When he buried a pull-up three-pointer a couple of minutes later, former Sixers minority owner Michael Rubin — a longtime friend of Harden’s — smacked the leg of Harden’s agent, Mike Silverman, in celebration.

“First couple minutes, I was tired,” Harden said with a chuckle. “I got adjusted to it. It’s going to take me a few games to get used to the pace.”

Harden later opened the second half by finding Leonard for a one-handed dunk. He hit a floater to tie the score at 73 late in the third quarter, then drew “ugh” and “ohhh” reactions seconds later when he hit another deep shot.

But then two Knicks with Philly ties made the impact plays to take control in the final frame. Former Villanova star Donte DiVincenzo scored eight points in a little more than two minutes to stretch New York’s lead to 14 points. Fellow former Wildcat Josh Hart had two assists, one steal, and five points in the period, including a fast-break layup to put the Knicks up, 104-88, with 4 minutes, 25 seconds remaining and prompt Lue to make the massive subs.

Down the road at the Wells Fargo Center, meanwhile, the Sixers thrashed the woeful Washington Wizards to rip off their fifth consecutive victory. Maxey continued to thrive, compiling a career-best 11 assists (and zero turnovers) to go along with 22 points. Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid amassed 48 points — including a Sixers-record 29 points on 10-of-10 shooting in the third quarter — and added 11 rebounds and six assists.

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So Harden’s former teammates have moved on, as well. The two parties will not see each other until late March, when the Sixers and Clippers play twice in four days.

By then, the Clippers expect to be meshing far better than Monday’s outing. Lue broke down one play, when former Sixer P.J. Tucker and Norm Powell both crowded the same corner while Harden had the ball. The Clippers had been instructed throughout training camp to cut whenever Leonard or George came off a pick-and-roll. But when Harden is handling, Lue said, he now wants those teammates to stay in their spots because of Harden’s exceptional court vision.

“I love the process we’ve got to go through to get to where we want to get to,” Lue said. “And we’re going to get there, for sure. Just trying to keep everybody in rhythm with four dynamic scorers is tough.”

It’s a situation Harden has experienced in-season three times since early 2021. When a reporter brought up that factoid following Monday’s game, Harden joked that “you make it sound so bad.”

It is the truth. Harden was a Sixer. Now he is a Clipper.

And late Monday, Harden audibly exhaled. Because he had finally gotten back to basketball.

“It was a lot going on through my mind,” Harden said. “But just happy to be out there and getting to hoop. Now we’ve kind of ironed things out. Watch some film. Get better. It’s a process with this group, but we’ve got unlimited opportunities.”

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