NBA: James Harden’s horror start to Clippers career continues as Grizzlies win just second game of season

James Harden has yet to fire for the Los Angeles Clippers. Photo / AP

The rejuvenation James Harden sought when he forced his way out of Philadelphia to join the Los Angeles Clippers hasn’t eventuated as yet.

The Memphis Grizzlies won for just the second time this season, beating the reeling Clippers 105-101 on a night that Harden’s horror individual start to his Clippers career continued.

Harden finished his first contest in front of the LA crowd with 11 points on 4-12 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three assists.

The numbers paint an ugly picture for Harden who ended with a plus/minus of -28 in 29 minutes of game time.

Memphis improved to 2-8 while waiting for All-Star guard Ja Morant to return from a 25-game suspension next month - both of their wins have come on the road.

“Our guys were pretty dialed in,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We tried to make it extremely tough on these guys and the defence set the tone.”

Luke Kennard hit four 3-pointers and scored 13 points off the bench against his old team. Memphis made 13 3-pointers, while the Clippers made seven of their 12 in the fourth.

Paul George scored 26 points, Norman Powell added 20 and Russell Westbrook had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists on his 35th birthday, but the Clippers dropped their fifth in a row and lost at home for the first time in four games.

“I saw some intriguing things but we just got to be better,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

Harden came off the bench to hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:33 left but missed another in the closing seconds. The Clippers have yet to win in four games since he was traded to the team this month.

“He’s being too polite,” Lue said of Harden.

Leonard said of his new teammate, “I think he’s being aggressive when he is getting the ball.”