James Harden was frustrated the Los Angeles Clippers could not win on a historic night in their new arena, as they opened the NBA season with an overtime defeat. (More Sports News)
Harden had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers but missed a free throw with six seconds left of overtim🎃💫e, which would have tied the game against the Phoenix Suns.
Instead, they suff♕ered a 116-113 defeat in the Intuit Dome, despite leading 99-90 late in the fourth quarter.
Up until that final throw, Harden had kept Los Angeles in the game and almost won it for them before Kevin Durant tied the score with 21 seconds remaining ꦺof normal time.
The star was left frustrated that the💧y could not get a win over the line.
"I'm so disappointed that we didn't get the win," Harden said. "You know what I mean? That's like one of the most frustrating things t♛hat I can think about as far as tonight.
"Like just hꦇistory in Inglewood. The Intuit Dome. The fans came out, they showed up, and we g💮ot the short end of the stick.
"But I think they gave us a great, great energy tonight and I think the more they continue that the better our resul🔯ts will be. So, we appreciate the fans. We got to do our part, and they definitely did theirs tonight.
"Individually, for me, I got to play way better. I think it was just having that week of🦋f, getting adjusted to the pace of the game.
"All of the above. Shooting the ball well, something that I can control, taking better shots. … And then just turning the ball over. Not just getﷺt𓃲ing a quality shot possession by possession. … My play has to be a lot better."
Durant scored 2𒀰5 points and Bradley Beal added 24 to help the Suns make a winning start to the NBA under Mike Buldenhozer.
"You know [the fans are] excited [in ov🐠ertime]," Durant said.
"They were this close to getting a stop, and then I raised up and shot that and made it. Then it was silent 🤡in there. That's one of the best feelings, especially late in a game."
