{"id":275232,"date":"2025-04-30T05:38:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T05:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/30\/harden-sucks-chants-ring-out-at-ball-arena-as-nuggets-pummel-clippers\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:08:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:08:41","slug":"harden-sucks-chants-ring-out-at-ball-arena-as-nuggets-pummel-clippers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/30\/harden-sucks-chants-ring-out-at-ball-arena-as-nuggets-pummel-clippers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHarden sucks\u201d chants ring out at Ball Arena as Nuggets pummel Clippers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"4897761\" data-slug-id=\"2497889\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Denver Nuggets delivered a commanding performance in Game 5 of their first-round series against the LA Clippers on Tuesday, cruising to a 131-115 win to go up 3-2 in the matchup. As the team turned up the intensity, the Ball Arena crowd matched the energy, creating a hostile environment for the visiting Clippers.<\/p>\n<p>One of the main targets of the raucous fans? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/james-harden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">James Harden<\/a>. With the Nuggets holding a 16-point lead at the start of the fourth, the crowd broke out in a thunderous chant: \u201cHarden sucks!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"bets-today-poll\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"preview-card-holder bets-today-poll\">\n<p><span class=\"date\"\/> \u2022 <span class=\"time\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"march-madness-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/march-madness-logo.png\" height=\"42\" width=\"99\" alt=\"march madness logo\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>For Harden, the night unraveled fast. He shot just 3-of-9 from the field, missed both of his 3-point attempts and committed four turnovers. He ended the night with a series-low 11 points, though he chipped in eight rebounds and five assists.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first game in the series where Harden failed to reach 15 points. After opening the playoffs with 32 points, he\u2019s since scored 18, 20, 15 and now 11.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/ivica-zubac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Ivica Zubac<\/a> was the standout for the Clippers, finishing with 27 points and five boards. Kawhi Leonard came close to a triple-double with 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.<\/p>\n<p>But the spotlight belonged to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/jamal-murray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Jamal Murray<\/a>. The Nuggets guard erupted for 43 points on 65.4% shooting, adding seven assists, five rebounds and three steals \u2014 all while Nikola Jokic had a quiet scoring night, posting just 13 points (his lowest this series) on 4-of-13 shooting, though he still notched 12 assists and 10 rebounds.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Gordon chipped in 23 points, while Russell Westbrook added 21 off the bench for Denver.<\/p>\n<h2>Wild stat shows how inconsequential James Harden was in Game 5<\/h2>\n<p>James Harden\u2019s Game 5 showing was his worst of this postseason, and according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info, the Clippers averaged a dismal 0.72 points per play across the 35 offensive possessions Harden was part of \u2014 both marks being his lowest of the series.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond his poor scoring night \u2014 much of it due to being blanketed by Nuggets defender Christian Braun, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds \u2014 Harden also struggled with ball control, logging four turnovers to five assists, and recording a team-worst minus-16 in 35 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Following the loss, Harden\u2019s playoff averages dropped to 19.2 points, 8.6 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 43.8% overall and 37.5% from 3.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-author-info-parent\">\n<span class=\"about-the-author\">About the author<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-pic-holder\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"author-pic\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,&lt;svg width=\" height=\"100\"\/><rect width=\"100\" height=\"100\" style=\"fill:rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\/>&#8221; data-lazy=&#8221;https:\/\/keedag.sportskeeda.com\/user-pic\/1253811-1730125987-200.jpg?w=200&#8243;<br \/>\nalt=&#8221;John Ezekiel Hirro&#8221; height=&#8221;72&#8243; width=&#8221;72&#8243;&gt;\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-bio-detail-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p class=\"author-bio\" id=\"author-bio-text\">\nJohn Ezekiel Hirro is an experienced NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda, with over five years in the field as a news correspondent, sports writer, and Editor-in-Chief. His sports writing career began in high school, where he garnered numerous accolades, including being named the national sports writing champion in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>He earned his journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines in 2024 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Varsitarian, the university&#8217;s official student publication, for four years\u2014the longest in history.<\/p>\n<p>A passionate basketball enthusiast, he became a fan of the OKC Thunder during the Russ-KD-Harden era. Russell Westbrook, his all-time favorite athlete, impressed him by stepping up as MVP after Kevin Durant&#8217;s departure. His current favorite players include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who he believes are the future of the OKC franchise.<\/p>\n<p>He excels in game analysis and rapid news story turnaround, drawing inspiration from the journalistic styles of Woj and Shams. He emphasizes thorough research to ensure accuracy in his articles. One of his most memorable moments is Russell Westbrook breaking Oscar Robertson&#8217;s record with his 42nd triple-double and securing a 106-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Outside of writing, he enjoys listening to music and creating Spotify playlists.\n<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"author-know-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/author\/hirrojohnezekiel-0b23b\" aria-label=\"Author know more\">Know More<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by John Ezekiel Hirro<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/news-watch-harden-sucks-chants-ring-ball-arena-nuggets-pummel-clippers\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] The Denver Nuggets delivered a commanding performance in Game 5 of their first-round series against the LA Clippers on Tuesday, cruising to a 131-115<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":275233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}