James Harden ducks media after Clippers Game 7 disaster

Another season ended in disappointment for James Harden and the Clippers Saturday night in a blowout Game 7 loss to the Nuggets, and the 11-time All-Star went quietly into the night.Harden, 35, did not address the media after the Clippers suffered their third consecutive first-round playoff elimination, their second straight with Harden on the team.After leading the series 2-1, Los Angeles lost three of the final four games, and Harden reportedly did not speak after any of those three defeats.Harden scored just seven points on 2-for-8 shooting Saturday, though he had 13 assists, five rebounds, two steals and a block.The Nuggets at one point in the second half led by 35 points before ultimately taking a 120-101 win, advancing to a second-round matchup with the top-seeded Thunder.Russell Westbrook, now with Denver after being teammates with Harden on the Thunder, Rockets and last year’s Clippers team, gleefully took a tech for hanging on the rim after a dunk with 6:53 left in the game put the Nuggets up 107-76.With Harden turning 36 in August and Kawhi Leonard turning 34 next month, it is fair to wonder if the Clippers’ best chance to win with those stars may be behind them, especially with the potential of Leonard’s knee issues popping up at any time.“I don’t think this team was 30 points better than us,” said Leonard, who had a team-high 22 points.“We saw that throughout the first six games of this series, but you’ve got to give them credit.

They came out, ran hard in transition, got easy points and they made shots.”Harden has been in championship chase mode since forcing his way from the Rockets to the Nets during the 2020-21 season, but has yet to get past the second round since then.Holding a $36.4 million player option for next season, Harden is likely to remain with the Clippers, but the pressure will be on, especially for head coach Ty Lue, who signed a five-year extension last year....