INGLEWOOD — An All-Star snub. The second game of a back-to-back after a three-game trip. James Harden’s personal issues that kept him in Arizona and off the court. [Rumors of a potential trade](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/02/report-clippers-james-harden-exploring-trade-options-cavaliers-interested/).
On top of all that, there was Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, which only added to the Clippers’ rough few days. The 76ers handed the lackluster Clippers a 128-113 defeat at the Intuit Dome.
The Clippers (23-26), who lost for just the fifth time in the past 22 games, played as though there were things weighing heavy on their minds. They struggled to find their footing or stop the 76ers’ effective transition game and fell behind by as many as 23 points in the first half.
And by the time they found their footing, Philadelphia (28-21) had a hefty advantage and didn’t let up as the Clippers’ defense – ranked seventh in the league since Dec. 20 – had little answer for the 76ers’ high-powered offense.
Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting (7 for 14 from 3-point range) to go with six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Dominick Barlow added 26 points and 16 rebounds, while center Joel Embiid added 24 points, going 7 for 7 from the free-throw line, five rebounds and three assists.
“The biggest thing for us transition-wise, if we get a shot on goal, we’re decent, but we turn the basketball over, we can’t get back,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game. “So, we got to stand with this team, we got to take care of the basketball. If we do that and get shots on goal, we can get back and get our defense set.”
That didn’t happen as Philadelphia scored 22 points off the Clippers 14 turnovers and scored 10 fast-break points, finishing with 16 more field goal attempts than the Clippers.
Not helping matters was that star Kawhi Leonard, one day after learning he was not selected as a reserve for the upcoming NBA All-Star Game, came out flat, scoring just two points in the first quarter. This, after scoring 25 points the previous night in the first game of the back-to-back.
He regained his focus and finished with 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting on Monday. It was his 28th consecutive game this season with at least 20 points, the longest such streak of his career. He also had four rebounds and six assists.
The Clippers pulled to within 105-92 on a thunderous dunk by Leonard with 9:47 left to play. Leonard later scored off a steal to cut the margin to 115-104, but Embiid responded with an 11-foot floater with 4:56 left.
Maxey followed with his seventh 3-pointer to push the Sixers to a 120-104 lead at the 4:25 mark.
Without Harden, the Clippers couldn’t come close to overtaking the 76ers and took a step backward in their goal of getting back to .500 after their 6-21 start to the season.
Harden stayed back in Arizona to deal with personal issues, according to the team. A report late Monday said the Clippers are in talks to potentially trade the 11-time All-Star to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Darius Garland.
Jordan Miller continued his string of impressive performances for the Clippers with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists. Kobe Sanders had 17 points, John Collins added 15 and Brook Lopez scored 13.
_More to come on this story._