Harden's December Dunkfest: Blazers Had No Answer for Clippers' Star

Man, the Clippers and Blazers matchups lately? Pure fireworks. You gotta love the West Coast beef. We just saw these two go at it twice in late 2025, and both times, the Clippers brought the heat. Seriously, if you weren't watching, you missed some buckets.

Look, the December 26th game, when the Clips dropped 119 on Portland's head, was a certified highlight reel. James Harden went off, putting up 34 points. Thirty-four! That's the kind of performance that gets you on the top plays of the night. You're talking step-backs, drives, the whole bag. And then you had Brook Lopez, who also went for 31 points in that same game, knocking down a career-high nine threes. Nine! That's just ridiculous. Imagine the splashes. The Blazers just couldn't contain that kind of offensive firepower, eventually falling 119-103.

Harden's October Warm-Up and Portland's Fight

Thing is, it wasn't just a one-off. Go back to October 26th, 2025. The Clippers took that one too, 114-107. Not as many huge individual numbers, but it showed you the Clips' consistency. They started strong in that one, dropping 34 in the first quarter, setting the tone early. Portland had their moments, especially in the second quarter when they put up 37, but it wasn't enough to seal the deal. You gotta give the Blazers credit for battling, though. They never just rolled over, which makes for better viewing, honestly.

But here's the real talk: the Clippers just have too much pop right now. Harden looks like he's on a mission to deliver some serious highlights every single night. The way he was cooking against Portland, hitting 34 points in the December contest, shows you he still has that elite scoring touch. The Blazers, who were sitting at 38-38 at one point last season, definitely have some fight, but they’re still trying to figure out how to consistently stop these offensive explosions. And when a guy like Lopez is hitting nine threes, what do you even do?

My bold prediction? The next time these two teams meet, we're getting another Harden 30-point eruption, and the Clippers win by double digits, purely off the strength of their highlight reel plays.