It'S time to start Chris Paul over James Harden

MIAMI -- That was brutal.

However, there is a valuable lesson to take away from the LA Clippers (5-16) 123-140 defeat to the Miami Heat (14-7) on Monday night.

It is time for James Harden to take a back seat to the point guard he had with him on the Houston Rockets.

Chris Paul is an actual point guard James Harden is not

Being a point guard is more than just piling up a bunch of assists which Harden does, but it comes down to doing two vital things: being an extension of the coach, and making your teammates better.

When looking at the style of Harden and Paul they both run that position two completely different ways.

In the beginning of the second quarter vs the Heat, the Clippers had their only lead of the game 44-42 where the lineup was Paul, Kawhi Leonard, Kris Dunn, Kobe Sanders, and Ivica Zubac.

Paul is what you would call the “traditional point guard” or “floor general”. Players such as Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, and John Stockton are on top of the list of All-Time great point guards for a reason. They elevate the abilities of their teammates.

It isn’t the sexiest way, but this mindset of the point guard goes far which is surprisingly frowned upon in today’s NBA.

Harden is what today’s NBA would call a “hybrid-point guard”, someone who values scoring over play making.

Guys like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, Jamal Murray, De’aaron Fox and Damian Lillard. Harden falls right in there leading the team in scoring at 27 ppg. The playing style is sexy, but doesn’t highlight what a point guard really is.

Year after year, the same assists numbers Harden tends to pile up come with a variety of turnovers that the average viewer seems to dismiss. Another element of a true point guard is valuing the basketball, For his career, Harden is averaging 7.2 apg and 3.2 topg with a lot of assists comes with just as many turnovers.

For Paul’s career he has averaged 9.2 apg and 2.3 topg. Last year with the Spurs, Paul averaged 7.4 apg while still being able to average 8.8 ppg. The main thing that ended their season was the Spurs most dynamic player Victor Wembenyama going down with season ending injury.

At age 40, Paul still is able to run the position at a high level when given the opportunity and solid pieces around him.

Chris Paul fits better with Kawhi Leonard than James Harden

It is becoming more and more visible that Leonard and Harden are more like oil and water than peanut butter and jelly. Leonard and Harden are both great at what they do individually. However, there seems to be a power struggle between the two on who the system should be ran through.

It is proven. Harden values having the basketball in his hands the majority of the time. That is a problem when you’re not the best player.

So with that comes a decision, who should this team cater to? The answer is simple.

The two time champion. Leonard.

While Harden and Leonard are great at what they do, Harden’s isolation and high ball usage style of play doesn’t match with Leonard. On the contrary, Paul’s ability to run an efficient offense does.

From his early days with the New Orleans Hornets, all the way to last year with the San Antonio Spurs where he played all 82 games.

Throughout Paul’s career, each team he has been on the starting point guard's team record elevated significantly.

It's time for CP3

Last year, Harden will be appreciated for what he did in the regular season. Helping lead the Clippers stay afloat alongside Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac lead the charge while Leonard online played 37 out of the 82 regular season games.

This is a new season for the Clippers, and right now they are going to need to value what's best for the team over a star player's ego.

This season, Paul has been getting small sample sizes and not enough time with not just Leonard, but the entire starting five. Time for that dynamic to change, and give Paul the keys to the car and let Harden take the backseat.