Shaquille O’Neal reiterates his one concern regarding James Harden, Paul George

The LA Clippers have assembled quite a star-studded cast in their pursuit of the much-coveted first NBA title in franchise history. With Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Paul George and Russell Westbrook, the Clippers look like one of the most formidable teams on paper.

So far, they’ve successfully met the expectations in terms of performance, but multiple threads of concern have peeked from under the blanket of the potential title challengers. Shaquille O’Neal is pulling some of those threads by putting James Harden and Paul George under scrutiny to assess the Clippers’ pedigree.

Shaquille O’Neal fears for Clippers due to James Harden, Paul George’s habits

During the broadcast of the Nuggets vs Clippers game on Thursday night, Shaquille O’Neal took a closer look at the LA-based team, especially at James Harden and Paul George. As an analyst on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show, Shaq made himself clear about the Clippers’ title bid.

The former Lakers center said, “James Harden knows what he got to do to get himself. This ain’t high school or AAU, where you are like going to call plays. He has the ball most of the time, when he wants to take a shot, he can take a shot… James Harden wanna win a championship, he gotta be a vital part of that offense.”

Continuing his scrutiny, Big Aristotle added, “Him… no disrespect, him and [Paul George] sometimes disappear in the playoffs.”

This was not the first time the 7’1″ legend doubted their Championship credentials. Months back, he pinpointed the same issue, stating the lack of consistency from the Clippers duo in the play-offs as a cause of concern.

Shaq was not all negative about the Clippers though. In the same show, he also expressed his faith in Kawhi Leonard and PG by saying, “I trust Kawhi, I trust Paul.”

Shaq did not forget about Russell Westbrook, as he continued to say, “Westbrook and Harden will have to play superb basketball for them to advance. I don’t wanna hear about, who’s gonna get the ball, get yourself the ball… do what you do.”

While Shaquille O’Neal shared his candid take on the superstars of the squad, the Clippers overcame the daunting task of stopping the Nuggets juggernaut and MVP award favorite, Nikola Jokic.

James Harden, Paul George lead Clippers to win over Nuggets

Amidst the extensive scrutiny of their home form, the Clippers raised their game to a different level against the Nuggets on Thursday night. James Harden overcame his rough patch of form with a 20-point performance. Harden showed why he is one of the most feared passers in the game, recording 8 assists and 6 rebounds as well.

Paul George also stepped up by contributing 28 points to the cause, along with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. His 47.6% success from field goals and 33% from downtown helped him keep his scoring form going.

The MVP contender, Nikola Jokic, posted another triple-double consisting of 36 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nuggets. Despite his performance on a landmark night for the Serbian (reached 14K career points), the Denver side narrowly lost 100-102 to the home team.

Russell Westbrook also shined for the Clippers in the 24 minutes he played with an all-round performance, scoring 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Westbrook, who has recently made a habit of getting into controversies, hailed Jokic’s performance but did not forget to put himself over the Nuggets center.

The win keeps the Clippers at 4th in the Western Conference table, but the win over the reigning champions could go a long way for their own title aspirations. As for James Harden, he has a lot on his plate after his controversial exit from the Sixers and so does Paul George, who must prove why he is idolized by many of the next generation.