James Harden believes the Los Angeles Clippers have the quality to turn their season around after extending their winning streak to four games against the Washington Wizards. 

Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points while Harden added 22 in a 119-105 victory on Wednesday, with the Clippers improving to 11-2 since December 20. 

Los Angeles had started the campaign 6-21 and were at the wrong end of the Western Conference, but they are now just a half-game behind the Memphis Grizzlies for 10th place and the final spot in the play-in tournament.

Harden and Leonard have both been key to their surge up the standings, with the latter averaging 32.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.6 steals during their current 13-game stretch. 

And 11-time NBA All-Star Harden has also chipped in with 24.8 points and 7.8 assists, with the 36-year-old believing the Clippers have turned a corner of late. 

"Some teams, when it gets that bad, they just let the wheels fall off," Harden said.

"I had interviews where people were asking me, 'How do you find confidence?' and I was like, 'The confidence is there. The losses are frustrating, but the confidence is still there.'

"I think finding little tweaks and being a lot better defensively is what really helped us out. Now we have got to take one game at a time, just like when we were in the hole.

"We can come all the way back, but we have to chip away, chip away and really build some momentum going into the All-Star break."

pic.twitter.com/sW5p3UaRhK

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 15, 2026

Yanic Konan Niederhauser added 16 points and Jordan Miller contributed 11 points with 10 rebounds. 

Harden recently surpassed Shaquille O'Neal for the most points scored in NBA history, with his tally now standing at 28,636, which is good for ninth on the list. 

Among active players, only LeBron James (42,654) and Kevin Durant (31,486) have scored more than Harden, but he acknowledged how special his accomplishment was. 

"That was a surreal moment just because as a kid growing up watching Kobe [Bryant] and Shaq, the Lake Show, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, all those guys," he said.

"To pass somebody who I really grew up watching, it's unreal for real." 

As for his own time in Los Angeles, Harden brushed off the suggestion that he would want to leave his hometown amid the Clippers' poor start to the season. 

"It's hard to explain," Harden said. "Being at home, that's like the opportunity of a lifetime for me.

"Just be able to hoop in front of my family, friends, people I grew up with, people that raised me. It's a different feeling. So as much as people talk all the time.

"That's social media. That's what people's jobs are to talk.

"For me, it's just like I'm actually living in it so I can't get caught up in what people talk about, how people feel, whatever the case. I'm from L.A. and I'm blessed to be here."