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The James Harden system made its Clippers debut on Monday, but RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and the Knicks stole the show as New York walked out of the Garden with a 111-97 victory. Harden finished with 17 points in 31 minutes. He made six of his nine shots, including going 2-of-4 from 3 and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. He was good, efficient, worked in the mid-range and made a few nice passes. He'll get more comfortable picking and choosing when to become the "system" and when to play off the Clips' other capable creators. 

But suffice to say, he is not going to be the system in L.A. He's not that good anymore, and certainly not nearly good enough to relegate Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to floor-spacing spectators. 

For the Knicks, Barrett continued his strong start to the season with 26 points, six rebounds and four assists on 9-of-16 shooting. Through five games, Barrett is averaging 22 points and shooting 44% from 3 on five attempts per game. 

Meanwhile, Robinson remains an absolute monster on the offensive glass. He entered the game averaging a league-high six offensive boards per game, and he added an insane nine more to his tally on Monday to finish with 15 total rebounds. 

Mitchell's motor, combined with his size and athleticism, makes for a rebounding machine. I also wonder how much the continuity of playing with Julius Randle and Barrett for four seasons now (this is their fifth together) has impacted his ability to sense and anticipate the angle of their misses from particular spots on the floor. 

The bad-news part of Robinson gobbling up so many offensive boards to start the season is that a missed shot is the prerequisite of an offensive board, and the Knicks have missed a lot of shots. They entered the game on Monday with the worst team shooting percentage in the league. 

The biggest culprit in regard to that abysmal shooting mark has been Julius Randle, who has had a truly horrific start to the season. Still, Randle broke out a bit on Monday, finishing with a team-high 27 points and 10 rebounds. 

With the win, the Knicks improve to 3-4, while the Clippers fall to 3-3.