On January 2, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in a focus battle, the Nets hosted the Clippers at home, and the Nets completed the counterattack in the first quarter after falling behind, leading by 1 point in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the two teams clenched the score, and the Nets led by four points at halftime 53-49.
The Nets lost to Philadelphia in one game, missed a three-game winning streak, temporarily losing the first place in the East, but their record is exactly the same as the Bulls, and after durant and Ader return, the Nets' lineup tends to be complete. The Clippers have recently missed major generals and are ranked 6th in the West. The two teams have just met once before, when the Nets won by 16 points.
The Nets started: Harden, Mills, Durant, Brown, Aldridge. The Clippers' starts are: Reggie, Bledsoe, Mann, Kofi, Ibaka. At the beginning of the first quarter, Bledsoe took the lead in shooting three points, Mills also used color, both teams opened with good shooting rates, the score alternately rose, Reggie broke through the score, and the Clippers led 13-9. The Nets missed six consecutive offensive attempts, and a 9-16 trail behind Nash could only call a timeout.
Back from the timeout, Bledsoe scored again, Harden finally used a free throw to break the scoring drought, Durant hit a three-pointer, Mann returned the air with a dunk, and the Clippers led 23-16. Harden scored 2+1 and Durant scored on a layup to make it 21-23, at which point Nash called a timeout. The two teams alternated points to rise, and the Nets surpassed one point 30-29 in the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, both teams continued to cling to the score, the shooting rate dropped, the score slowly rose, the Nets took the lead, Harden scored on the basket, and the Nets led 40-34. The Clippers quickly approached the score, and Reggie chased a three-point shot to stop the Nets at 41-42. The timeout came back, the two teams hit iron in succession, the Clippers completed the rebound, and Durant played 2+1 to stop the bleeding.
The two teams slowly rose in scoring, missed various open shots, and ended the half with the Nets leading 53-49. Harden had 8 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds on 2-of-10 halftime and is expected to have a triple-double, Ader had 8 points and 5 rebounds, Durant had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and shot 6-of-13. The Clippers' Bledsoe scored 10 points and Reggie 10 points. In the first half, both teams had low shooting percentages and frequently hit iron.