After more than 3 months of recuperation, George made a comeback.
Not long ago, the news of the clippers' comeback was like a smoke bomb. Today, George is back on the field, and you can see him on multiple platforms, finally confirming that the Clippers are not a joke.
The Clippers are ranked 8th in the West, and their record and 100-game net worth are not the same as the teams in front, but the teams behind them can't easily catch up with them. They're in their own gear in the West, they can't mess up, it's hard to make progress, they've lost five games in a row recently, and if there's nothing new, the Clippers are going to go down. Lu, who did not bow his head, the gangster-like and courageous role player, dragged his tired body and held the position for more than 100 days, like the shadow of a candle swaying in the wind. But the Clippers didn't look back, nor did they send out distress telegrams over and over again. It is better to reinforce a last game than to build up another hard battle. If Pepper's body is not 100% recovered, then the Clippers' hope of retaining a "black eight" is only to add a little after-dinner topic to public opinion before being eliminated.
But the Clippers are really tired. In the second spring of his career, Reggie Jackson could not support the honor of the top attacker of the Western Conference playoff team, and the true shooting rate dropped to 48.9%, compared with 57.6% a year ago. Morris has scored just 1 goal in 3 of his last 4 games. Originally, Powell was a helper who could carry a flat shoulder, but he played 3 games and fell.
The Clippers' offense sucks, and when you notice them, they're all earth-shattering reversals, with highlights flashing with Mann's bravery, Coffey's drive, Reggie's strokes. In fact, this is very rare, more often, the Clippers are worthy of the word "constipation", the league's most fierce team in the past two years, without pepper after relying on defense. Firepower is a luxury, and you must wait until Lu's flip is passively triggered before you can "poof" and get a moment of unimpeded access.
I can understand what Lu is doing and saying. Such a Clippers that are short of major generals, such a Clippers whose two leaders are recuperating, such a team that has supporting players in three years to support half of the regular season, you are not better for the people around you, and their loyalty to the position will be betrayed, and it will be difficult to stick to it any longer.
So, there is a fragment like this:
Not long after the start of the third quarter, Lue called the first timeout of the second half because Morris was taken one step and the defense was a bit hot-eyed. As a result, the suspension came back, but the tactic was Morris's low single.
That's interesting. Morris was poor in attack and defense throughout the game, 1 of 6, freed by various breakthroughs, from a pure game point of view, Lu took him down early, and the Clippers could reverse it earlier. But Lou was still trying to find a way for Morris to find a form. After the game, Lou said morris didn't play well because it was my problem as a coach. In fact, from the perspective of winning or losing the game, the use of Morris is the problem.
For the Clippers, 1 to 2 wins and losses are small, and the players' emotions are big. And Lu's emotional intelligence is full, not simply to unite the locker room. Morris is paid the team's third-highest salary and will be on contract until 2024. Regardless of how he was handled by management, Lou had to let Morris do the good job. Do you think Lou would use Hood like that? 29 years old, basic salary, not in the long-term plan of the team, Lu is not his fan, then there is no need.
When did the Clippers' counterattack horn sound?
It is also strange to say that the Clippers are behind the whole game, and only completed the rebound in the second quarter, but the Clippers have three quarters of the ball in the winning points, and the first quarter has dug too big a hole, so that the back has been catching up, and even the third quarter point difference has been around 20 points for a long time. The Clippers had a lot of problems this time, Morris played badly, Reggie had been playing for quite a long time, George was looking for a game feeling in the first quarter, and Zubac was too scared by Gobertway to move. Defensively, the Clippers were swept away by Mitchell and Conley, and Morris, Reggie, and Kennard were all beaten up enough. Although the Jazz are also short of manpower and their recent state is not good, but the tridents of Mitchell, Conley and Gobert are there, and the lower limit of their offensive and defensive ends is still very high.
The Clippers struggled to catch up with the scores, relying on George's unreasonable three-point shot and the witty chase of Monroe. But after a busy pass, George found that his plus-minus value in the third quarter was 0, and while scoring 20 points in the single quarter, the Clippers' defense was sent back.
In this game, all eyes will be focused on George and Lue. In fact, the Clippers have several supporting characters who have also helped them.
The first, and easily overlooked, is Covington. Until the middle of the third quarter, the main highlights of the Clippers defense focused on George's clever "touch" steals, and did not really target the Jazz. Covington changed that, and early in the fourth quarter, his basket from the weak side to the basket ended the Jazz's breakthrough momentum. After leading Mitchell, with Harden's defensive demolition and tacit understanding, the Jazz's attack cannot be launched;
The second place was None other than Harden. What does Covington + Harden equal? What the two of them did in the fourth quarter was a bit like what Bridges + Ayton did. Covington chased from behind, long arms interfered with the shooting, Hardten took care of one defense and two, the footsteps could keep up, the Clippers' weak side briefly took over, tacit understanding, and the defense was full. By this time of the season, Hatten's beautiful high-level stats were maintained, and games like this proved why he could get beautiful high-level stats – his mobility and sense of co-defense were really good.
Hatten's throw also became the key to the Clippers' fourth quarter break with the Jazz — something Zubac didn't dare to do, Hatten did, which ended Gobert's rule. And, not just throwing, but also beautiful transfer balls and even fast-tapping balls.
It was Harden's reliable performance on the offensive end that allowed Lu to find a more reliable turnover. Playing jazz on the five small, for the Clippers, this is not a matter of hesitation. But Morris was too bad, the Clippers' outside line was too miserable by the Jazz, And Lu's small lineup couldn't help it for a while, or took Hardten up, and Hatten did not live up to Lou's trust.
Kennard's steady three-pointer, Mann's energy, both played a role in the Clippers' cappell. The final harvest of the game's two heavy punches come from the protagonist George and Reggie, who returns to Robin's identity.
The Clippers played the Jazz, and George played Gobert to refresh. These two things gradually became apparent in the game. The Clippers received four key frontcourt rebounds in the fourth quarter, two from Mann and two from Hardten, both after the first wave of impact on Gobert, and were picked up from behind Gobert by vitality. And George playing Gobert has formed a routine, military training others are not easy to say, if it is Gobert, George can really publish a book.
Back at the other end of the court, George recited the Declaration of Return again. As the game entered the final minute, Mitchell blocked and George let go of Clarkson, went around behind Mitchell, and touched the ball again.
George dared to do this because Mitchell's sense of playing in the fourth quarter was a mess, and Clarkson's ironclad was forced. George touched Mitchell's blind spot, and with the above two premises, the Jazz had little chance of punishing him for his risky moves. Such a steal, combined with the three-pointer he put in and the shoulder breakthrough, announced the return in a way that pulled full of personal labels, such a perfect game design, certainly not the script.
Reggie, who was very chaotic in the first three quarters, scored 10 points and 2 assists in the last quarter. If George's confidence comes from the hard power of attack and defense, as well as the experience and confidence of playing jazz, then Reggie's fourth quarter relied on a psychological hint - at some point in time, he should feel that the Clippers have won. So he jumped and turned around, dribbling the ball to the tiger, he knew, this is stable.
When you and your team are familiar with a certain story script, the body will unconsciously follow the habit. Some teams are as steady as old dogs in the fourth quarter, some teams are a mess in the fourth quarter, and some teams believe that falling behind by 20 points is a fart. Once they find the rhythm and approach the score, they must be the one who laughs last. This habit doesn't last forever, but before a game or a game that changes psychological cues, I believe it will hold its mind firmly. Reggie fights in this mindset, he can mess up the whole game, but at this moment, he believes they must be able to do it.
The Clippers aren't the best team yet, but the Clippers are moving up and down. Lou and his fighters struggled to hold on, without complaining, without looking back, just insisting, insisting. George left a promise that he would come back to help them and not let their perseverance see no hope, and he made good on his promise and chose to return against his old rivals in the West. In 31 minutes, it took only one section to find the feeling, and then 34 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 20 points in a single quarter, bringing back a full range of fire coverage and armored lions, which is also the clippers will be looking forward to the rescue picture.
Perseverance, return.
Clippers, George.
They had a tough season, a season where expectations were not too high. You can give up hope at any time, or you can choose to hold on and see what happens. We don't know what the clippers' results will be this season or what the clippers' ultimate achievements will be, but it's certain that the Clippers have successfully reinvented themselves, defeated the image of the unlucky egg that once was, and made people start to respect them, to look forward to them, and to believe that they can do, what is possible or impossible.
And that's what coaches and stars should do.