The Clippers reversed the Jazz yesterday after trailing by more than 20 points, once again giving fans a glimpse of their resilience, with just-returned George scoring 34 points, 6 assists and 4 steals on 10-of-20 shooting, showing a good competitive state.
According to this trend, as long as they are stable and steady, the eighth place in the West, when the core Leonard returns, they will have the strength to win the championship again, but in a good situation, the Clippers do not have the idea of hitting iron while it is hot.
Recently, Brian Windhorst revealed in a show about the Clippers and Leonard: "The Clippers have not yet announced the reimbursement of the small card season, they will not tell you that the small card is not playing this season, they are now eighth in the West." It won't go up, it won't go down, they'll stay in the eighth position. They want to win the first game of the playoffs. ”
If this is true, then the Clippers have strategically given up the season, without Leonard, not to mention the championship, I am afraid that they can successfully reach the playoffs, thank goodness, and it is the weakest team in the first round in the West.
Leonard was injured in the second round of the playoffs against the Jazz last year, after he averaged 32.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 1 block in the first round of the series with the Lone Rangers, shooting 61% from the field, and he also had to defend the core leader of the opponent, Doncic, and the seven-game battle made him feel unprecedented fatigue.
In the end, Leonard unfortunately suffered a cruciate ligament tear injury, is still in the recovery period, the relevant medical experts have predicted that he will be out of the game for 8-12 months, and he has been resting for nearly a year, and it can be said that he is close to returning to the field.
For the Clippers, in the absence of Leonard and George, they still played a good record, fans can often see Lu coaching the team to achieve repeated big reversals, with Reggie Jackson as the offensive core, maximizing the resources of the lineup, but also laying a good foundation for the comeback of the "Pepper Combination".
Now that George has returned from injury, the Clippers' plan is half successful, but they still think that being able to make the playoffs this season is successful, and George is successful when he comes back and gets back in shape. The youngsters in their squad have all played well this season, including Mann, Reggie, Zubac and others. They don't want Leonard to make a comeback, but have a longer-term goal.
In fact, as a bystander, the Clippers are indeed a team with a big pattern, on the one hand, to what extent Leonard has recovered, everyone is still unclear, hastily let him come back, in fact, it is to take a lot of risks, once the injury recurs, then it will waste another year; on the other hand, the Clippers' eighth ranking this season will not change, which means that they have no home advantage throughout the playoffs, and every round is to face the top teams in the West, even if Leonard and George can play a good state after the combination, It is certainly not possible to avoid a major injury, and whether it is a big chance of winning in the Finals, whether it is the Bucks or the Nets, instead of this, it is better to exercise the existing lineup and then give Leonard enough time to recover his body and state.
By next season, the Lakers are likely to fully disintegrate, the Suns' Paul is one year older, the Grizzlies, Lone Rangers and other teams have not yet become a climate, only Leonard and George are still playing in the year, and they have a set of strong lineups, they can be described as step by step, and the day when they won the first championship in team history may not be far away.