The Clippers were a bit unlucky, facing the Timberwolves in the playoffs, who collapsed in the final quarter and lost the opportunity to advance directly to the playoffs. Against the Pelicans, whose record was inferior to his own, Paul George was unable to play. As a result, the Clippers lost the game 101-105 and completely missed the playoffs. I have to say that Tyrone Lu is really good, and the Clippers played a 38-18 offensive climax in the third quarter and almost completed the reversal. But the Pelicans found their form in the first half in the late quarter and eventually won the game and successfully advanced to the playoffs.
When George can't play, luck has actually moved away from the Clippers, George is balanced in attack and defense, even if the offense is inaccurate, he can also use defense to limit Brandon Ingram, the most direct embodiment of his absence is that Ingram has 30 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists on 21 shooting 14 and 4 free throws. The most desperate thing was the first quarter, where Ingram had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists on 8-of-9 shooting, and any defender was useless in front of him. To add: Ingram is not mainly on the basket and dunk, he is mainly shooting.
A game to be won or lost is a challenge for a relatively young player like Ingram, so he will have 1-of-4 in the second quarter of 9-of-8. The performance of 5 shots in the third quarter was not too good. But Ingram made 3-of-3 shooting in the fourth quarter and found himself in form again. A season will have ups and downs, and a game will have ups and downs. Ingram still needs time to grow, but he can definitely be the core of the Pelicans. As the 2016 top-notch show, Ingram's template is Kevin Durant, and in the game against the Clippers, Ingram definitely dominates the game in Durant's way.
First, do not shoot three points, the middle distance is too stable
Of the 21 shots, Ingram had 11 inside shots and hit seven hits, while the other 10 shots were mid-range, hitting seven. Durant's killer skill is known to be the mid-range jumper, and Ingram directly destroyed the Clippers' defense with 70% of the mid-range shooting rate. Throughout the game, Ingram's inside shooting percentage was 63.6%, which was not as good as the mid-range shooting rate, which was too stable in the middle distance.
Second, a jump shot hits invincible hands all over the world
With the advantage of height and arm length, Ingram can also shoot as freely as Durant, and in a similar way, that is, a jump shot to hit the invincible hand all over the world. Of the 21 shots, Ingram had 8 stop-and-go jumpers with a 50% shooting percentage; 4 turn-back jumpers with a 75% shooting percentage; and 2 back-to-back jumpers with a 100% shooting percentage. The game seemed simple to Ingram, one word: pitch and you're done!
Third, 80% of the shots are strong shots
Nowadays, the game is very wide, and players will get a lot of open space (4-6 feet from the nearest defender) and large open shots (more than 6 feet from the nearest defender), but it is more difficult to shoot strongly (2-4 feet from the nearest defender). For Ingram, this is also not a problem, he has a total of 17 shots in the whole game, and the proportion of strong shots is 80%. At the same time, Ingram's shooting rate of 64.7% is really desperate. Many of the goals were actually defended, but Ingram still hit them.
Ingram has grown a bit slowly, and this year is his first playoff trip. But Ingram has been able to keep improving every year, and now that he is only 24 years old, he will also reach the peak of his career. Hopefully, Ingram will be able to stay in better shape in the playoffs and hopefully his future will be even better.
Text/Duncan's laugh