From an average of 29 points per game to an average of 14 points per game! It's you who should leave the Clippers, but Harden has suffered a lot of wrongdoing

The NBA regular season of the new season has been played for more than half a month, and as the season deepens, the strength and state of each team basically have a basic judgment. The Nuggets are still the top king of the league, and as the defending champions, although the depth of the roster has weakened this summer, the 8-1 record is still the best; The Mavericks are 7-2, Doncic and Irving complement each other, and Hardaway Jr., Lively, Jones, Gwee and others can contribute energy steadily; The Timberwolves are 6-2, and with the strongest defense in the league, they have become the biggest dark horse team in the West. The Los Angeles duo are the favourites to win the championship every summer, but at the start of the new season, both are struggling. The Lakers are 4-5 and have a warming trend after defeating the Suns; The Clippers went from 3-1 in the opening game to the last 4 consecutive defeats, and after Harden came to the Clippers, the team lost 3 in a row without a win.

In recent years, although the championship-winning teams are basically one person and one city, like Brother Alphabet and the Bucks in the summer of '21; Curry and Warriors in '22; Jokic and the Nuggets this summer, but there are still many teams hoarding superstars to rush to the championship, believing that taking shortcuts still has the possibility of success, and the Clippers are one of them. Due to infighting and injuries in the previous four years, the Clippers only played to the Western Conference finals, and the arrival of Wei Shao last season also gave the Clippers hope, but Xiaoka and George were injured again, and the team collapsed instantly. Getting Harden at the beginning of the new season, in fact, the division of labor of the Big Four is very clear: Harden leads the team to guarantee the lower limit to ensure that the Clippers have a good result, and Xiaoka and George transition to the playoffs in a healthy state and lead the team to the championship. But the ideal is plump and the reality is skinny, after Harden came to the team, the Clippers lost to the Knicks, Nets, and Mavericks in a row.

A net loss of 39 points in three games! In these three games, Harden averaged 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists + 3.0 turnovers per game, and the two shooting rates were 54.2% + 50%. The second is Harden's shortcomings on the defensive end, and when he fought with the Mavericks, he was almost blown up by Doncic and couldn't prevent it at all. The Clippers have lost consecutive games, and Harden has naturally become the target of verbal criticism, from the media to fans, who believe that Harden has destroyed the team's chemistry and destroyed the team's original atmosphere. But there are three stats worth pondering: Harden's true shooting percentage is as high as 71.8%, 14th in the league; Harden ranks only 131st in the league in round possession, but has 13.2 game contributions, which is 44th in the league.

To put it simply, although Harden has regressed significantly on the defensive end (he can't participate in infinite defensive changes), his contribution on the offensive end is still very stable, but he has very little ball possession. But after the Clippers came to the team, the most obvious regression was George! Before Harden came, George averaged 28.8 points per game and shot 56% from the field, but after Harden came to the Clippers, George averaged 14 points per game, with a two-point shooting rate as low as 27.9% + 17.4%, and a total net loss of 28 points on the court! In fact, before and after Harden came to the Clippers, George's ball possession ratio has been very stable, reaching 27%, which is higher than Leonard, but George just suddenly lost his touch. George himself was still passing the buck in an interview: I was going to focus on both, given the new lineup's struggles with defense and rebounding, which kept me from going into attack mode.

To put it bluntly, Harden has been very low since he was traded to the Clippers, and he said on media day that Tyronn Lue can do whatever he wants him to do and can play without the ball. After 3 games, except for Harden in the connecting period, most of the other times Harden fell to the corner, or cruising at the top of the two arcs, waiting for the opportunity to catch the ball, and there was also a good cooperation between Leonard. On the defensive end, Harden is indeed weak, but he is also actively stuck in position, and even at the critical moment of the fourth quarter, he goes to the opponent's power forward to fight hand-to-hand. What else can Harden do? You must know that Harden averages only 8 shots per game, and even Mann and Hyland have a higher finishing weight than Harden. Harden wants to tandem, but he always needs time to get used to a forward star of the caliber of Jr. and George.

Leonard has been very consistent, and Wei Shao is also charging, giving 120% of his energy on offense and defense, but George, who has lost himself after Harden came to the team. In a sense, Harden's ball control is a complete liberation for George, George does not need to fight speed with the opponent's small guard, nor does he have to face the pressure of holding the ball. The Big Four are on the same team, and it is impossible for everyone to take into account the data, and it is fundamental to sacrifice themselves to become a global team. George "emphasized" the status of the team with unreasonable shots again and again, but it became a burden.

In fact, it is George who should go the most. In the Clippers team, there is no need for two stars on the front line, if George is replaced with two blue-collar forwards, with the attributes of the No. 5 position in the small lineup, it can completely release the defensive pressure of Leonard, and at the same time, it can also follow Harden to run fast and open up space projection, which is more obvious for the overall improvement of the Clippers. And George has been plagued by injuries every season, and basically spends the regular season on the sidelines at the end of each year. According to the current situation of the Clippers, if the Big Four really can't do it, the only person who can leave can only be George, and Harden is just suffering injustice.