On December 15, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Los Angeles Clippers hosted the Golden State Warriors at home. In this game, the Warriors came prepared and took the initiative to change the formation to seize the opportunity and played a perfect start of 10-3. The Clippers were unfazed by Harden's organization and regained the lead in just half a quarter. In the second quarter, Harden took over the game in an all-round way, contributing 13 points + 4 assists, and the Clippers beat the Warriors by 12 points in a single quarter, stretching the score to double digits in one fell swoop. Yibian fought again, Tang Shen exploded, and scored 16 points in a single quarter to help the Warriors dream of chasing the score, this situation was maintained until the beginning of the final quarter, the Warriors chased the difference to 1 point, and it was Harden who stood up and took over the game, and even threw free throws and passes to help the Clippers stabilize the situation. In the end, the Clippers won the game 121-113.
The Warriors were in an eventful season, Green was miserably suspended indefinitely, and Kerr gritted his teeth and pushed Wiggins directly to the bench, starting with Kuminga and Podemski as the Splash Brothers + Grandpa Lu. Tang Shen lived up to Kerr's last trust, slashing 30 points + 5 assists + 8 three-pointers. However, Curry was lost again in the Clippers' bucket formation, and after scoring only 24 points on 24-shooting shooting in the previous game, Curry handed over a score of only 17 points on 17-shooting shooting in this game. It's rare for Curry to continue to feel sluggish, and more importantly, the Warriors don't have as much energy on the defensive end as the Clippers. Throughout the game, the Clippers entertained the Warriors from afar with 9 hot pots, and the scene was slightly brutal. After this game, the Warriors have suffered a three-game losing streak, which is the eighth straight defeat suffered by the Warriors on the road against the Clippers and the 11th consecutive defeat on a visit to Los Angeles, where they last won in 2019.
On the Clippers' side, George was absent for the first time in the season due to left hip soreness, and Coach Lu mentioned Coffey to the starting lineup, but the dangerous move worked wonderfully, Coffey made a surprise and contributed 18 points + 4 three-pointers; Xiaoka continued his recent hot offensive and defensive performance, efficiently cutting 27 points + 8 rebounds + 2 assists + 1 steal + 1 block, as cold-blooded and stable as a robot; and Powell, like a scoring machine, when the Clippers started to be passive, Tyronn Lue replaced Powell early, he continued to impact the Warriors' weak interior line, and tried repeatedly. Of course, the Clippers were able to upset the Warriors in George's absence, and Harden made a great contribution.
After the whole game, Harden played 42 minutes, shot 6 of 12 (5 of 6 three-pointers), 11 of 12 free throws, scored 28 points + 7 rebounds + 15 assists + 4 blocks, and the plus/minus value on the court was as high as +12, and the three data of points, assists, and blocks all hit a new single-game high in his personal Clippers career. In the face of archrivals Curry and Paul, Harden saw the moves, exerting the magic of scoring king, assist king and touching porcelain king, whether it was a hard solution outside the three-point line or a kill to go to the free throw line to score points, Harden really did what he wanted when he defended them. At the same time, Harden broke a number of NBA records.
According to statistics from the NBA's official website, after this campaign, Harden's career regular season total score reached 25,008 points, officially breaking through the 25,000-point mark, he is the 24th player in NBA history to complete this achievement, and the third player in active service to complete this achievement, the other two are Lao Zhan and Durant. At the same time, after this game, Harden's career three-point shooting in the regular season reached 2,800, ranking third in NBA history, behind Ray Allen (2,973) and Curry (3,499). In addition, this is the 20th time that Harden has contributed at least 25 points + 15 assists + rebounds in a single game, which is tied with Westbrook for the third place in NBA history, behind the Big O (76) and Magic (36).
In another statistic, Harden is the second player in NBA history to contribute at least 20 points + 15 assists + 4 blocks in a single game, comparable to James (2010 Cavaliers vs Nuggets, James scored 43 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists and 4 blocks). In addition, this is the 318th time in Harden's career that he has scored at least 25 points + 5 rebounds + 5 assists in a single game, ranking fourth in NBA history, behind Jordan (319), Big O (502) and James (668). What's even more powerful is that this is the 10th time in Harden's career that he has scored at least 25 points + 15 assists + 5 three-pointers in a single game, the most in NBA history! In the words of NBA celebrity Sue and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, this is what Harden can do, but he is usually reluctant to do it.
After the game, Harden said frankly in an interview: It doesn't matter if I score 10 points or 20 points, winning is the key, everything I do is to win, to make the team's chemistry better. Harden doesn't just talk the talk, he does, and he does! The Clippers have a 10-3 record in their last 13 games, and in the process, the Clippers rank 13th in the league in offensive efficiency (117.2), 5th in defensive efficiency (109.7), and 4th in net efficiency (+7.5). After winning six in a row, the Clippers have a 14-10 overall record, which is in seventh place in the West, just 0.5 games behind the Lakers (15-10) in sixth place. I have to say, the Lakers should be careful, the Clippers are getting better after getting Harden, and they also want to be NBA champions and the kings of Los Angeles!