On December 21, Beijing time, the NBA Clippers defeated the Mavericks 120-111 away, winning nine consecutive victories, and they also went all the way to the fourth place in the West. After the game, star Harden was interviewed about two key factors for the team's nine-game winning streak today: "
We really need to thank Leonard, he's been very consistent on the offensive end lately, so to speak, and we're all scared of him. Haha, without his key output in the fourth quarter tonight, maybe the victory may not be ours, Leonard is worthy of the reputation of the Hand of God!"
"Of course we didn't have Paul George today, but in the end we got through because of the cohesion of our team, you can see how good our rotation players are, Kofi, Zubac, Westbrook, Theis and others were able to step up in time and give everything for the team to win, we are getting stronger and stronger as a team, and each of us trusts our teammates very much!"
Harden played 39 minutes today, shooting a bit sluggish on 4-of-12 shooting, 2-of-8 three-pointers, and 7-of-8 free throws, and could get 17 points + 5 rebounds + 11 assists + 2 blocks.
Leonard played 37 minutes and 29 seconds, shooting 12-of-22 from the field, 1-of-6 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line to finish with 30 points/+10 rebounds + 5 assists + 1 steal + 1 block.