On December 30, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Los Angeles Clippers played at home against the Memphis Grizzlies. In this game, Leonard continued to be sidelined.
In the four games since Morant's return, the Grizzlies have won all of them. In 3 of the 4 games, Morant has scored 30+ points and is in hot form.
The Clippers are on track after a big trade and have moved up to fourth place in the West. In the last game against the Hornets, Deng Ge made a little effort and scored 29 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. In the absence of Xiaoka, Deng Ge strengthened his individual attack and showed excellent competitive form.
In the first four minutes of the first quarter, Harden played a fairly low-key game. When the Grizzlies relaxed their defense against Dengo a little, using the pick-and-roll, Harden made a timely pass to assist Zubac to open.
In the next round, Deng Ge did not choose to pass to his teammates, and after holding the ball to the front court, he directly shot a three-point shot. This season, Harden has shot over 45 percent from three-point range with the ball, the most in the league.
In the face of Bane's defense, Harden shook Bane's center of gravity with continuous feints, broke through the pick, and played 2+0. Defensively, Dengo defended Morant's frontcourt throw-ins and blood-capped Jackson.
The Grizzlies' defense is nothing but a void for Harden. With just one acceleration, Harden can pull off a training-like layup. After hitting another three-pointer from the outside, Harden has scored 10 points in the Clippers' first 21 points.
In the second quarter of the game, Harden surprised again, the Grizzlies strengthened the defense of his individual offense, and Harden handed out 5 assists in the first quarter, among which the assistant Fei Wei Shao dunk attracted a full house. In the second half of the quarter and the first half of the third quarter, teammates blossomed more, and Harden continued to focus on assists.
In two consecutive rounds for George, who did not feel good, sent a wonderful pass, and when George hit a three-point shot + scored a violent dunk, Deng Ge also showed a fierce expression of gnashing his teeth.
Harden played the entire third quarter, and at the end of the third quarter, he had played 34 minutes and 48 seconds, perhaps because he played too long, Deng Ge hit all 6 shots in the second and third quarters after 4 of 5 in the first quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the Clippers led by 20 points.
With eight minutes left in the final quarter, when the Grizzlies narrowed the deficit to 10 points, Tyronn Lue had no choice but to send Harden in a hurry.
Harden helped the Clippers stabilize the situation quickly. In the end, the Clippers defeated the Grizzlies 117-106. In terms of statistics, Harden played 44 minutes, and with the first 5 shots of 4, he shot 4 of 13 from the field, including 2 of 9 three-pointers and 6 of 8 free throws, and scored 16 points, 4 rebounds, 13 assists and 3 blocks. In the last 13 games, the Clippers have won 11 games.