On January 2, Beijing time, the Clippers defeated the Heat 121-104 to win three in a row. In this game, Kawhi Leonard returned after 4 games of injury, the Heat once led by 14 points in the first quarter, the Clippers played a climax in the second quarter, and the Clippers opened up the difference with a wave of 36-27 in the third quarter, and the Clippers quickly opened the difference to more than 20 points in the final quarter into garbage time.
After playing against the Mavericks on December 21, he went into an injury (hip soreness) and returned after 12 days, and the Clippers were 2-2 in the two games he missed, with a winning rate of just 50%.
The long-lost Xiaoka was 0-of-2 in the first 7 minutes, 0-of-1 from three-point range, and had a poor performance of 0 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, and the Clippers also fell behind by a large score. But in the second quarter, the small card adjusted its state and broke out immediately, 5 of 6 in a single quarter, 1 of 1 three-pointer, scored 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, and the Clippers also completed the overtake after halftime.
In the third quarter, Xiao Ka scored 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals in 2 of 7, and his offensive and defensive performance continued to help the Clippers widen the difference. At the beginning of the last quarter, the small card broke out directly, slipped to the bottom line with a one-arm split, and after receiving the ball in the middle, he dunked with both hands, and in just 3 minutes, he scored 7 points in a row to help the Clippers pull away to 16 points.
Leonard also completed his personal milestone of 13,000 points, and the 32-year-old Leonard's 13,000 points is indeed too little, and his infamy as a rotation card is often mentioned because of his career total. After the Heat went on a 4-0 run, Harden responded with a 5-0 run, Zubac hit another basket and the Clippers pulled away to 20 points into the final four minutes, and then the Heat gave up the game and went into garbage time.
Leonard was 3 of 4 in the final quarter, 1 of 1 from three-point range, scored 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals, played 34 minutes, 10 of 19, 2 of 5 three-pointers, scored 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 1 block, shooting 52.6% from the field and 40% from three-point range.
The Clippers are 18-10 in Leonard's 28 games, with a 64.2% win rate, and the Clippers have also secured the fourth place in the West. Leonard was clearly released after Harden's arrival, and he was too efficient after focusing on offense and defense.
Text/Yan Xiaobai's basketball dream