Booker scored 35 points in the air and scored 22 points on 13 shooting, and Harden was too efficient after his transformation
On January 4th, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and today the Suns sat at home to usher in the challenge of the Clippers, before this game, the Clippers won 3 consecutive wins, and the Suns ushered in 4 consecutive wins, both sides want to continue to win, but the Suns lack Durant in this campaign, and the opponent is the full core, so the Suns are not favored to win, then we will briefly talk about the game process, and then talk about the players' play.
Contest Recap:
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, Mann hit a three-point shot to take the lead for the Clippers, Booker responded from mid-range, Mann killed inside, Beal responded with three points, and then the game entered the rhythm of the Clippers, George hit a three-pointer, Mann made a basket, Wei Shao made two free throws, the Clippers instantly extended their lead to double digits, and they once led their opponents by 17 points, after which the Suns failed to play a decent counterattack, and the Suns fell behind by 15 points in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Beal relied on free throws to help the Suns narrow the difference, Metu and Bol Bol scored successively to help the Suns chase down to only 8 points, seeing that the opponent was about to get up, Xiaoka and Coffey combined to cut 5 points, Harden and George combined to cut 4 points, Xiaoka broke through and scored, the team instantly extended the lead to more than 20 points, and then Booker relied on free throws to narrow the difference, and Theis ate cake inside to help the Clippers lead the opponent by 19 points at halftime.
Yibian fought Beal again in the middle distance, Booker finally turned on his personal mode, he scored 6 points on consecutive long-range shots, but the opponent responded with Harden scoring 5 points with free throws, and Booker was unable to narrow the gap although he was full of firepower. Not only did Booker find his touch in this quarter, but their role players also played well, scoring 40 points in a single quarter, but they couldn't stop the Clippers, and the team trailed by 16 points after the third quarter.
The Clippers were obviously slack in the final quarter, Okogie, Gordon and other benches seized the opportunity to close the gap, Booker scored six points in a row to help the team narrow the deficit to eight points, but then Leonard stepped up and provided a stable output to help the team defeat the Suns 131-122.
Booker Biel tried his best, and the Suns were weak forward
After chatting about the game process, let's talk about the players' play, both teams are teams with top three cores, in the absence of a core, the Suns can't beat the opponent can understand, and this game against the Clippers level of opponents played the problem of the Suns lineup, their forward thickness is too limited, many times it is Gordon to defend Xiaoka and George, so the two used their height advantage to play an efficient performance.
After the introduction of Beal, the Suns did not have enough money to introduce excellent forwards, but they didn't even try to introduce a qualified forward, and now the team is playing a deformed lineup of three small and two big most of the time, either Booker and Beal partner Gordon, or they partner Grayson Allen, the deformed lineup also makes it difficult for the Suns' defense to develop, even if Durant plays, I am not optimistic that they can beat the Clippers, their forward thickness is too poor.
Booker did his best in this game, he shot 11 of 15 from the field, 5 of 8 from three-point range and got 35 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists, facing the opponent's defense, he made 5 turnovers in the game, Beal shot 7 of 20 from the field, got 21 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, he was marked by Xiaoka and George in turn, and the poor offensive efficiency is understandable. Gordon had 16 points and five rebounds, Bol Bol had 14 points and five rebounds, and none of the other players scored in double figures.
Harden was too efficient after changing his style of play
George also shot high in the face of the opponent's short lineup, 8 of 14 shots, 5 of 10 three-pointers, and got 33 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Because of the team's starting three cores in addition to him, Harden and Xiaoka are too stable, Xiaoka shot 9 of 16 in this game, 4 of 5 three-pointers got 30 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, and the title of robot is by no means in vain.
Harden shot 7 of 13 in this game, 4 of 7 three-pointers got 22 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 block, after joining the Clippers, Harden's ball possession was obviously reduced, but in the limited shooting opportunities, he played a very efficient performance, it is estimated that many fans have now discovered that so far this season, Harden has averaged 17.6 points per game but only used an average of 11 shots per game, and his true shooting rate this season is as high as 65.6%, 22nd in the league.
The reason why Harden has been so efficient this season is because he has given up on the magic ball play, Harden has made more mid-range shooting this season in order to improve his scoring efficiency, and his mid-range has been very good, but he was unable to show his mid-range during the Rockets because D'Antoni asked for the magic ball. Now his three-point shot is also more stable, unless he is absolutely sure, otherwise he will not easily shoot three-pointers, and it is also very wise to choose to transform after the peak of his career is gone.
Speaking of which, what do you want to say about the current Clippers and Suns?