Harden 14+1+8 The Clippers lost the first consecutive win in the West
On the morning of January 15, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Los Angeles Clippers challenged the Minnesota Timberwolves, the No. 1 team in the West.
In the last minute before the start of the game, Tyronn Lue adjusted the starting lineup of the Clippers, Zubac missed the game due to calf tension, and Theis became the starting center.
Facing the Timberwolves, the Clippers were obviously out of shape, except for Leonard, Westbrook and Powell, the first half was quite sluggish. In the first quarter of the game, Deng Ge did not score on 0-of-2 shooting. In the second quarter, Deng finally scored two points under the basket, in addition to hitting two free throws.
After halftime, Harden only had four points, one rebound and three assists on 1-of-6 shooting, and the Clippers were only 45-46 behind.
After two and a half minutes in the third quarter, the Timberwolves went on a 9-2 run, and the only scoring for the Clippers came from the connection between Harden and George, and Tyronn Lue was forced to call a halt.
After the pause, Deng's hand felt restored, and now he made a decisive shot at a 45-degree angle on the right side, and hit a three-point shot steadily. In the next round, Deng Ge took advantage of the change of rhythm and scored a layup along the left side to score five points in a row.
In the second half of the third quarter, Harden went off the bench. Wei Shao led the team full of energy, but made mistakes one after another, and Edwards turned on the scoring mode, scoring 20 points in a single quarter. With Edwards hitting a three-pointer, the third quarter ended with the Timberwolves temporarily leading 81-68.
In the final quarter of the game, the Clippers have been struggling to score points. In the middle of the quarter, Tyronn Lue played a five-man lineup and constantly adopted the tactics of breaking through the ball.
Harden broke through to the basket to attract the bag, quickly found Paul George in ambush in the bottom corner, and Pickle Pepper made a three-point hollow into the net, and the Clippers narrowed the gap to nine points, and Coach Finch immediately called a timeout.
After the timeout, the Timberwolves responded immediately, and Lee Kyle scored a three-pointer from the baseline, and the Timberwolves extended their lead to 16 points, and it was Tyronn Lue's turn to call a timeout.
The Clippers offered a tactic to cut Gobert, and Harden broke through to create a foul on Towns and hit both free throws. With one and a half minutes left in the final quarter, Deng Ge and Powell hit another three-pointer, and the Clippers narrowed the gap to three points and saw hope of a comeback.
Unfortunately, time was too late, and the Clippers' foul tactics couldn't stop the Timberwolves from continuing to score, especially Gobert made 4 of 4 free throws. In the end, the Clippers lost to the Timberwolves 105-109, and the three-game winning streak came to an end.
Harden's stats stuck at 4-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-8 three-pointers and 4-of-5 free throws, with 14 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 3 turnovers.