32-8!No. 1 in the league!Harden is really fragrant, Tucker is a hot potato, and the Clippers don't think it's stable

This season's NBA is the most competitive in history, with the Timberwolves in the West at 36-16, the Clippers at 35-15 in second, and the Thunder and Nuggets in third and fourth place with 36-17. 32-8, the Clippers have ushered in a qualitative change since Harden joined, Tucker's 11.5 million contract has given the Clippers a headache, and the Clippers' lack of defensive rebounds has also cast a shadow on the team's championship.

32-8, the Clippers ranked first in the league in three-point shooting percentage, and Harden is really fragrant

Last year, Harden played 40 games for the Clippers after joining, the Clippers had a 32-8 record, and the Clippers won 80% of the last 35 games with a 28-7 record, and when Harden, Mann, George, Leonard, and Zubac started at the same time, the Clippers had a 25-5 record, which was also the Clippers' starting lineup.

The Clippers have been injury-free this season, with Powell and Westbrook staying full-time, Leonard at 92.2 percent and George at 94.1 percent. In the last 30 games in which Leonard has played, he has averaged 26.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game, shooting 58% from the field, 47% from three-point range and 91% from the free throw line, during which time the Clippers are 25-5.

Since Nov. 7, the Clippers have shot over 50 percent from two-point range and over 40 percent from three-point range, and they are also the league's highest shooting percentage at this stage.

The Clippers introduced Harden on October 31 last year, and the Clippers also experienced a period of running-in, the Clippers started with a 3-7 loss, including a wave of 6 consecutive losses, and then the Clippers turned on the winning mode, the Clippers have a record of 32 wins and 8 losses since November 7, and Harden played 1392 minutes in these 40 games, the most on the team, and Harden's plus/minus was +411 points when Harden was on the floor, and the Clippers lost to the opponent by 121 points when Harden was not on the court.

Harden did not miss a single game for the Clippers, who had a 16-2 record when Harden assisted a double-double, and after a run-in in mid-to-late November, the Clippers sprinted at full speed, and since December 1 last year, the Clippers have an offensive efficiency of 126.7 (first in the league) and a defensive efficiency of 108.9 (fourth in the league).

From a certain point of view, the current 35-15 record of the Clippers is not a reflection of the team's true strength, and the performance of the Clippers after December 1 is the most terrifying.

Harden has hit a career high of 44.2% from three-point shooting since joining the Clippers, Leonard, George, Harden, Coffey, Theis, Powell and others have also shot more than 40% from three-point range, and the Clippers have a three-point shooting rate of 38.7%, ranking first in the league. I have to say that this is what Harden means to the Clippers, it's too fragrant.

Tucker into a hot potato

Tucker came to the Clippers from the 76ers in the Harden trade, he was used as an important rotation when he first came to the Clippers, he played the first 12 games of the Clippers in mid-November, the Clippers had a 4-8 record including a six-game losing streak, Tucker did not score for a total of 79 minutes in the last six games, Tyronn Lue was completely disappointed with Tucker and began to put him on the cold bench, and now Coffey has come out to make Tyronn Lue have no worries.

Tucker's three-year, $33 million contract expires in 2025, and he has a player option this summer, with Tucker's salary this year being $11 million.

Tucker's career salary is 78.42 million, and it is impossible for him to give up his salary of 11.5 million in 24-25, and Tucker has made it clear that he will exercise his player option for next season even if he sits on the bench.

Tucker had always wanted the Clippers to trade him, but his current performance is struggling to find a buyer, and the Clippers are reluctant to take a draft pick in a trade for Tucker, so Tucker has to stay with the Clippers.

Harden has played alongside Tucker for six seasons, and he believes Tucker will be in the team's rotation, and Clippers management hopes that Tucker can defend a big man like Jokic in the playoffs, but that is hard to come by. Today's Tucker is like a hot potato, and it is a pity to discard it if it is tasteless.

Defensive rebounding is a weakness, and the Clippers don't think it's stable

The Clippers are 19th in the league in 43 rebounds per game and 14th in the league with 32.9 defensive rebounds.

Since Leonard and Jr. joined forces in the summer of 2019, the rebounding gap has always been a weakness of the Clippers, and the Clippers' upset loss to the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals in the 19-20 season has something to do with the team's rebounding gap.

The Clippers don't have a defensive center who can grab rebounds, Zubac and Theis are not that type, and Leonard and George can't do the dirty job of grabbing rebounds.

The Clippers players are too small, and they are at a disadvantage when grabbing rebounds, and the disadvantages of the Clippers in rebounding directly affect their shots and shooting percentage.

Even if Washington, Olynyk, Gafford and other teams are traded by their respective teams, they are still not the interior players that the Clippers want, taking Olynyk as an example, he can't protect the basket, so he naturally can't get into the eyes of the Clippers. The Clippers have locked in the basic lineup, and they can only rely on tacit understanding to improve the team's defensive ability, and if the Clippers can solve the rebounding problem, the future will be brighter. What do you think about this? Leave me a comment to discuss.