The NBA regular season continued with the Clippers ending their two-game losing streak with a 116-103 win over the Trail Blazers. In this game, the Clippers were actually not in good shape, and they only relied on George to score 2 points in the first 4 minutes, and they were in a passive state. However, the Clippers quickly found their rhythm, recovering the margin in the first quarter and building a double-digit lead in the second quarter. As the second half continued, the Clippers extended their advantage to more than 20 points, and the Trail Blazers completely lost the motivation to struggle at home and surrendered. With the win, the Clippers moved to 43-25 and remain in fourth place in the West. So where exactly did the Clippers win? Maybe the data can give us some answers.
Leonard, the Clippers' god of war and mainstay. Today, Xiaoka shot 9 of 16, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 5 of 6 free throws, and he scored 24 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 2 turnovers in the third quarter. Especially when the Clippers fell into a slump in the first quarter, it was Xiaoka who stepped up and scored consecutive points to help the team break the deadlock. In the third quarter, the Clippers started to gain momentum, and it was also the attack wave of the small card leader, and he scored 17 points in a single quarter, which was almost as good as the score of the entire Trail Blazers team (20 points in the third quarter).
George, who continued his good form today, maintained his form from the beginning to the end, George shot 10-of-18, 4-of-7 three-pointers, and 3-of-3 free throws, and he scored 27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, with an astonishing plus/minus of +23. George scored 12 points and 3 rebounds in 5 minutes in the final quarter, and it was his good condition and good performance in leading the team that gave Xiaoka the opportunity to punch in in the third quarter.
Harden, Harden didn't have to say anything today, he finally found his offensive rhythm and aggressiveness, and the continuous step-back three-point step in the second quarter made people see the figure of the Rockets in the past, today Harden shot 6 of 11, 5 of 9 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, he easily contributed 19 points, 3 rebounds, 14 assists, 1 block and 3 turnovers, plus/minus +22 on the court, Harden made 4 of 4 three-pointers in the second quarter, and the performance of 12 points in a single quarter was really trance-like, and the Clippers needed Harden to take on the responsibility of organizing while ensuring a certain amount of personal aggression.
Zubac is arguably the most exciting point of the day for the Clippers. Leonard has been very stable and is the tactical core of the Clippers, George has no need to worry about the state during this time, Harden has a one-handed organization no matter how poor he is, Zubac is the one who decides the Clippers' ceiling, he has finally found the previous "Zoneil" form today after returning from injury and returning from a slump for a period of time. Zubac shot 7-of-9 today, and he scored 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks and 1 turnover in 24 minutes of playing time, including 4 frontcourt rebounds. If the Clippers want to go far in the playoffs, Zubac needs to keep that form going, and the players he'll be up against will be tougher than the other.
The remaining role players, Coffey shot 5-of-10 from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range, and after he started in place of Mann, he contributed 11 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 turnover for the Clippers, and his offensive and defensive performances reached the passing line. Hyland shot 0-of-4 from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range, didn't score, and only got 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 turnover. And he gave people the feeling that he had lost his previous calmness and started to go up again, Tyronn Lue also controlled his time within 5 minutes, and it is estimated that when Wei Shao returns, Hyland's playing time will be gone.
Elsewhere, Theis shot 3-of-4 from the field, 2-of-2 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, and he had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 turnover. Boston shot 4-of-7 from the field, 0-of-1 from three-point range and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, and he contributed nine points and two rebounds for the Clippers. Tucker played more than 20 minutes, but he didn't shoot, but he grabbed seven rebounds, handed out one assist and two steals, and played his style.