The twin stars of Leonard and George can guarantee the Clippers' lower limit, while the relatively thick bench increases the margin for error, but when it comes to the Clippers' biggest X-factor, it is Harden. Against the Trail Blazers away, Harden's double-double of 19 points and 14 assists helped the Clippers get out of the slump.
In the twilight of his career, he completely transformed and became the offensive commander of the Clippers
Although Harden won the assist king as early as the Rockets, his biggest weapon is his personal offense, and he has won the scoring title three times in a row. But as he grew older and suffered injuries, Harden completely transformed in the twilight of his career, and could only be regarded as a top three leader in the Clippers, but he took on the responsibility of playmaking and eventually contributed two doubles easily. Now Harden is habitually paddling, often only hitting half a good game, and seems to want to save for the playoffs.
Even though Harden has only been with the Clippers for a year, he has 10 assists and hit five three-pointers in four games, ranking second in team history behind his former partner Paul. At the same time, when Harden scored a double-double assist this season, the Clippers won a 19-3 record, which is undoubtedly the key to victory. For the Clippers to get on the right track, Harden doesn't need to score too many points, but if they can connect the whole team and make it easier for Leonard and George, the Clippers will show their strength.
Out of the haze of consecutive defeats, the whole team of pistachios
After entering March, the Clippers were in a slump, with a winning percentage of just over 5 percent, especially losing to the Pelicans and Hawks at home. Both teams are somewhat restrained by the Clippers in terms of configuration, and Harden is also in a very bad state, with only 9 points and 9 assists on 3-of-10 against the Hawks, and the Pelicans are 3-1 against the Clippers this season, and the loss is that Williamson and Ingram are obviously out of order. Both teams have a lot of strong forwards, and when they encounter the Clippers, who lack mobility, it can be described as killing the master with random punches.
But in this game, the Clippers were completely in control of the tempo, and Harden also played more simple and efficient, focusing on organizing offense and receiving shots on the offensive end, with 9 of 11 shots from outside the three-point line. Harden also started to work in the second half, he broke through the ball to Leonard, then jumped up to fake the block, Leonard eventually shot iron, and the Clippers bench burst into laughter, this little episode did not affect the process and the result. It's fair to say that Harden is the pistachio of the whole team, he is very comfortable here, and the atmosphere in the Clippers locker room is quite good.
The X-factor on the road to the championship, Harden may decide the fate of the Clippers
In addition to injuries and luck in the past few years, the biggest problem for the Clippers is that they don't have a reliable point guard, so Leonard and George were forced to make cameo appearances in the organization, which invisibly increased the injury risk. That's why the Clippers have been pursuing Harden, even if his reputation has hit rock bottom, they still insist on trading him back. As the so-called skinny camel is bigger than a horse, Harden's ability is indeed not as good as his peak, but it is more than enough as a three-in-command, and with him in charge of organization, Leonard and George only need to score comfortably on the offensive end.
Every playoff team needs some X-factor, and they may not be the best on the team, but a 1-2 break in a series is enough to change the outcome. Harden played this role in the Clippers, the last time he was a full-time three-man was in the 11-12 season, and that year Harden's Thunder came out of the West to enter the Finals, so how far can the Clippers go this season?