The Clippers lost miserably to fifth place in the West! The Pepper combination scored 52 points, Wei Shao tried his best, and Harden dragged his feet
On March 26, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in a key matchup, with the Clippers hosting the Pacers. The Clippers previously had a 44-26 record and were fourth in the West, while the Pacers were 40-32 and sixth in the East. In yesterday's game, the Clippers lost to the remnants of the 76ers in the ugliest way: in the first half of the fourth quarter, when Harden was still on the floor, George held the ball, combined with Plumlee's various low-level mistakes, and the Clippers were directly disarmed and surrendered after being pulled apart! The situation of the Clippers is also very dangerous, the Pelicans behind them are only 0.5 wins, as long as the Clippers lose this game again, the Clippers will fall to fifth in the West! Today's Clippers are lifeless, George is not too afraid to fight for his next big contract, Harden and Leonard are afraid of injury, the whole team needs someone to mobilize passion, Wei Shao is back! Wei Shao has a 6-6 record in the 12 games he has missed.
Before the game, Tyronn Lue stressed that there is no time limit for this game, and the team needs his energy and drive. And the Pacers are also back-to-back, yesterday's game with the Lakers, the Pacers cut 145 points, but lost because the Lakers scored 150 points. After the game, the focus of many people's discussion was the comparison between the Lakers' 43 free throws and the Pacers' 16 free throws, which actually exposed the Pacers' two major weaknesses: the defense is really not good, and the team's absolute core Haliburton, since returning from a hamstring injury, is not in good shape, and the three-point shooting rate is less than 25%. To put it simply, if the Clippers want to play against their opponents, they must not be able to fight for speed. Pacers starters: Haliburton + Nembhard + Shepard + Sika + Turner, Clippers starters: Harden + Mann + Leonard + George + Zubac.
What I didn't expect was that the Clippers' defense was so bad. At the beginning of the game, George made consecutive silky jump shots, Turner and Sika took turns bullying Zubac, Mann helped the Clippers score, and Haliburton opened the three-point touch early! Sika carried Harden to a tough layup, and Turner's three-point shot directly stopped the Clippers. In the second half, Harden relied on a step-back jumper to finally score, not because he didn't feel good, but because he didn't shoot! After Wei Shao came on the court, he activated Powell to rain three-pointers, stopping the Pacers in waves! At the critical moment, it was Haliburton's ultra-long three-point shot, Leonard dodged a layup + stepped back three-pointer to stabilize the situation, Powell's leg was pressed at the end of the quarter, and after the first quarter, the Clippers led the opponent 34-29. The Clippers' starting defense is so poor that it's not a good thing for the Pacers to open up early.
Back in the second quarter, Sika trained George, Wei Shao broke through the Golden Rooster and hit the board independently, and then Wei Shao continued to make kills, but Sika and Jarles Walker blossomed inside and out, erasing the point difference all the way! Wei Shao helped the Clippers through the most difficult time, Zubac's cake + George's three-point shot stopped the Pacers. In the middle of the section, the Pacers relied on the three-point rain of Nembhard and Haliburton to directly overtake the Clippers, Coffey and Leonard's sporadic singles were not enough, Haliburton hit another three-pointer! At the end of the quarter, Mann and Zubac responded with 5 points, Haliburton continued to empty three points, at the end of the half, the Pacers led the Clippers 65-62, Haliburton scored 15 points and 5 assists on 5-of-66 three-pointers in the first half, Sika scored 14 points, Turner scored 11 points, and the Clippers did not defend any of them. And Harden was obviously out of shape, with the Pepper combination scoring 15 points each, and Willis scoring 6 points and 4 assists.
At the beginning of the second half, Turner hit three points in a row + a tough rebound, and then Sika smashed the dunk in the air! The Clippers relied on Leonard's singles to barely maintain, after Harden hit both free throws, the Pacers continued to rain three-pointers, and they had no choice but to replace Wei Shao and Powell in advance, and directly used a small lineup! Harden made a mistake when he grabbed the rebound, but fortunately, Wei Shao and Powell scored continuously to stabilize the situation. In the second half, Topping continued to hit three points, Wei Shao from his own penalty area to the opponent's restricted area, played the hardest, and Leonard struggled to bite the score, Sika suddenly broke out at the end of the quarter, Tucker couldn't stop it at all, and after the third quarter, the Pacers led the Clippers 97-89. To put it mildly, Harden's presence didn't do anything, and he didn't seem to have the desire to play.
In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Sika continued to train Harden + smashed dunks vigorously, and the Pacers opened a 14-point gap in a wave. After the pause, Harden made a three-point foul, but Sika and McConnell blossomed inside and out, plus Shepard's three-point shot, the Pacers led the Clippers by 20 points!
Clippers statistics, Harden 11 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists, George 26 points and 3 rebounds, Leonard 26 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Westbrook 14 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, Powell 22 points and 3 rebounds. Pacers stats, Haliburton 21 points and 9 assists, Turner 24 points and 7 rebounds, Sika 31 points and 4 rebounds, McConnell 15 points and 6 assists. Regarding the Clippers, it doesn't matter what their final ranking is, as long as Harden is this kind of sluggish performance, the Clippers ceiling the first round in the West, Wei Shao did his best, and the Pepper combination played steadily, there was a lack of Harden.