Boom 41+7+4! The Clippers have a bad ending, line up to apologize to George, and Harden is still in the dark
In an NBA game that ended today, the Clippers defeated the Hornets 130-118, the suspense of this battle was not big, the Clippers led by 6 points in the first quarter, and continued to press the Hornets in the second quarter, and the Clippers' shooting rate declined in the third quarter, but they still maintained a double-digit lead. In terms of statistics, George scored 41 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, Zubac 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 turnovers, Leonard contributed 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers, Harden 6 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists, Powell 16 points, Westbrook 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers, and Mann 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
After this battle, the Clippers won 3 consecutive victories, consolidating the 4th position in the West, 4.0 wins behind the 3rd Timberwolves, the Clippers basically lost the opportunity to catch up, but it should be noted that the Mavericks also won the Rockets today, ranking 5th in the West, judging from the current situation in the West, the Clippers are likely to meet the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, which is a bad ending, not that the Clippers can't beat the Mavericks, the Mavericks have Doncic and Irving, two immortal-level super scorers, once they go crazy, the Clippers are afraid that they can't stop it, not to mention that the Mavericks' interior line is not weak, and the integration of Washington and Gafford is very successful, in summary, the Clippers will be in a tough battle against the Mavericks, and even if they can win, it is estimated that it will be a tie-break.
Looking back on the 21 playoffs, the Clippers had played against the Mavericks, when the peppers were healthy, but they were still forced to tie seven by the Mavericks, and the Clippers once fell behind 0-2, and then turned the tables and did their best, that round of the series, Doncic's 7 battlefield average data was 35.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 10.3 assists, now the Mavericks have more Irving, the lineup is more perfect, the Clippers are really more auspicious, after today's game, even the commentator Yang Yi thinks that the Clippers actually want to play the Pelicans, although the regular season was killed three times, but Ingram was injured, whether the playoffs can return is unknown, even if the return state is difficult to guaranteeCompared to the Mavericks, the Pelicans can pose less threat to the Clippers, provided that the Clippers can hold on to No. 4 in the West.
Looking at today's game, George is undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the Clippers' victory, following the last slump after the rapid rebound, George played decently in the first quarter, and scored 17 points in the second quarter, scoring 5 points in a row at the beginning of the game, and then hitting three points again, and then there were all kinds of unsolvable jump shots in the next time, George was completely crazy, and the Hornets did not dare to wrap him, because the Clippers still had Leonard. Then in the final quarter, George took over the game again, stealing and assisting Wei Shao, making a pull-up jump shot, and scoring 4 points with free throws. This is what Clippers fans want to see most of George, not unpredictable, after the game, 41 points is George's new record this season, and it is certain that George's play will be very critical in the playoffs.
The reason is very simple, Harden has basically lost his offensive ability now, plus the beard's own offensive desire is not strong enough, he only shot 3 shots in this game, the regular season is like this, and Harden in the playoffs is even more worrying, since the beard can't score, in this case, Pepper must stand up and cut high scores, Leonard's state We don't need to worry, small cards rarely have a downturn, and if George also feels cold, then it is difficult for the Clippers to win, especially when competing with offensive teams like the Mavericks, George does not play, and the Leonard Clippers cannot win alone, unless Harden opens up to cut at least 30 points, but it is obviously unlikelyInstead of expecting Harden to explode, it is better to expect George to output steadily.
In an interview after the game, Leonard said of the team's current standings: "It's not time to worry about the playoffs, we're just trying to win every game and there's no excuses, we just need to focus and keep winning," which is understandable, and Leonard believes that the task now is to win every game, not to think about how the playoffs will go. Leonard continued: "At this stage you have some mental blockages but we've been doing well, thank you for everyone playing and staying focused I'm happy we won the game, but what we did before the playoffs didn't make much sense, we have to keep getting better and of course we want to achieve the ultimate goal (to win the title), but it's going to be game by game." ”
It can be seen that Leonard is not worried about the playoffs, in fact, frankly speaking, the biggest problem of the Clippers at present is Harden, or as mentioned earlier, Harden's offensive ability has declined too obviously, the key is that he still lacks the desire to score. Moreover, Harden also has problems with his current style of play, the speed is too slow, and he often has to consume nearly 8 seconds on the dribble over half the court, which seriously slows down the offensive rhythm of the Clippers, and the same is true on the defensive end, Harden can't keep up, just imagine if he meets the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, Harden may be beaten by Doncic, to sum up, Harden is still in the dark, he must change his style of play, appropriately increase the speed, and increase the offensive threat, otherwise the Clippers will not go far in the playoffs.