The two games in the early hours of the morning were big comebacks, the Cavaliers led the Clippers by as many as 26 points, and maintained a 20+ lead in the third quarter, but collapsed in the final quarter, and the Rockets led the Mavericks by as many as 22 points in the first half, were dragged into overtime and then lost.
In the Clippers, many people only saw Tyronn Lue pressing Harden to the bench for a quarter and a half, which led to the performance of Black Harden. In fact, Harden's offensive state in the first half was online, and the performance of 6 of 11 and 4 of 8 three-pointers in the whole game was 22+5+5.
But one of the problems with Harden on the court is that his defensive combination with Zubac is really difficult to limit the Cavaliers' offense, and there is no way to face Garland's pick-and-roll. So when the big score was down, Coach Lu decided to take down Harden for a last-ditch effort.
From the second half of the third quarter, Lue managed to match the lineup around George, Powell, and Willis, with Plumlee being more mobile than Zubac and Coffey and Mann bringing energy on the defensive end.
With three minutes left in the final quarter, Lue replaced Plumlee with Mann, and the Clippers went on a 12-6 run to win the game. Coach Lu's strategizing and bold use of people brought about a turnaround in the game, and of course, without George's supernatural play, everything would have been in vain.
George played 44 minutes in the game, including the second half, with 39 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, and scored 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the final quarter. After 118 draws, his solo hit by Mobley was an art.
First do a crotch change to prepare for a breakthrough, and then pull back to find a chance after Allen comes to help defend. Continuous observation of the dribble behind the crotch, pretending to be strong and then suddenly stopping and retreating to shoot, Mobley's center of gravity was completely shaken and fell to the ground, which made the following classic painting, this time George is finally no longer the background board.
Later in the defensive round, George also blocked Garland's game-winning layup. What is a superstar, what is an offensive and defensive combination to win the game, this is the best interpretation of a superstar.
In another game, the Mavericks reversed the Rockets by 22 points, and the Rockets can be said to have lost very badly. The Rockets are playing well, and Dillon's feel has finally begun to pull back recently, scoring 29 points on 9-of-14 today, and Green and VanVleet are both 20+.
Irving scored 48 points on 15-of-25 shooting and 15-of-17 free throws, while Doncic shot 12-of-21 for 37 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds. Both men played for 45 minutes, so much so that there was a famous scene similar to Jordan and Pippen supporting each other.
The Rockets still had a good chance to win the game in the final minute of regulation time, with the Rockets leading by three points and two free throws in the final 8.3 seconds, and it only took Jabari Smith to hit a free throw to celebrate the victory.
But he missed two free throws, and then the Rockets didn't choose to foul on the final defense and take a penalty, and Axum received a pass from Doncic and hit a three-pointer. In the ensuing overtime, the Rockets were in a hurry.
The Rockets have lost too many games this season because of "no free throws", Smith missed two free throws more than once, and Shin Jing has also had a similar scene of missing two free throws and then losing the game before. The Rockets showed their youth to the fullest, and they officially missed the play-in tournament after losing this game.
The state of the lone ranger is about to take off directly. In the last 15 games, the Mavericks have a 13-2 record. During that period, the Mavericks had an offensive efficiency of 116.2, which ranked 8th in the league for the same period, a defensive efficiency of 105.4, 1st in the same period, and a net efficiency of +10.7, which ranked second in the league.
Irving's 48 points set a new season-high for him, and he single-handedly led the Warriors off in his last game. Irving and Doncic combined for 85 points today, the highest total points scored in a single game since the two became teammates. The chemistry between the two is also the pinnacle of their teamwork.
Irving, who was shooting 49.3 percent from the field, 41.1 percent from three-point range and 91 percent from the free throw line ahead of today, said he wanted to get into the "180 Club" again.
Then today he improved his shooting percentage to 49.6 percent, and with four games left in the season, Irving's wish to enter the 180 club is not difficult to achieve.
Speaking of which, George has shot 47 percent from the field, 41 percent from three-point range, and 90.5 percent from the free throw line this season, and is also close to the 180 club. George's form this season may be the best since he came to the Clippers, with fewer ups and downs and more stable output.
And if nothing else, such George and such Irving are about to meet in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers are now fourth in the West, three games behind the Thunder in third place in the West, and two games ahead of the Mavericks behind them. The Mavericks are 2 games ahead of the Suns behind them.
The Clippers' next four games: two games against the Suns, Jazz and Rockets. The next four games of the Mavericks: Hornets, Heat, Pistons, Thunder. So, now it's more and more likely that the Clippers and Mavericks will meet in the first round.
Before the Mavericks played the Clippers, everyone was talking about Dongzi's battle against the Clippers, but now in the state of the Eastern European combination, Doncic will usher in his strongest helper to face the Clippers.
And when Kazige returns, the Clippers' combat power is worthy of any team in the West, coupled with George's fiery state, the gold content of this round of matchups is exciting just thinking about it.