The Clippers lost 105-116 at home to the Rockets and were taken away by Amen Thompson. Mann played 28 minutes and finished with 24 points, six rebounds, two assists and one steal on 10-of-14 shooting. There's not much to say, the Clippers' Big Four are all resting in rotation. Due to the loss of the Mavericks in the last game, the Clippers directly locked up the fourth spot. The Mavericks also don't want to continue to compete with the Clippers for home-court advantage. Because the Clippers have already rotated their main team in advance, the Mavericks will certainly follow.
And the Clippers adjusted quickly in the last game, and Tyronn Lue was still that tactical genius. He first let Harden, George and Willis play for about 10 minutes, if the Mavericks win, they will continue to play, and if the Mavericks lose, they will immediately withdraw the main team. As a result, as soon as the Mavericks lost, Tyronn Lue immediately withdrew his main force and did not play. This also invisibly achieves the Tyronn Lue strategy, allowing the main team to come up and move up for the playoffs.
Of course, Leonard still doesn't play, and the most important thing for the Clippers now is whether the clip is injured or not? Is he a smoke bomb? Or is he really seriously injured? It's no secret that Kazi's injuries have been a bit of a smokebomb, and the Clippers have let go of some smoke bombs over the past few years. But in the end, it was confirmed that the card was indeed reimbursed, and last season you thought the card would play the playoffs, but it ended up being reimbursed for two games with the Suns.
Now you can really guess some eyebrows about Kazi's injury. At least based on the current situation, Kazi's injury is certainly not so optimistic. If he has a minor injury, the Clippers will definitely let him come out to play a game to find his form. And there are Clippers self-media reports that may not be able to play the first round of G1 cards. Tyronn Lue also gave an ambiguous answer to Kazi's injury in an interview, and the reporter asked if Kazi was training? Tyronn Lue said that he has been doing something, but he just doesn't tell you what he is doing, Tyronn Lue is saying that Kazi's knee is improving.
Then the reporter asked Kazi if he would play G1, and Tyronn Lue meant that he didn't know anything, and he didn't dare to guarantee whether he would return in the first game. If the card doesn't play, it's tough for Harden and George. Kazi played the Mavericks very hard, and the first two encounters were with him punching Doncic. On both ends of the floor, Kazi was the centerpiece of the series. If the Clippers put smoke bombs, that's great, if the Clippers really don't have much confidence in the Kazi injury, then the Clippers have only one hope, and that is to count on Harden to be supernatural.
In last year's semifinals against the Celtics, Harden won the game in Boston in Embiid's absence, and Harden scored 40+ points. But the good news was that Embiid returned in Game 2, and then Philadelphia led the Celtics 3-2 at one point. The problem with the Clippers is that even if Harden wins the first game and George wins, can G2 really come back? To put it bluntly, the card is very strong, especially when it is healthy, but the key is that the card is not healthy.
On paper, Eastern Europe and Pepper are up against each other, with Harden and Westbrook being the Clippers' dominant points. But if it becomes Eastern Europe, then the Clippers will have no advantage at all. The Clippers and the Mavericks are in a big battle, and the two sides will inevitably have to fight a small lineup. And the role of the card in the small lineup is too great, the defensive end of the 4-5 position to grasp the defensive system, the offensive end can attack. There's no clip for George to play the 4-5 position? Tucker can't hold it up right now. Now Clippers fans have to expect Tyronn Lue to put smoke bombs and Kazi to play the first game at full strength, so in terms of this year's standings. If the Clippers can pass the Mavericks, then playing the young Thunder in the second round is a straight train to the Western Conference Finals, after all, the tough Nuggets go to second.