On April 22, 2024, Beijing time, the first round of the playoff series between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks officially began. In this game, Leonard, the core of the Clippers, missed the game due to injury, which also made the difference in the strength of the two teams not seem so big. The Clippers played a classic team game in this game, and even took a huge lead in the first half, leaving the Mavericks without any power to parry. In the end, the Clippers beat the Mavericks 109-97 at home to get the series off to a flying start, and the win in this game illustrates three facts!
1. Although Harden's stats have shrunk significantly this season, and his personal status has fluctuated, as long as he has the ball in hand, he is still the top two-way guard in the league, and he can still score beautiful statistics and is still trustworthy. In the whole game, Harden shot 8 of 17 in 39 minutes of playing time, including 6 of 11 three-pointers and 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 28 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks. Whether it is on the offensive end, the organizational end, or even the defensive end, Harden played extremely aggressively, aggressively, and performed extremely well, becoming the primary contributor to the team's victory. After Leonard's absence, Harden carried the banner of the Clippers well, and Harden, who regained the ball, still has the ability to play strongly!
2. The Clippers don't rely too much on star play, and their current roster structure is very reasonable and the roster depth is very impressive, which lays a good foundation for them to compete for a championship this season. In addition to the outstanding performance of the core players, the team's role players are also very engaged. Among them, Mann contributed 13 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, Zubac got a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Wei Shao continued to make his own contributions on the bench. He also had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and with the team's five players scoring in double figures, the Clippers easily won the first game. The excellent performance of the role players also greatly relieved the pressure on the starters.
3. Although the Mavericks have improved significantly this season and have strong offensive firepower, they have relied too much on the play of the Eastern European combination. In this game, Doncic played still strong, he shot 11 of 26 in 42 minutes of playing time, including 4 of 12 three-pointers, and scored 33 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, while the other core Irving also played well, he played 39 minutes in this game, shooting 10 of 18, including 3 of 6 three-pointers, 8 of 9 free throws, and got 31 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; Eastern European combinations combined to cut 64 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, but this still failed to help them win the game。 The rest of the team played really badly and there was really little support for them. With the exception of the Eastern European duo who scored in double figures, only Washington contributed 11 points, and none of the other players scored in double figures. It's obviously hard for a role player to help a team win!
Obviously, the Mavericks played extremely hard today, they did not play their own characteristics and advantages, the hard work of the Eastern European combination did not pay off well, and the contribution of other players was really limited. The Clippers played classic team basketball, and Harden also showed the strength of a top-tier two-way guard well, laying a good foundation for the trend of the series. Who do you think will win the series between the Mavericks and the Clippers?