The Clippers defeated the Mavericks 109-97, and the two key players in this game are undoubtedly the combination of Harden and Zubac. After a period of rest, Harden was at full fitness. Today, he is obviously much more energetic in breaking through, and Harden, who has a breakthrough triple threat, will be distracted by the opponent's attention, and he doesn't know how to attack? This also makes Harden's step-back threat more likely to penetrate the Mavericks' defense.
For Harden personally, the breakthrough is key. If he can't get to the basket, the opponent will only need to mark him for three points. We don't know if Harden's fitness will be as good as it is in Game 2, but there is more and more good news for the Clippers. First of all, there are reports from people close to Leonard that Kazi's knee is getting better and better, and he may play in G3. In the next game, as long as the Clippers can hold on, then it is really possible to kill the Mavericks in one wave.
Then we talk about another advantage of the Clippers, Zubac. He played 33 minutes, scored 20 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block on 10-of-17 shooting, including a plus/minus of +15. Now Zubac is a big headache for the Mavericks, what the hell should the team do? Zubac was Doncic's sight in the past because the Clippers don't have a big ball-handling core. And now Harden's presence not only makes it difficult for Doncic to find an opportunity against Zubac, but also invisibly consumes Doncic's physical energy.
On both offensive and defensive ends, Harden vs. Doncic is like a mirror man battle, Doncic's strategy of holding the ball and relying on strength is useless to Harden, because Harden doesn't lose to you than power, and then Wei Shao can also defend Doncic. On the defensive end, Harden named Doncic and crossed the road in one step. That is, Harden is old, and if it were a level battle between the Rockets and the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in 18, Doncic would have to be named infinitely. Because Doncic's speed is about the same as that of Mamba Anderson, who was named by Curry that year.
With both sides playing five small and pursuing infinite defensive changes, Doncic's slowness at this point can easily become the opponent's attack point, and the Mavericks will not be able to cope with it in a short time. Harden and Zubac's pick-and-roll offense is a bit like the cooperation between Harden and Capela when the Rockets were in the past. But Zubac's individual offensive skills under the basket are superior to Capela's. When Harden has strength at his feet, he breaks through the Mavericks' inevitable block, and Zubac can find a good finishing opportunity. Lively and Gafford's style can't cover Zubac, and the Mavericks have no other cards to deal with, so it's difficult.
For the Mavericks, the combination of Harden and Zubac is really difficult to defend. As Zubac said after the game, when Harden was the Clippers' main point guard, the team's offense was fluid. And Harden also took Zubac to train with him, and even opened a small stove to find chemistry. Just like back then, Harden and Capela were inseparable every day, both to cultivate chemistry. In the regular season, Tyronn Lue let Paul George hold the ball, but in the playoffs, it obediently became Harden holding the ball and attacking, both Tyronn Lue and George recognized the reality, only Harden is the brain.
Zubac hasn't found a point guard who can feed him the ball in the past four years, so when Harden joined the Clippers, many fans said that if Harden could feed Zubac out, they would be convinced. Now it's time for Harden to do it, and he's made Zubac more comfortable than ever.
After the game, Zubac thanked Harden for commenting: "I played like this because I had Harden's trust. He's been pushing me to play more aggressively. So it's not an accident, it's expected, give the ball to Harden and then give it to me again, let me attack the Mavericks basket, I know how to do it, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to help us win!"