The Clippers, without Leonard, beat Dallas in the opening game.
Harden's team-high 28 points and eight assists, 20 points in the first half, gave the Clippers a 56-30 halftime lead, but I think the most important number of his games is: 2 blocks - all in the first quarter.
The Clippers went up to pinch Irving, Irving hit the ground and passed to Gafford to eat the cake, and Harden rotated on the weak side and slapped out Gafford for a layup.
Lavry slapped off Coffey's layup, Haddawi Jr. countered, and Harden slapped Haddawi's layup.
didn't jump, two fill-ins, Harden relied on the sense of fill-in and covered two balls.
The best thing is: since joining Dallas, Danfan and Luka have almost won all of their starts, and the shooting rate is 78%, and the cake king Gafford has made 1 of 4 shots in 14 minutes today.
One was covered by Harden and one was blocked by George.
Gafford is a role player, and it's okay if you can't eat bread, but there is another meaning here:
The Clippers let Zubac go to the line and use Harden and George to defend the base, and still be able to defend Dallas. So Zubac can stay on the field and won't be used as an ATM.
- Similar to last season, the Nuggets let the deleveraging go to the upper line and let Gordon/Murray/Porter go to the bottom, and the Lakers let the thick eyebrows go to the upper line and let LeBron go to the bottom.
In the past, Luka hit the Clippers' ATM to order Zubac and drive Zubac off the table;
But Coach Lu is such a pinch ball carrier + weak side rotation bottom, waiting for the opportunity to combine squeezing through the cover + sinking and 1-4 change of defense, in short, try to let the center face the ball carrier directly, Zubac is no longer named and bullied, Dallas does not have to set up a small lineup, Zubac was saved.
At the beginning of today, the two sides are fighting on the inside. George of the Clippers led the defense of Luka and replaced the defense with Coffey. After George broke through for a layup, Gafford made an interference ball, and then Harden slapped Gafford off for a layup, and then Harden fed Zubac to hit Gafford on his back, and Gafford was replaced by Levry with two fouls in 3 minutes.
From then until the end of the first quarter, the Clippers went on a 24-15 run, with Zubac scoring 10 points.
Harden's first two assists in the game were all to feed Zubac: a hanging pass to find a back hit, a drop to the ground, Zubac was a tiger and dominated the restricted area.
According to Dallas's script, Zubac was beaten down and Gafford dominated the restricted area, and the Clippers instead knocked Gafford down and let Zubac dominate the restricted area.
When Gafford came on the court again in the second quarter, he missed the free throw, and the pass was copied by Wei Shao, who led the team to speed up, and the game was directly spent.
So Zubac played 33 minutes, 20 points and 15 rebounds on 17-point shooting. The Mavericks scored just 32 inside points as a team.
Harden and George fed Zubac offensively and defensively, and Zubac controlled the interior.
Luka missed 5 shots in the second quarter, which basically shows the Clippers' defensive thinking:
When switching guards, take the middle to break through the space and see how Luka feels, and when looking for a pick-and-roll, Mann squeezed all the way through the cover and sent Luka to the penalty area, where Zubac was waiting for him. Zubac was named that year, and he had no chance to eat alone.
Luka and Owen started scoring in the second half, and it was too late.
After the game, Harden said that Zubac played a perfect game, George said that Zubac always plays well in a team of this level, and Zubac is in high spirits: "I'm going to try to punish them on the inside, I want to be the best version of myself!"
The fact is that Harden and George fed the ball on the offensive end and the bottom on the defensive end, feeding Zubac, who controlled the interior. Gafford was beaten down. It is the core of the game.
Dallas's final counterattack in the fourth quarter once chased a difference of 14 points; Harden asked George to cut out a false cover at the top of the arc and walked to the three-point line by himself, which stunned the whole Dallas team, and Harden shot a quasi-open three-pointer; at that time, the baseline against Zubac's Klebe walked halfway, and glanced back at Zubac's position, hesitated, probably, "I pounced, will Harden hang directly to Zubac?"
Harden scored a three-pointer, and Coach Lu put his arm in his arms.
So the first sentence of the post-game report written by Beth Harris today is:
"Harden spent an entire season building pick-and-roll chemistry with Zubac...... The opening game of the playoffs paid off. ”
The Thunder vs. the Pelicans (without the fat tiger) spent about half an hour in the last 5 minutes. The game was really Pelicans' rhythm, and the young Thunder were squeezed poorly — just like the Kings the other day.
But Alexander and Chet still won.
In the Thunder's starters, only two people were taller than 196 centimeters.
In the Pelicans' starters, only CJ McClom was more than two meters lower.
The league's most break-through and lightest lineup, against the league's top long lineup, the Kings were just held down by the Pelicans' tall pick.
So today, the Pelicans double-center Valanshuinas + Nance Jr., a total of 48 minutes, 28 rebounds, including 13 frontcourt rebounds. The rhythm of the thunder was held down.
Alexander has been able to score 30 points per game this season with a steady stream of ball-handling and pull-up jumpers, and his change of direction and footwork have allowed him to eat even a clingy guy like Caruso, but he'll have to work a little harder against the sideways of Patrick Williams and Dillon.
Today, the Pelicans used Herb Jones and Murphy to take turns looking for him, and CJ McClom will of course break through when he switches defenses, but he can also rely on teammates to fill in the position to drag him into the mud, and even have time to cover him with a hat. Herb and Marshall even let Alexander's right hand break through, restricting his signature left-hand stop-and-shoot shot, "Anyway, we have enough to fill in!"
So Alexander fought hard.
Fortunately, Dott and Chet were locked in front and back, which did not make Ingram comfortable. The two sides were entangled until the end, and the Pelicans found the Thunder's defensive line too high + the gap on the weak side, so:
- Ingram finds a pick-and-roll for Nance Jr. to cut the public.
- CJ shifts to the weak side, Herb shoots from distance.
- Herb puts Alexander's right hand to break through, Alexander just got off the ball, Nance Jr. steals the ball, Ingram counterattacks and layups.
Especially the last shot, which is where the Pelicans' defensive efforts lie today.
Then, finally, Chet, who played the first playoff game of his career, stepped up.
"I'm not going to be defeated by the same moves in a row!"
CJ looked for Nance to block and dismantle, and after Chet stepped out of the free throw line to delay CJ, he turned over and walked brightly, jumped to chase the block, and forced Nance's inside dunk to cover - the fourth block of the game.
Then it was Alexander who found a double cover to clear it, ate Herb alone, and saw that he was going to eat Herb's bait again, broke through with the ball in his right hand, Herb retreated, and Alexander made a quick stop to shoot, 90 draws.
In the last minute, CJ blocked and hit Nance on the ground, Alexander rotated to fill in and gave Chet a second, and Chet returned to the basket and gave Nance another hat - the fifth hat of the game.
In the end, Alexander faced CJ, broke through with his right hand, stayed in the air, and won with a messy throw.
In this way, the Pelicans won the game and dragged the Thunder to the final minute by size, but Chet and Alexander's defense and offense ended the game.
The Thunder finally closed up, using Alexander, Dort, Chet and Jayway, but they just traded from Wallace to Wiggins to Isaiah Joe, but they didn't dare to use Giddey.
Who's the best fit for the Thunder? It's better to have a height, a basket, a run, a defense, and a young man — for example, Murphy Jr., the Pelicans' longest-running game and the highest scorer today?
At the end of the game:
Herb lured Alexander to break through with his right hand.
Ingram found a block to make the Nance Jr. Volkswagen, and Chet suffered a loss.
Alexander broke through with his right hand and was picked up by Nance Jr., and Ingram scored to take the lead. The thunder is over.
Chet even blocked Nance Jr. and cut inside twice, saved the crisis, and took revenge.
Alexander made a left-handed breakaway shot and a right-handed breakaway shot to finish the Pelicans.
Chet's defense, Alexander's offense, the Thunder won. However, in the final rounds, Nance Jr.:
"I'm the main character!"
The Pelicans' victory and defeat are all condensed in Nance Jr.
As for CJ's final choice, let's put it this way: everyone says that the Thunder are young, with an average age of less than 24 years old, but the Pelicans are also young, and the oldest veteran is really CJ.
So success or failure has to be up to him.
What's more, Coach Green didn't call a timeout at the end, "I believe you are more reliable than Chet, a rookie who is not like a rookie, and Alexander, an MVP candidate, at the critical moment!
CJ: Then I'll call!