The NBA playoffs continue today with the Dallas Mavericks arriving on the road to take on the Los Angeles Clippers. This round of matchups is very much to look forward to, because the Mavericks have played the Clippers many times in the playoffs, and the two sides are familiar with each other, and there are many stories to tell.
Although the Clippers are at home, Leonard decided not to play G1 before the game because he still has inflammation in his knee that has not gone away. The Mavericks have a more neat lineup, not only are Doncic and Irving in good shape, but rookie center Lively is also back.
But the end result was a 97-109 loss to the Clippers, trailing 0-1 overall. The Mavericks trailed by nearly 30 points at the most, and were actually beaten by the Clippers and ultimately failed to catch up. Just looking at the stats, Doncic and Irving are playing well, but the Clippers can win because their star Harden prefers to share the ball.
In the whole game, Harden contributed 28 points and 8 assists, and did not take a big package, hitting key balls while feeding Zubac in the restricted area. Zubac, who was much complained about, contributed 20 points and 15 rebounds, which can be called dominating the interior. On the bench, Westbrook also scored 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, maintaining the intensity of the rotation lineup, which is indeed very good.
The most correct thing Harden did throughout the game was to trust his teammates, know how to spread the ball, and not do everything himself. In doing so, Harden saves energy and keeps his teammates engaged. On the contrary, Doncic and Irving have a big package, scoring, rebounding and assists, and their teammates don't have any sense of involvement, which makes the game difficult to play, and they are also isolated.
So far, Harden has won G1 in nine consecutive playoff rounds, and the last time he lost a playoff round was in the semifinals in 2019, when Harden played for the Houston Rockets against the Golden State Warriors.