Leonard's absence made Harden turn back into a "Rockets", and the first game of the first round activated center Zubac, making the Mavericks' interior line take care of one or the other, and finally the Clippers won 109-97.
Winning by just 12 points was also a "big win" because the Clippers led by 27 points in the second quarter and 29 points in the third quarter.
The Mavericks, who changed to a defensive team at the end of the season, had three "unexpected":
First, I didn't expect Harden to turn back into "Rocket Deng" and switch so easily. He scored just 16.6 points per game in the regular season, almost 20 fewer than when he was the Rockets' leading scorer, and it's been several years since he transitioned. But today Harden wanted to burst out, shot whenever he wanted, scored 28 points, and scored six three-pointers.
Second, I didn't expect Zubac to be frantically "named" by Luka, but instead it became a weapon to punish the Mavericks' interior line, this game beat Gafford in advance, and he was also unceremonious to Clipper, scoring 20 points and 15 rebounds in the game, scoring his highest in the playoffs.
Third, I didn't expect the Clippers team without Leonard, the defense was still so fierce, not only cutting off the connection between Luka and the inside, but only 6 assists in the whole game, which also made it difficult for him to break through, and handed in a blank roll in 0 of 5 in the second quarter.
The Clippers allowed the Mavericks to score just eight points in the second quarter and 30 points at halftime, the lowest halftime in the Mavericks' history. At the end of the half, although the Mavericks played well in the second half, the pit was too big.
The winner of this game was Zubac, and it was carefully planned by Coach Lue and executed perfectly by Harden, because from the beginning, Zubac was ordered to single Gafford under the basket, and it only took more than 3 minutes for him to foul twice.
An important part of the Mavericks' change of formation is that Gafford plays the starting No. 5 position for Lively, so as to achieve an increase in the outside line and a decrease in the inside line, so as to cope with the blocking roll call and seek a more efficient rotation. But in front of Zubac, the 2.13-meter traditional center, the 2.08-meter Gafford is not tall enough, and the Mavericks do not arrange to assist in defense, so Zubac enjoyed the privilege of a super center from the beginning, playing one-on-one singles under the basket.
Two consecutive singles Gafford succeeded, and it took only 3 minutes and 14 seconds for Gafford to foul twice, opening the prelude to the Mavericks' passive response.
replaced Gafford and replaced Lively with Lively, but after Harden broke through, the cooperation mode between "Rocket" and Capela was activated again.
Harden's power lies in the fact that he breaks through to the basket and passes the ball after being pinched. Zubac and Harden perfectly complemented him, giving him a team-high plus/minus of +15 and a whopping +20 in the first two quarters.
The Mavericks tried to limit Harden with joint defense, and this "one-stare quadruple" could limit Harden's work space to the greatest extent. However, one of the major drawbacks of the joint defense is that the outside door is wide open, which will leak a lot of three-point vacancies, and even Wei Shao can shoot comfortably.
Therefore, the Mavericks used joint defense, Harden couldn't ask for it, and the prime location of 45 degrees on the right side was the favorite three-point point of the "Rockets" that year, and today he made 4 of his 6 three-pointers in this area.
During the regular season, I specifically pointed out that despite the fact that the Clippers have a Big Three and Big Four, in fact, the basis of their tactics is the blocking of Harden and Zubac, and because of Harden's arrival, Zubac also set a career-high average scoring average, once close to 13 points per game. When the two of them are threatening enough, the Mavericks' attention is on these two people, which will slip the bottom line out the back door.
So, is there no solution to the blocking and dismantling of "Rocket Deng" and Zubac? Of course not, but there are not many successful rounds of this ball Mavericks' defense, and it is rare to appear, which may become an important model for the Mavericks to deal with in the next battle.
In addition to the high quality of P.J. Washington's penetration, the big center has to find a delicate balance between helping to defend Harden and preventing Zubac's downdraft, and he can neither directly flank or switch defenses. In the second half, Kidd arranged for forward Derrick Jones to defend Harden, and the effect was much better, Harden scored 20 points in the first half and 8 points in the second half, Zubac scored 12 points in the first half and 8 points in the second half, and the plus/minus values of the two were -16 and -5 in the last two quarters, of course, this is also related to the lead.
The Clippers beat the Mavericks in the first game, in addition to the return of the "Rockets" to activate Zubac, another big reason is the toughness of Luka's defense.
It is impossible for any team to defend against Luka, at most they can only do the limit, and if they can successfully limit at a certain stage, thereby reducing the offensive effectiveness of the Mavericks, half the goal will be achieved. Today, the Clippers are 22-8 in the second quarter, all about the crazy defense of Luka: the outside line forced through the cover, not giving him a chance to shoot comfortably, if the defense is changed, the big man tries to stay an inch away and avoid retreating, so as not to make him jump easily.
This shows Lue's gambling-style courage to "both want and go" to limit Luka while maintaining a high level of dominance on the inside. Normally, Luka can only use a smaller interior line and a little quicker, but Luca only uses Zubac and Plumlee and dispenses with the more flexible Theis.
Let's see how the two big men switch defenses for Luka -
As for the defenders, not to mention, like Wei Shao's dismantling of the cover this time, Luka was very uncomfortable. That's why he played 9:39 in the second quarter, missed five shots, and didn't score himself, scoring eight points on just two of the team's goals, one with Irving's fast-break score and the other with Lively's dunk.
It was the crazy defense of the Clippers' big and four small lineups that completely disrupted the rhythm of the Mavericks. Gafford was fouled twice early in the first quarter, but played again in the second quarter, but went off injured after playing a minute or two, and Kidd switched to a tall interior combination of Lively and Clipper. However, due to the inability to prevent Harden, Luka's system was disrupted, and the Mavericks became more and more urgent, either Haddawi Jr. did not score a basket in the air, or violated the rules in 24 seconds, or made random shots on the outside, and none of the 9 three-pointers scored.
After the first game of the series, the losing side has to adjust. In fact, Kidd made targeted changes in the second half, such as switching to Jones Jr. to defend Harden, and no longer letting Zubac play as a super center on the inside, which had some effect, 33-31 in the third quarter, of which Irving scored 20 points, and 33-22 in the fourth quarter, Luka scored 13 points.
After the Clippers win G1, the initiative is in their own hands, because Leonard won without playing, and once something happens, the Big Four will reunite.