Leonard is back in action
Leonard's injury news must be clear to everyone, but the Los Angeles Clippers are still on the right track. Tyronn Lue activated Harden, allowing the long-dormant assist king to regain the style of the scoring champion of the year. Irving is great, and Doncic can't figure it out, but just the two of them can't beat the Los Angeles Clippers, and the team needs someone else to step up. Josh Green was excellent in his last game and is confident that he will surely get more playing time in this game.
As for the Clippers, Leonard is back for this game, and there is no time limit. George looked a little uncomfortable against Washington's defense, but he was a good scorer and still had ways to help the team. Now that Leonard is back, the defensive pressure on George will be much lessened.
Clippers vs. Mavericks
At the beginning of the first quarter, Leonard did not score on 0-of-2 shooting, Harden only had 3 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, George scored 8 points, 1 assist and 1 block, but the team only scored 19 points in a single quarter, while the Mavericks only scored 23 points, and its Doncic scored 12 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists on 4-of-9 shooting, Jones also had 5 points and 4 rebounds, and Irving did not score. After returning from the game in the second quarter, Harden took over the offensive power, scoring 9 points, 1 assist and 1 steal on 4-of-7 shooting, while Leonard had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, as well as 2 steals and 1 block, directly filling the data column, and the Clippers scored 22 points in a single quarter.
The Mavericks withstood the pressure, Doncic scored another 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, Irving also had 7 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, and the team also scored 22 points in a single quarter, and at the end of the half, the Mavericks led the Clippers by 4 points at 45-41. In the second half, Harden scored 7 points and 3 rebounds on a three-point stretch, and Leonard found his form, with 8 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist on 4-of-7 shooting, and the team scored 25 points in a single quarter. Doncic scored another 7 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, Irving also had 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 2 steals, and the team only scored 20 points in a single quarter.
In the final quarter of the game, Wei Shao led the team to a six-point lead, but then the Mavericks successfully stopped Tyronn Lue with a wave of 9-0. After the timeout, Irving scored five more points in a row, Wei Shao responded with three points, Washington continued with three points, Leonard hit one of two free throws, and George scored a goal and an assist to help the Clippers narrow the gap to three points. Kleber responded with a three-pointer, and Doncic faced Harden with a three-pointer to seal the win. Harden hit a three-pointer and Zubac dunked, but it was too late. In the end, the Dallas Mavericks narrowly defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 96-93, and the series was tied 1-1.
The Eastern European combination has helpers
Doncic continued to have an inexplicable performance, with 32 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists in the game, an unparalleled individual performance, Irving also had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and the individual performance of the Eastern European combination was still excellent, but it was not just the two of them who won the game. As mentioned earlier in the article, the Mavericks need a third person to step up, and that person is PJ Washington, who shot 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range to finish with 18 points and 6 rebounds, with 10 points in the final quarter. Jones had 10 points and seven rebounds, Lively off the bench had seven points and nine rebounds, and Kleber had six points, six rebounds and one assist.
In the first game of Leonard's comeback, the team swallowed a loss, and after the whole game, Leonard shot 7 of 17, 0 of 5 three-point shots, only 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, plus 4 steals and 1 block, the defensive end showed dominance, but the offensive end is still looking for form. George had 22 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, Zubac had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and the team's scoring champion was still Harden, who shot 6 of 14 and 2 of 10 three-pointers, got 22 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Wei Shao on the bench had 7 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists on 2-of-9 shooting.