In the first round of the Western Conference in the playoffs, G2, the Clippers lost to the Mavericks 93-96 at home, and the overall score came to 1-1. Leonard has come back in poor form and has clearly felt stiff on both ends of the floor. He scored 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range. However, in addition to the score, he still contributed 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 1 block. This is good news for the Clippers, and the clip seems to be in good shape. His steals and big hat have proven that he can still perform death coils and bounce blocks.
Perhaps for Harden and George, Kazi's comeback at G2 is not good news. After the game, Kazi's agent told the outside world that in fact, the best comeback time is G3, so that Kazi can recuperate for a few more days. Because the Clippers are in the limelight, the card is not more resolute in Harden's offense, and the destructive power he can play is better for the Clippers as a whole. In the last game, Harden led the Clippers to play team basketball. In other words, the card G2 is truce, and the probability of the Clippers winning is better than his play.
The Clippers can completely let the card find form on the G3 road, because this can bring some benefits, theoretically if the Clippers go 2-0 on the road, there is a high probability of losing the third game, unless the Mavericks are too bad, or the Clippers are too good. It would be a better strategy to use the third game to find the groove and rest for a few more days. But sometimes it can't be helped, and Leonard can't bear it. He hadn't played in more than 20 days, and as Leonard said after the game, he saw the performance of Harden and George, and he wanted to come back quickly to help his teammates.
Of course, there is still good news, and it is also good for the card to come back and run in early, and the Clippers will have a lot of confidence in winning on the road. Because after the game, reporters interviewed Leonard and asked him some questions, including whether he participated in team training and how is his knee now?
Leonard's reply was brief: "I didn't train for the confrontation, I just wanted to get back on the court early. It's the first time I've played in over 20 days, obviously I didn't play well today, if we want to get better it starts with me, I'm looking forward to the road trip and my knee is very good now. ”
Everyone saw Leonard's reply, and he hastily decided to make a comeback, because he didn't even participate in the 5v5 intra-team confrontation and came out, which can perform well and has a ghost. But the Clippers don't need to worry about that, so Leonard can contribute, and then there are still a few days to recover before the next game, and you will be looking forward to the next performance of the Clip. He's probably the best and most physical player in the team right now, after all the long break.
And Clippers fans need to know about the team's away record this season, which is 27-15, and the Clippers are the strongest on the road, and the home court is weak. And today, the Clippers have a poor hand, shooting only 32 of 87, shooting 36%, and 8 of 39 three-pointers, shooting 26%. This is certainly not how good the Mavericks' defense is, but that the Clippers are too iron today, so they met the explosive Doncic and Irving, one 32+9, and the other 23+6 is actually okay.
The most important thing is that the two teams are not dirty in their playing style, for example, when Irving broke through and fell today, Harden took the initiative to help him up. Speaking about Leonard's comeback after the game, Owen also said that it would take a while to get used to not playing for so long. George was also very thorough in his post-game discussion about Leonard, saying that Leonard is the best player on the planet and that he will prove himself on the road. At the end of the day, today's game is a sacrifice for Leonard's comeback. The hard power of the Clippers still has the upper hand, compared with the Mavericks in Eastern Europe, the Clippers' Big Four have a higher margin for error, and this round of the series is also very interesting.