In the first round of the playoffs, the Clippers lost to the Mavericks 93-96 at home, and the score was tied 1-1. The Clippers lost the game in the final moments, because they couldn't match up on the offensive end during that time, and ultimately lost a lot. At this time, the doubts about Harden are still very big, after all, judging from the data, 6 of 14 shots, 2 of 10 three-pointers, and 3 points in the final quarter. However, Harden still scored 22 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. But because he didn't show much in the last quarter, the fans were still very malicious towards him.
But so far in the series, Harden has been the best player for the Big Three. With an average of 25+4+8 per game, a shooting rate of 45%, and a 3-point shooting rate of 38%, this performance is impressive enough. And the reason for today's slump is because there is a problem with Tyronn Lue's decision-making.
One is that Harden continued to be on the court in the final quarter. In fact, when he was leading by 6 points, he could go down and take a break. After all, Harden's age is here, and he can't maintain a very good fitness. But Tyronn Lue didn't think of this, which would inevitably cause Harden to be in a slump on the offensive end.
There's also the fact that Harden basically doesn't have much of the ball. On the court, most of Harden has the ball at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters, and the rest of the offensive time is divided between Xiaoka and George, and Harden's overall status is still too low. It would be better for Harden to take more breaks while the two of them are singles. If you play 40 minutes per game, this is completely unbearable for Harden. If Harden had been allowed to organize, and he could still have done damage, I believe the end result would have been completely different.
So this problem is already here, and the fans can understand it, let's see how Tyronn Lue adjusts it in G3. If the current trend continues, this is indeed a big disadvantage for the Clippers. Of course, we have to wait for Leonard to find his form, and his performance in G2 is clearly not enough. But the use of Harden also needs to be considered.