On April 29, it was reported that in the first round of the NBA playoffs G4, the Clippers narrowly defeated the Mavericks 116-111 away, bringing the score to 2-2 and regaining the home court advantage, among which Harden performed very well, shooting 12 of 17 in the game, slashing 33 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, and Harden scored 15 points in the last quarter.
In this game, the Clippers can be described as desperate, after all, after the return of the small card, the team suffered 2 consecutive losses. In this game, the Clippers led the Mavericks by 23 points in the first quarter with George scoring 16 points, and Harden began to work hard in the second quarter, contributing 13 points in a single quarter, and the Clippers led by 17 points at halftime. In the third quarter, the Mavericks recovered 13 points in a single quarter, but fortunately, in the final quarter of the game, Harden scored 15 points alone and locked up the victory with throws again and again, and the team also pulled the big score to 2-2.
This season, Harden has not been easy to transfer from the 76ers to the Clippers, and Harden's goal is clear, which is to continue chasing championships. During the regular season, Harden played in 72 games this season, averaging 16.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game, which was the team's third scoring point after Xiaoka and George.
Coming to the playoffs, this season's Harden is 34 years old, he played 4 games in the first round, averaging 26 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists per game, definitely the team's first scoring point, Harden did not live up to the team's trust, especially in this G4 game, Harden conquered the away fans with a performance of 15 in the final quarter, and in the face of Irving's 40-point and Doncic's 29-point performance, Harden and George's double star shine to end the game.
Attentive fans found that Harden's perfect transformation reminded people of Harden in the 18-19 season, it was an era of the Warriors dynasty, Harden led the Rockets to meet the Warriors many times, although he finally lost to the Warriors and missed the playoffs to go further, but the Harden in the 18th season was very strong.
In the 18-19 season, Harden played a total of 78 regular season games, averaging 36.8 minutes per game, averaging 36.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. In the playoffs, Harden played in 11 games, averaging 31.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, and Harden also returned as the king, but Harden's fate was really bad, and he finally missed the Warriors, when Harden was 28 years old.
But now that Harden is 34 years old, Harden's performance in the league, in terms of efficiency, is really not weaker than the Harden in the 18th season. To be honest, if the first two games were not played, maybe the Clippers would have taken a 3-1 lead. As for why, because Harden is back!
After watching today's game, Harden in the 24th season is really not weaker than Harden in the 18th season, do you agree?
Who are you more optimistic about in this round of the Clippers and Mavericks series?