On May 1, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA continued, and as of now, the Western landscape is in chaos, the Lakers and Suns have been eliminated, and the Warriors have missed the playoffs, James, Durant, and Curry have all missed the championship, and their era is over. The Pelicans were also swept 4-0 by the Thunder, leaving only the Clippers and Mavericks in the series there is still a lot of suspense, the two teams are currently tied 2-2, and will welcome Tianwang Mountain at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.
It is worth mentioning that in the two games that Clippers forward Leonard missed, the Clippers won under the leadership of Harden, and in the two games he missed, the Clippers lost, which is not accidental, Leonard did not work well after his return, and it would disrupt the rhythm of the Clippers, he would be better for the team if he didn't play. And Clippers coach Tyronn Lue also announced that Leonard will miss the battle of Tianwang Mountain, and he did not even participate in training.
Tyronn Lue said Leonard has an inflamed knee and will continue to miss G5. Harden and George led their teammates to prepare for the game, judging from the training photos released by the Clippers, Harden is still practicing his best throwing, in the last game, Mavericks coach Kidd made a strategic mistake, not allowing Harden to shoot three-pointers, but let him frequently hit the restricted area to throw, and Harden threw 5 of 6 in the fourth quarter, leading the team to defeat the Mavericks.
In this way, Leonard is basically reimbursed in the first round and will not come back, and if the Clippers reach the Western Conference semifinals, they will face the Thunder, who are the first in the West. Therefore, the next Tianwang Mountain is too important for the Clippers, as long as they step past the Mavericks, the Clippers' chances of winning the championship will be greatly increased, and the Nuggets' dominance is obviously not as good as last year, although the Lakers were eliminated 4-1, but every game was difficult, and Murray contributed two stalks. Eastern Conference Celtics center Porzingis suffered a right soleus muscle strain, and like Antetokounmpo injury, he is expected to miss multiple games. Every team has problems, and it depends on how well the Clippers adjust, and this year is the best chance to reach the top.
In the absence of Leonard, it is possible to find out who is the thigh of the Clippers, in the past four games, Harden has averaged 26 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and 1.3 blocks per game, shooting 54.1% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and 91.3% from the free throw line. And Harden's performance also completely conquered George, in the game, George admitted that Harden is the new leader of the team, hoping that the beard can lead them to win, "I told him, take us home, you will lead us back to the home".
The Clippers and Mavericks have one day to go to play on the Kings Mountain, and players on both teams have suffered injuries. On the Clippers' side, Kawhi Leonard continues to miss due to knee inflammation, and the rest of the players are healthy and are expected to play all. Mavericks core guard Hardaway suffered an aggravated right ankle injury in practice and continued to miss G5, while Doncic also suffered a knee sprain, but it is likely to play in Tianwang Mountain.