The Clippers lost a game that they shouldn't lose. Facing the Nuggets at home, the opponent was missing the three core players of Jokic, Murray, and Gordon, and they were fighting back-to-back. As a result, the Clippers were reversed after leading by 11 points at the end of the t

The Clippers lost a game that they shouldn't lose.

faced the Nuggets at home. The opponent was missing the three core players of Jokic, Murray, and Gordon, and they were fighting back-to-back. As a result, the Clippers were reversed after leading by 11 points at the end of the third quarter.

Reggie and DeAndre Jordan, two former Clippers abandoned players, became an OK combination. One scored 35 points, 5 rebounds, 13 assists and 2 steals, and the other scored 21 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. They directly beat the fast team. The inner and outer lines of the ship.

In this game, Harden's performance was disappointing again. He played for 36 minutes, made 3 of 7 shots, and only scored 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists. His efficiency was not bad, but his output was too low;

In the crucial fourth quarter, the Clippers were beaten 16-36 by the Nuggets. Harden not only made 0 shots and failed to score a point in this quarter, but also made 2 passes in the final 3 minutes of chasing points. Ball turnover.

In addition to the disaster on the offensive end, Harden has also become Reggie's "toy" on the defensive end - it's really not an exaggeration. In the last 4 minutes of the game, not counting the several rounds where Jordan was cut off and There is no suspense in the last minute. At other times, the Nuggets have only one way to launch an offense, and that is to let Reggie name Harden.

The important thing is that the effect of this move is really not bad. With 1 minute left, Reggie beat Harden and passed it almost with a speed, and then survived Leonard's attack. Death coiled and scored a layup.

In the next round, Reggie wanted to challenge Harden alone. Leonard couldn't stand it anymore and directly double-teamed him. The result was that Porter received the pass and then made a three-pointer. .

Of course, the Clippers' loss is certainly not Harden's fault alone. For example, George also performed abnormally in this game. He made 2 of 13 shots and 0 of 4 three-pointers. He only scored 6 points, and he also appeared 3 times. Mistakes; even Leonard, who scored 31 points, only made 10 of 26 shots and 2 of 5 three-pointers in this game. It is difficult to say that the efficiency is very good.

However, the reason why Harden is disappointing is mainly due to his indecision and declining ability on both ends of the offense and defense. He got many open opportunities in the fourth quarter, but the result was that he did not shoot and had to rush in. Then he made a mistake or failed to score, not to mention the defensive end. Harden has never been his strong point, but he was called out by the 33-year-old Reggie one step at a time. No matter what, he shouldn't have thought about it.

Counting this game, Harden has joined the Clippers for 11 games, and the result is definitely disappointing.

11 games, Harden averaged only 14.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. His scoring was the lowest after his sophomore season. It was 1/3 less than last season and even half as high as at his peak. None arrived.

The good thing is that Harden's efficiency is still pretty good, with three shooting percentages of 44.2%/36.7%/83.7% and a true shooting percentage of 61.7%. However, the decline in his production is really shocking. 11 In each game, there were only two 20+ games (21 points, 24 points). In the past three games, two games failed to score in double figures, averaging only 9 points per game, with a total of 7 sports goals.

There are some highlights, such as the previous "3+1" victory over the Rockets to usher in the Clippers' first victory, and two one-on-one wins against Wenban Yama, but overall, Harden is still a little too hesitant on the offensive end. At first you may think that Harden is being humble, but if he doesn't even dare to take a shot in the open space, then it doesn't make sense no matter what.

There is another data that can also intuitively show Harden's decline: So far this season, Harden has averaged only 9.4 breakthroughs per game, while last season, Harden averaged 13.5 breakthroughs per game, and the number of breakthroughs has decreased. The direct result is that Harden's shots in the penalty area have plummeted. This season, only 12% of his shots are in the penalty area, compared with 21% last season.

This is just the offensive end. On the defensive end, the shooting percentage of the offensive players Harden has faced this season has increased from 46.6% to 49.3%, and the two-point shooting percentage has increased from 54.7% to 62.2%.

In terms of helping the Clippers, Harden is still having a negative effect. In the past 11 games:

- In the 361 minutes Harden was on the court, the Clippers' offensive efficiency was 106.9, and the net loss per 100 possessions was 3.5 points

— — Harden was not on the court for 112 minutes, and the Clippers' offensive efficiency was 112.0, with a net win of 4.1 points per 100 possessions

11 games, 4 wins and 7 losses. The results definitely did not meet expectations. The offensive efficiency could only rank 26th in the league, and in Harden's case Before Deng arrived, the Clippers once had the league's second-highest net efficiency starting five (only worse than the Celtics' starting five). At that time, their offensive and defensive efficiency were all in the top ten in the league.

At this point, I have to compare Harden’s old club, the 76ers.

There is one less assist leader. The 76ers do not seem to be affected much. They currently have a record of 12 wins and 5 losses, ranking fourth in the Eastern Conference. In the last game, they defeated the Lakers by 44 points. Maxey became the biggest player after Harden left. The beneficiary is expected to be an All-Star, Most Improved Player or even All-NBA this season.

and the chips Harden traded, not to mention the two first rounds and the two second rounds. Currently, Batum, Covington, and Morris are already in stable rotation, especially Batum, whose average per game is close to With 27 minutes of playing time, he was completely at the main level, and he averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists per game, and a true shooting percentage of 75%, which was even better than last season with the Clippers.

If you still remember, the transaction just happened a month ago, and the media had a slogan of "Who can stop the Clippers' Big Four". Unexpectedly, a remnant team of Nuggets can take care of a healthy team. The Big Four.

Looking at Harden's status, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Clippers suffered a huge loss from this transaction. Fortunately, Harden still has hope to prove himself. I hope that he and the Clippers can rebound in the future, otherwise the future of both parties will be in trouble. But they are not small anymore.

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