This season's nba regular season schedule is almost halfway through, and the situation in the east and west has gradually stabilized. The gap between the three eastern teams, the Celtics, Bucks, and 76ers, is widening, but from the fourth-place Magic to the eighth-place Cavaliers, The five teams have the same record, and the competition for tickets to the Eastern Conference playoffs is clear. In the West, among the wealthy teams such as the Lakers, Suns, and Warriors, some teams are destined to not even make the play-offs. The core problem of the Lakers is that James cannot maintain the stable performance on both offense and defense in every game like he did against the Clippers; the problem of the Suns is that the three superstars are all singles end points, unable to effectively drive teammates, and the defensive end is fragile; The Warriors have countless problems. Curry himself has continuously dragged down the team, not to mention the sluggish Wiggins, Green who has thoughts of retiring, etc. In comparison, the Clippers are having a much easier time.
With a starting record of 23 wins and 13 losses, the Clippers are infinitely close to the top three in the Western Conference: Timberwolves, Thunder, and Nuggets. Since Harden came to the team and the Clippers suffered a 6-game losing streak (Harden played 5 games), Westbrook took the initiative to ask Ying to be a substitute. Starting from Harden's 3+1 victory over the Rockets, the Clippers have won the last 26 games. Among them, in 20 games, the winning rate ranked first in the league during the same period. In the last 18 games, the Clippers have won 15 games and are in the spotlight. First of all, it is certain that Harden contributed a lot: he averaged 17.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game, with two field goal percentages of 47% + 43%, and a true shooting percentage of 65%. This is even more efficient than the Rockets' three consecutive scoring champions. There are a lot of shots, but now Harden's average number of shots per game has been reduced by half compared to the Rockets period! The biggest change Harden brought to the Clippers was not having a ball-handling brain, but two words: "selfless."
Harden's possession rate is only 20%, ranking behind Leonard (25.7%), George (26.5%), and Westbrook (22.8%) in the Clippers, but Harden's comparative plus-minus value Ranked second on the team, first on the team in bpm contribution, first on the team in win shares, and second only to Zubac in true shooting percentage. What Harden said most after joining the Clippers is: I am willing to play without the ball for the team. At the time, many media thought it was a joke, but after more than 30 games, Harden's catch-and-shoot three-pointers this season accounted for 32%, and his shooting percentage exceeded 42%! Harden averages 1.23 points per round in isolation, ranking first in the league; his three-point shooting percentage with the ball is as high as 43.7%. To put it simply, if Harden takes 20 shots a game, he can still score 30+! In addition, when Harden assists in double figures this season, the Clippers have 10 wins and 1 loss, and have only lost to the Pelicans.
It’s not that Harden is incapable of returning to the level of the Rockets, but there is no need to do so. Leonard plays the opponent's best guard and defends the opponent's best attacker. At other times, he only needs to stand in the low post and wait for Harden to pass; George only needs to cruise in the corner and the weak side at 45 degrees, or with Leonard. Cross-running, waiting for Harden and Zubac to feed him after the pick-and-roll; after Westbrook comes on the court, he only needs to hold the ball in the pick-and-roll, find the corner shooter, and look for Theis to eat the cake. It is really impossible to attack the frame by himself. Harden is the engine of the Clippers, ensuring the normal operation of all parts and providing power support. In the last 18 games, he defeated the complete Nuggets, took revenge against the Pelicans, defeated the Warriors twice, defeated the Suns twice, including a huge victory over the Eastern Conference champion Heat. Harden easily reached double figures in assists. In Leonard's words, only by playing alongside great players can we understand the importance of self-sacrifice.
Except for the inexplicable loss to the Lakers, the Clippers as a whole had no flaws. In George's own words, the loss to the Lakers was unexpected. Can the Clippers' Big Four lineup successfully win the championship this season and usher in the league's finale ahead of schedule? Sorry, it's time to pour cold water on the Clippers. After all, this is just the regular season. After all, the Clippers haven't reached first place in the Western Conference yet! The team still has two major hidden dangers: First, after the Clippers got on the right track, two people have been completely outside of Tyronn Lue's tactical system, the young Hyland and the old Tucker. Tucker had long wanted to leave, and Hyland was also frustrated. If the Clippers can send them away before the trade deadline in exchange for a small lineup at No. 5 (with a large lineup at No. 4 as a substitute), the lineup will be perfect! Of course, Ballmer has already said that the Clippers will definitely make moves during this period.
The second issue is the playing time of the Big Three.Harden played 31 games after coming to the Clippers, without a break. Tyronn Lue tried hard to control Harden's playing time to less than 35 minutes, but in some games, Harden really deserved a rest. The scale of double-team confrontation Harden has faced this season is comparable to that of the Rockets. The opponent would rather let Kawhi and George play countless singles and three-pointers than let Harden control the game. The key is that Harden works too hard on the defensive end, averaging 2.1 interceptions per game and ranking first on the team in defensive real plus-minus. Including George playing 34 games and Leonard playing 32 games, these three brothers cannot afford to be injured in the regular season. For example, in games against the Hornets and Wizards, Westbrook is allowed to play and take risks to nip problems in the bud.
If these two points can be achieved, and Tyronn Lue maintains 10-15 games so that the Big Three can take turns to rest, the Clippers in a healthy state will have no opponent. Of course, the Clippers can lose to the Lakers. After all, the Lakers It's hard to say whether the Clippers can make it to the playoffs, but in a truly high-end game, as long as Kawhi is on the court and Harden is coordinating the overall situation, it's hard to miss. I hope Tyronn Lue won’t care too much about the current record and ranking. After all, the team’s goal is the championship. As for where in the regular season, who cares, it’s not too late to celebrate in June this year!
