Leonard 26+4, Sika 12 of 20, Harden with tears in his eyes, Wei Shaocheng is the only fig leaf
On March 26, Beijing time, the NBA regular season Clippers hosted the Pacers, Wei Shao returned, before the game, the Clippers ranked 4th in the West with 44 wins and 26 losses, while the Pacers were 40 wins and 32 losses ranked 6th in the East, the Pacers were back-to-back, and lost to the Lakers not long ago. Clippers starters: Harden + Mann + George + Leonard + Zubac, Pacers starters: Haliburton + Nembhard + Shepard + Siakam + Turner.
At the beginning of the game, Turner hooked his hand, George scored 6 points in a row with a jumper, Mann made a layup, Sika on the Pacers side also scored continuously, Haliburton hit a three-point shot, Zubac made a basket, Sika made a layup, the score was tied at 11, Harden made a layup, Turner scored three points, Harden jumped and hit again, Powell fired outside, Wei Shao assisted Zubac to throw, the Clippers led by 4 points, Turner made one of two free throws, Powell hit another three points, Leonard scored a jumper, Haliburton scored three points from a distance, Powell responded with a free throw, the difference was 7 points, McConaughey scored 6 points in a row to lead the team to counterattack, Leonard also scored 5 points in a row to respond, Toppin dunked with both hands, Powell did not score three points, Leonard made two free throws to seize the opportunity, Wei Shao stepped back to hit a three-point iron, and the Clippers led by five points at 34-29 in the first quarter.
Leonard had 9 points and 2 assists in the first quarter, Sika made a foul in the second quarter, Wei Shao jumped, Walker hit a three-point shot, Wei Shao responded with another free throw, McConaughey jumped, George shot, the two sides played fiercely during this time, Walker Tomahawk split dunk, Powell tossed, McConaughey and Wei Shao scored each other's layups, the point difference was delayed, the score was tied at 44 after Sika throwing, Zubac ate cake, George hit a three-point shot, Sika and Nembhard on the Pacers side were also scoring, Leonard throws, Haliburton three-point overtake, George splits dunk, Nembhard shoots, Haliburton and Mann soar three-point, Zubac dunks with both hands, Turner fires outside, Leonard throws in response, Harden hits iron with three pointsHaliburton didn't have a three-pointer, and the Clippers beat the Pacers 62-65 at halftime.
Halftime statistics, Leonard 13 points and 3 assists, George 13 points, Powell 10 points, Zubac 8 points and 10 rebounds, Mann 6 points and 3 rebounds, Harden 4 points and 4 assists, Coffey 2 points and 2 rebounds, Westbrook 6 points and 4 assists. On the Pacers' side, Siakam had 14 points and 2 rebounds, Turner had 11 points and 5 rebounds, Nembhard had 7 points, Haliburton had 15 points and 5 assists, Walker had 5 points, and McConaughey had 10 points.
Yibian fought again, Turner scored 5 points in a row at the beginning of the game with three points + rebound, Leonard jumped, Turner could still score three points, but it was Leonard who threw to stop the bleeding, the difference was 7 points, Harden scored two free throws, Sika dunked, Walker hit a three-point shot, the difference was 10 points, and Leonard was 2+1, Turner dunked, Powell and Wei Shao scored successively, the Pacers Toppin three-point shot, Wei Shao dunked to stop the bleeding again, George also hit a jumper, Shepard made a foul, Wei Shao scored a rebound, and then Leonard hit a shot in the face of the bag, Turner made a foul, Wei Shao also made a foul, Toppin made a dunk, Shepard made a layup, Powell threw to stop the bleeding, Sika Gan pulled a jump shot + mid-range shot and kept scoring, Leonard jumped in response, Leonard shot out at the end of the quarter, and the Clippers 88-97 Pacers at the end of the third quarter.
At the beginning of the crucial final quarter, Sika singled out Harden and scored an easy jumper, but it was not over, Sika dunked and continued to cut points, Smith made a layup, Harden made a three-point foul to help the Clippers stop the bleeding, but the Pacers played with momentum, Sika, McConaughey and Shepard played a wave, the difference actually came to 20 points, Powell jumped to stop the bleeding, Smith dunked and Sika made a layup to respond, Harden made a shot, and the result was Sika scored three points, the Clippers couldn't do anything about him, Leonard made a layup and was hatted by Smith, although the Clippers did not give up, but unfortunately the difference was too big to catch up, Lu Gui changed to the bench lineup, Harden sat on the bench with tears in his eyes, very uncomfortable, and finally the Clippers lost 116-133 to the Pacers.
The Clippers are really disappointing to us, you must know that the Lakers defeated the Pacers not long ago, and this time the Pacers are back-to-back, the Clippers still can't win, is the Lakers too strong? Or is the Clippers overestimated? Looking at the whole game, the low shooting rate from the outside, the defense is like paper paste, and Harden is sluggish, these are the main reasons for the Clippers to lose.
In terms of statistics, Leonard made 11 of 18, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 3 of 3 free throws to get 26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 3 turnovers. Zubac had 9 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists, Mann had 6 points and 3 assists, and Harden had 11 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists on 3-of-7 shooting and 5-of-5 free throws.
Frankly speaking, Harden's current playing style is very problematic, first of all, he didn't dare to shoot on the offensive end, he was too hesitant, and there were opportunities in several rounds, but Harden just didn't shoot. Secondly, Harden's pace of play is too slow, often in the half of the court has to consume close to 8 seconds, resulting in the Clippers offensive end is not smooth enough, Harden is in a worrying situation, if he still plays this way, the offseason Clippers may not renew him, I hope Harden can quickly reflect, increase aggressiveness, speed up, these two points Harden must adjust.
Wei Shao contributed 14 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, and was in very good shape after his comeback, becoming a fig leaf for the Clippers, Powell had 22 points and 3 rebounds, and Coffey had 2 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block. Since the All-Star, the Clippers have given us the feeling that the strength has declined seriously, and in the top four of the entire West, only the Clippers have a winning rate of less than 50% after the All-Star, and it is tantamount to a fool's dream to win the championship with this kind of strength, if they meet the Pelicans in the first round, the Clippers are afraid that they will be more than lucky, or as mentioned earlier, Harden's attitude can best determine the strength of the Clippers, and the beard must recognize the reality.
Pacers stats: Turner 24 points and 7 rebounds, Haliburton 21 points, 9 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers, Siakam 12-of-20, 1-of-2 three-pointers, 6-of-8 free throws for 31 points, 4 rebounds and 2 turnovers, Nembhard 9 points, Shepard 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, McConaughey 15 points and 6 assists. After beating the Clippers, the Pacers remained in sixth place in the East, while the Clippers were overtaken by the Pelicans and dropped to fifth in the West.