First, the Clippers fell into passivity at the beginning.
On December 22, the NBA regular season continued to be exciting. The Los Angeles Clippers, a strong team in the West, challenged the rising star Oklahoma City Thunder. This game has attracted much attention, because the two teams are evenly matched, and the Clippers have also played a nine-game winning streak, which makes fans look forward to a suspenseful performance.
However, what everyone didn't expect was that the Clippers fell into trouble from the beginning and were completely passive. Their star striker Kawaii Leonard is out injured, which is undoubtedly a loss. On the other side, Paul George ushered in a comeback, but he felt cold when he came up, and he shot seven times. Throughout the first quarter, the Clippers players all had a bad hand, the three-point shot was a hard injury, and they couldn't break through the inside, and they were completely locked up by the Thunder.
At this time, the Thunder had already taken the initiative, and they opened the score naturally. Outside three-pointers were shot one after another, and the Clippers came to grab the defense, but they were all half a beat slow. The Thunder's offense was wave after wave, and the Clippers couldn't parry it at all, falling behind 35-29 in the first quarter of the game, and were once pulled out of a 16-point gap. This start is really unimaginably miserable for the Clippers.
Second, the Clippers are struggling to support.
Fortunately, the Clippers didn't give up easily, and in the second half they adjusted their state and struggled to try to keep up with the Thunder's rhythm. Harden hit consecutive three-pointers to cheer up his teammates, and Paul George was also active on the inside, gradually regaining his touch. Little by little, the Clippers were closing in on the difference, and by halftime, they had recovered the margin to single digits.
This wave relied on the hard work of the Clippers players, who struggled to open the situation on the inside, kept stealing, and prevented the Thunder's offense. Even though the overall feel was still cold, they knew how to take advantage of the opportunity. The Clippers continued to find holes in critical moments, penetrated the score, and finally chased the score closer, only trailing by five points at halftime, and everyone was relieved.
3. The nightmare of losing points reappears.
However, just as the second half began, the game once again fell into an unexpected situation. The Clippers once relied on the three-pointers of Paul George and Harden to overtake the points, and for a while it seemed that they were going to take the situation back. But at this critical juncture, the Thunder launched a crazy counterattack.
They were in complete control of the tempo, scoring back-to-back points inside and hitting all three-pointers from the perimeter. The Clippers are in an offensive predicament, it's like falling into a nightmare, losing points every second!For more than three minutes, the Thunder bombarded the Clippers with a wave of 19-2. It's a nightmare!The Clippers were no longer able to recover, and the whole piece fell.
The Clippers conceded 45 points in this quarter, which was simply unstoppable. Harden had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and George had 22 points, but he was powerless in the face of the Thunder's crazy offense. Speed, fitness, and shooting are all in the Thunder's victory. Are the Clippers' back-to-back high-intensity games too draining the players' condition?This seems to be the biggest reason why they are in trouble.
100 Helping Plan Fourth, summarize and look forward.
By the end of the fourth quarter, the Clippers' 92-109 loss was a foregone conclusion. They had just won nine consecutive victories and were like a rainbow, but they didn't expect it to come to an abrupt end. This road trip is undoubtedly a painful lesson for the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Thunder is impressive, they have two people breaking 20+, and the Clippers' defense is out of order, and they are completely unable to resist this wave of offense. The game revealed the Clippers' fitness issues, which have slipped through high-intensity rotations. So, how do they adjust next and regroup to fight again?Let's wait and see!