The Warriors beat the Clippers 120-114 at home, and the Clippers were unable to win despite the unavailability of Paul, Wiggins and Payton Jr. Harden has been running in with the Clippers for a while, and that's what it sounds like to put it mildly. The Clippers' staffing determines the height of Harden's run-in. At the end of the day, the Clippers' ball is harder to distribute than Harden thought. George and Leonard said that they can play without the ball in 3D, but in fact, they both need the ball.
On the bright side, Harden seems to have been quite successful when he worked with Durant Irving when he was with the Nets, and the team won 80% when the Big Three combined. And Ka Pepper seems to be similar to Durant and Irving, but judging from the current run-in process, Harden's influence on reaching the Nets' Big Three is minimal. The first is the decline of Harden's own offense, plus the different factions of the team. George clearly prefers to play with Wei Shao, who was cut last season, and it was George who forced the Clippers to sign him.
So Tyronn Lue's strategy has always been Leonard with Harden and George with less. On the one hand, it is from the distribution of the ball, and on the other hand, it is about taking care of George. So it's hard for Harden to attack or not to attack, how to do himself, and there is no accurate direction. For example, in the last game against the Kings, Harden began to be himself, he was aggressive from the first quarter, and finally the Clippers beat the Kings by a big margin. But George's words after the game were very demoralizing, he was not surprised by Harden's performance, but said that he had to figure everything out, he didn't want to make sacrifices, and he didn't adapt to the reduction of the ball.
So in the face of the Warriors, Harden stopped attacking again, he shot 6 of 13, 5 of 10 three-pointers and scored 18 points and 7 assists, which actually felt good, while George scored 15 points on 6 of 18 shots. From the beginning of Harden's offensive strengthening, George's performance has plummeted, and you don't believe it if you say it's not that he deliberately messed up. In the face of Thompson, who was in very average form this season, George was completely suppressed, and even showed off his strength against George's defense. In the final quarter, Thompson beat George violently, three points, mid-range shots, and fast break 2+1 to score 10 points in a row.
We can only say that the Clippers are very deep, not that the Warriors are too strong, after all, the Splash Brothers only scored 43+18+10, of which Thompson scored 22 points and Curry had 26 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. The Clippers have too many problems right now, with George and Harden fighting for the ball, and Westbrook leading the team to the second team and always losing points. And Harden is always constantly trained by the lights tactical at critical moments, to put it bluntly, this is Harden's pot?Of course, it's his pot, after all, he can't even prevent his own opposition as a defender, and he is passed by one step.
But if you want to say that Harden is not in the whole pot, after all, when he was with the Rockets, when he was with the Nets, and when he was in Philadelphia, the opponent did not always focus on the weaknesses of Harden's small guard who couldn't keep up. To put it bluntly, it's because George is unwilling to give his all, and the Clippers' defense has no system. A team with George and Leonard, plus a Mann, these are the top three defensive giants, and that doesn't give Harden a leg up on the defensive end.
Perhaps Harden's appointment of the Clippers is the stupidest thing to do, because staying in Philadelphia is at least a good fit for you. Philadelphia can give you absolute control, and then the point guard has Maxey to attack, and Philadelphia has also strengthened Oubre to play the No. 3 position in the offseason, and this man can move quickly and help defend. There are also the Great and Harris on the inside, which also covers up Harden's flaws to a certain extent. With Melton and Beverley on the bench, Philadelphia is theoretically more comfortable staying in Philadelphia than intriguing with the Clippers. You don't need to share the ball with Wei Shao, you don't need to think about how to balance Ka Jiao's shots. In terms of contract, how can you get an annual salary of 30 million if you stay in Philadelphia, but now the value of Harden in the Clippers is beaten to 20 million and the annual salary is not enough.