The NBA regular season continues, the Clippers' winning streak has finally come to an end, and today they sit at home to take on the Pelicans. However, the team's big three performances were average, and the Pelicans Youth Army had explosive offensive firepower, and the Clippers lost 106-117 in the end. They also fell from 1st in the West to 4th in the West in an instant, and I have to say that the competition is too fierce. Despite not being able to extend the victory, for Harden, he still reached a milestone today. He ranks 15th all-time in career assists, so how far is he from the top 10?
The Pelicans core performed well in this game, and CJ McCollum felt hot, and hit a gorgeous stat of 25 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Jones contributed 13 points, and Ingram didn't shoot much, handing in a comprehensive answer with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Zain finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds and 10 assists on 7-of-16 shooting. Valanciunas had eight points on the net, while Murphy and Daniels of the bench also scored in double figures. The team shot 54% from the field and finally defeated the Clippers on offense.
For the Clippers, George was completely lost in this game, shooting only 3 of 15 from the field, and got 12 points + 8 rebounds. Leonard was also out of shape, scoring 15 points on 10 shots. Mann contributed five points, and Zubac played well, handing over 12 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-5 shooting. Willis off the bench scored just four points, with the best performers being Harden and Powell, with Harden churning in 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Powell came off the bench and scored 18 points efficiently.
No one on the team scored 20 points, so it was naturally difficult to beat the Pelicans. Harden played 38 minutes in this game, and after delivering these five assists, he also had a record night. Before this game, Harden's assists were 7,392, ranking 16th all-time, and now his assists have reached 7,397, surpassing the famous Cheeks and ranking 15th all-time.
Although Harden is labeled as a super scorer, he is also a playmaking guru, and back in 2017, Harden averaged 291 point 81 rebound 11With 2 assists, he was successfully crowned as the assist king. Last year with the 76ers, he averaged 21 points per game and 61 rebound 107 assists, once again won the honor of assist king. Winning the assist title twice is enough to prove how good his playmaking skills are.
And before Harden, there are Rondo, Strickland, Miller Sr., Payton, and the smiling assassin Thomas. Among them, the smiling assassin Thomas ranks 10th on the all-time assists list, and he has 9,061 assists in his career. Harden is currently 1,669 assists away from the Smiling Assassins, and now he has made a transformation into an organization. This season he is averaging 85 assists, based on this performance, it will take about 197 games to enter the ranks of the top 10 assists in history, which will take about 4 seasons. So Harden has to play until he is at least 38 years old to have a chance to be in the top 10 of the all-time assists list.