The Clippers suffered an unexpected loss, Zion's performance was eye-catching, and Harden returned to his peak form!
On February 8, Beijing time, the Clippers challenged the Pelicans on the road and finally lost the game 117-106. The Clippers have won four games in a row, and the losses of the Thunder and Timberwolves have made them the first in the West, but their strength is not as strong as imagined, so they must continue to win, and in this game, their opponent is the Pelicans, and their strength is still very strong, so it is difficult for them to easily defeat the Pelicans.
In the first quarter, Varan led the team to take the lead, and then Zubac shot again, but after that, the Pelicans began a 9-0 mini-climax, after the end, Harden shot two three-pointers in succession, McCollum immediately returned the color, but Leonard and Harden still maintained the lead, however, the Pelicans launched a 6-0 mini-surge again, and after Murphy's three-point explosion, they extended the gap to 12 points! At this time, the Pelicans also won by 12 points. After a brief pause, Murphy scored three consecutive three-pointers to end the first half with a 17-point advantage. In the second quarter, Powell and Wei Shao equalized the score for the Clippers, and then the two teams began to attack wildly, and the Pelicans still occupied a double-digit lead, but it was a pity that Harden's hand was too good and he didn't give them much chance until he entered the second half, Zubac and Kobe Bryant both shot three-pointers, and the Pelicans had an 8-point lead.
In the third quarter, George led the Clippers to tie the score, but soon, the Pelicans began a crazy counterattack, Leonard shot two 2 free throws, leading by 5 points, but Jones's three points helped the team stabilize the situation, in the second quarter, Zubac and Wei Shao successively scored in the restricted area, Leonard completed a slam dunk, but at the last moment, Kemccollum shot another three-pointer, so that the Clippers have a sense of comeback. Daniels scored on the defensive end, and after the third quarter, the Pelicans won by 10 points. In the fourth quarter, the Clippers returned a wave of 5-0 mini-climax, but under the leadership of Harden, they won again, however, Alvarado and McCollum's three-pointers, the Pelicans once again had a 12-point advantage, and McCollum's three-pointer also allowed them to narrow the gap to 16 points, and then, they saw the hope of defeat, they chose to abstain, and in the end, they were eliminated! Pelicans was the only one to borrow money from Perican.
In this game, the Pelicans played very well, Zion made three consecutive points in the restricted area, Murphy's dunk, widening the score, McCollum's three points, put the Clippers in a desperate situation, Zion's layup, limiting their offense, McCollum's outside dunk, locked the score on Zion, Zion 21 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists, McCollum 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, Ingram 15 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. In this game, George suffered a groin injury, George was 3-of-15, 7 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists, and only 0-of-8 of 3 three-pointers.
In this game, Harden played his own state, Harden's outburst made the team overtake the score, and Harden was short of people, George was injured, Leonard did not have a good performance, Harden got 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in 6 of 11, Leonard cut 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 4 of 10. After this game, their weaknesses have been revealed, there is a problem with their three-point line, even the return of Zubac cannot completely solve their weaknesses, and Zion and other players are constantly creating space for them, so that they can't get three points at all, so they are so aggrieved.