Today, the Clippers lost 107-123 at home to the Kings. In the past 7 games, the Clippers lost 7 games and 4 losses, far worse than the previous record, as if they had entered the trough period after trading to Harden, and so far, all the games of the Clippers can be roughly divided into three stages: the first stage is when Harden did not come and when he first came, the lineup needed to run in, so they endured a period of 6 consecutive defeats; In the second stage, after the completion of the run-in, the Clippers experienced a honeymoon period of nearly half a season, losing only 8 of 39 games; The third stage is now.
In fact, the main reason is that there will be a period of excitement after the run-in between the stars enters the state, during which everyone is willing to sacrifice each other and actively fight, but in the past after this exciting period, many problems will be exposed, and it will enter the end of the season, the superstar-packed Clippers are going to do maintenance for the playoffs. For example, against the Kings today, George rested on the grounds of knee discomfort, Powell played the starting lineup in the sixth man, and Leonard rested in the last game against the Warriors before the All-Star break.
Head coach Tyronn Lue is also doing his homework ahead of time for the playoffs, making some adjustments to the roster rotation. For example, today Theis returned to the rotation lineup and played the second group of centers, and Plumlee was once again marginalized and simply did not play today. Tucker, who has been refrigerated for 38 games, is back in the rotation in both games, although still scoreless. Lu said that this rotation adjustment has nothing to do with whether his personal condition is good or bad, he is just trying some different combinations for the playoffs and getting first-hand information for the playoffs.
The West is a strong team this year, from the regular season, the top four Timberwolves, Thunder, Nuggets and Clippers are a notch away from the next few teams, of course, the team that kills out of the West is also most likely to come from the four of them, if you enter the playoffs, the Clippers and the Kings are likely to meet in the first round (fourth and fifth), and today's Kings also decided to play a high-quality game after losing the first two games, so that they have a certain psychological advantage in the face of potential opponents in the playoffs.
At the beginning of the game, Zubac hooked up for the Clippers to take the lead, the Clippers took the lead, Fox and Barnes played to help the Kings return to color, Westbrook and Leonard played late in the quarter to help the Clippers lead to end the first quarter, and the first quarter ended, the Clippers 28-25 Kings. Entering the second quarter, Lyles and Duarte's play helped the Kings complete the comeback, Harden's play helped the Clippers chase closely, Huerter and Sabonis's play in the latter part of the quarter helped the Kings lead into the locker room, and the halftime was over, the Kings 58-51 Clippers.
Yibian fought again, Huerter opened the second half of the game, the Kings played a wave of 12-2 to completely open the difference, Mann and Harden's play helped the Clippers stop the bleeding and close to single digits, Fox and Monk's play helped the Kings lead into the final quarter, and the third quarter ended, the Kings 89-80 Clippers. In the final quarter, Westbrook and Harden's play helped the Clippers retain the last trace of suspense, Monk's play helped the Kings maintain their lead from being eroded, and the play of Fox and Barnes at the critical moment helped the Kings lock up the win, and the Clippers had no choice but to shoot, and the game was over, and the Kings won the Clippers 123-107.
There are some game contents in this game that are worth savoring, among which this ball is very ridiculous, Leonard and Zubac overlapped each other, and they were blocked in front of Xiao Sa, so that Harden faced the dilemma of one defense and two, and Barnes received a pass from Monk and easily scored three points.
To the relief of the Clippers, Zubac was quite effective in treating Xiaosa, except for embarrassing him in the first two games, this game started very well. Zubac doesn't need help to defend Xiaobac, one defense and one can do it, in the first quarter, Xiaosa is 1 of 8, and he is in a hurry in front of Zubac, and he doesn't score the goals that should be scored.
This year's Clippers are aiming to win the championship, and I personally think that the most likely thing in the West is the Nuggets, the Nuggets star quality is high enough, Mr. Yoo is still in strong shape this year, and the team just won the championship last year, and the whole team has learned a lot of playoff experience, and Murray has always been a playoff player. The second is the Clippers, the Clippers have many stars, and their quality is relatively high, Xiang Xiaoka is a famous playoff superstar, and Harden, George and Wei Shao are also very experienced in the playoffs, and their abilities are also more prominent, and the Clippers' problems are in two points, one is that their center Zubac is mediocre, and their potential opponents Timberwolves, Nuggets, etc. are all teams with stars on the inside; The second is health, the recent fluctuations in the Clippers' record are also related to their rotation plan, the playoffs are approaching, it is important to keep the core players fit and healthy, and the Clippers are so dependent on stars. As for the Timberwolves and Thunder, I don't think this year is their year, and the young team's good regular season record is largely due to their young expectations of pursuing the regular season record, and it is also a high win rate piled up with attendance, which can be referred to last year's Kings, who had a very outstanding regular season record last year, but lost to the Warriors in the playoffs.
Whether the Clippers are a pseudo-strong team, whether this year is a successful year for veterans or a year full of regrets, it is up to the players to decide, and Harden, Westbrook and George also need a championship to add the most important stroke to their careers.