A new season of sports
Harden is now playing like a fish in water in the Clippers' tactical system, and Leonard has been greatly liberated on the offensive end, with Harden leading the team forward, the Clippers' hopes of competing for a championship this season have greatly increased. On February 5, 2024, Beijing time, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Miami Heat 103-95. Harden had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists, Leonard had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, and Butler had 21 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
For the Clippers, the team is going all out to hit the first place in the West after gradually getting on the right track, and in terms of current form, the Clippers are obviously ahead of all opponents in the West. Leonard started the game on offense, and Harden tried his best to connect the team's offense, and the Clippers quickly took the lead. As the toughest team in the league, the Heat obviously won't be easily pulled away by the Clippers, and they quickly took advantage of the misalignment of the interior to score consecutive points and form a stalemate with the Clippers.
The Heat suffered a seven-game losing streak some time ago, and the team has been blamed from many quarters for this. However, in terms of results, the Heat are not much worse, and Butler has responded to all doubts with efficient scoring performances in the last two games. The Heat are not a team that is good at offense, and their biggest strength is still defense and biting in the stalemate phase of the game. It's just that in the face of the Clippers with strong offensive firepower, the Heat also need to use offense to compete with their opponents, but unfortunately the absence of Herro and Robinson has greatly reduced the Heat's offensive firepower.
Fortunately, the Heat also have Butler and Adebayo, especially Adebayo, who has an advantage on the inside. Facing the interior of Plumlee and Theis, Adebayo helped the Heat maintain their offensive advantage with his stable mid-range shot, while Butler's mid-range shot also hit steadily. In the first three quarters of the game, the Heat and the Clippers were inextricably matched, and the Clippers didn't seem to be at full strength.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Clippers finally made a move, especially Harden. In the face of Butler's defense, Harden directly hit a three-point shot, and in the next round, Harden faced Rozier's defense with a three-point shot, and at the same time caused the opponent to foul, at this time the Clippers' lead has reached 13 points, and Riley, who was watching the game from the sidelines, was even more pale. After that, the Heat started chasing points again, but because they couldn't find a shooting percentage on the outside, the Heat's counterattack could not be continued. Richardson and Butler combined for a steal, and Bam Adebayo scored a dunk to close the gap to seven points. Harden's pass was stealed by Butler, Rozier's three-pointer missed, and George went to the free throw line to hit it safely. Butler made a three-pointer from a drift and Harden hit one of two free throws. Butler singled out Leonard to score 2+1, George hit two free throws, Butler missed three points, and the game completely lost suspense. In the end, the Clippers won on the road against the Heat.