Player A: 26 per game8 points 84 rebounds and 44 assists, All-Star start, 26 years old a month short, is in the year of play.
B player: 24 points per game 62 rebounds and 37 assists, an All-Star bench, and 33 years old just over four months away.
If you only look at the basic data, I believe everyone will think that player A is better than player B. So what if I told you that Player A is Tatum and Player B is Leonard? What would you choose?
Therefore, in the era of big data, data is really deceiving. The previous data may still have some reference value, in today's number of rounds and offensive efficiency have reached the highest point in history, the average number of points per game can only prove how good you can score, but not how strong you are.
In the head-to-head confrontation between the Clippers and the Celtics a few days ago, Leonard shot 10 of 15, including 3 of 5 three-pointers, and scored 26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. The data is not**, but the game looks very**, one person dominates the double tanhua and beats the first place in the league without a temper.
Leonard, I don't think he needs to prove how strong he really is. This season, Leonard must be the pinnacle of recent seasons, since 1/1/23, Leonard has played in 81 of the Clippers' last 96 games, with a whopping 84% attendance.
This season, he missed four games in a row due to an unexpected hip injury, and played the rest of the game. If he maintains this form, this could be the healthiest season of Leonard's career.
Against the Pistons today, Leonard once again played a classic "card game", with extremely high efficiency, extremely stable mid-range shots, and led the team to a reversal step by step. When Harden was out of shape and needed someone to step up and replace Harden to lead the team, Leonard stepped up again and led the team in his own way.
He scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first quarter and only made three three-pointers in the second quarter, hitting all of them. In the first half, he was 4-of-4 from three-point range, and in the third quarter, he hit two three-pointers in a row, and his outside shot was 6-of-6 at one point, and after the opening 2-0, he was 10-of-10, and he didn't lose a single one.
And Leonard's three-point shooting is basically ball-holding shooting, fancy dry pulling, step-back three-pointers, can every three-point shot make you sigh that he is a robot? At one point, the Clippers fell behind 22-8 in the opening game, and then Leonard made a strong 2+1 three-point attack, and then assisted Wei Shao to hit a three-point shot, which instantly solved the crisis that the Clippers were about to collapse.
In the second half, it was Leonard's 10 points in a single quarter that allowed the Clippers to build a lead, and he only played 2 minutes in the final quarter. So Leonard's final score was "only" 33 points, which is lower than Embiid and Doncic's points per game average, but are you sure Leonard is weaker than these two?
In this season's Clippers games, Leonard often clocks out with only a dozen points in big wins, and Leonard can often score 30+ with high efficiency in the stalemate games. He's been horribly efficient this season, shooting 52 from the field6% and 43 percent from three-point range9% (9th in the league) and 88 free throw percentage4%, and the free throw percentage almost went into the 180 club.
His three-point shooting percentage tied his career high in the 15-16 season, when Leonard's path to the top began. Considering Leonard's current percentage of three-pointers with the ball, this could really be his best three-point season.
He is now averaging +8 plus/minus per game4, ranking first in the league, which means that the Clippers can win 8 every game when he is on the floor4 points. This statistic, Alexander is 81, Jokic is 74, Embiid is 69。
Of course, there is another statistic worth mentioning, Leonard averages only 41 free throw, compared to Embiid's average of nearly 12 free throws per game. Leonard's breakout ratio is not low at all, and this is a whistle treatment that is really worrying.
This season, more and more people are starting to call Leonard the "God of War Card", because many times he really played like a God of War. He also began to talk trash, such as when he killed people today, he said, "They can't stop me at all." ”
The Clippers have also been getting better and better lately, winning seven of their last eight games. Now the Clippers, Timberwolves, Thunder and Nuggets are an echelon, and anyone has the potential to end up finishing first in the West.
The most important thing, of course, is that both Leonard and the Clippers need to stay healthy and make it to the playoffs. This little broken ship, after so many years of rickety and drifting, looks like it is finally going to ride the wind and waves this year.