Will the Los Angeles Clippers be the favorites this year? From 3-7 at the beginning, Harden suffered consecutive defeats after joining, to 30-8 in the back, and came to the top three in the West. The Clippers, who have terrifying strength, gradually showed their muscles. Jr. is the backbone of the Clippers, who has scored 30+ five times this season and maintained zero turnovers, which is the most in the league. After the arrival of Harden, George and Xiaoka were liberated, they only need to do a good job of offense and defense, and the task of connecting the whole team is with Harden.
The top five plus/minus in the league, the Clippers have four. Harden.
First, the small card is second, George is tied for third, and Powell is fifth. The Clippers fully demonstrated the effect of 1+1+1 being greater than 3. Xiaoka's individual singles, coupled with a strong individual defensive ability; George's breakaway and projection and wing assistance, Harden's big-picture vision and top passers have gradually put the Clippers on the line, and they are the most likely of the four California brothers to win the championship.
Compared to the faster ships, the Warriors are in a difficult situation. Even if Curry is a god and scores 60 points in a single game, it will be difficult to win. For the Warriors, Kuminga's growth has given Curry an extra helper. But Klay has never been able to find form, which is a serious injury to the existence of the team.
Although I don't want to face it, it's a fact. Today's Clay is a three-no person. There's no projection, no athleticism, no defense, he's just frying old rice. When he received passes from his teammates, he still had the same strong shots as before, but most of them ended in iron. But as long as he is replaced with a normal No. 2 position, the Warriors can also win this game against the Hawks.
Now that Wiggins is out injured, Paul has been unable to return for a long time, and Moody is still some time away from paying, Klay can't find his form back. Cole had used almost every trick he could. If it doesn't work, you can start all over again. Dunleavy could trade Wiggins + Klay or even Paul and Moody in exchange for instant power. With some games to play, the Warriors can advance to the play-in tournament and maybe have a chance to play in the playoffs.
Turning their attention to the Lakers, the Lakers won again in the face of the Knicks, a dark horse who won nine in a row. As Lao Zhan said two days ago, the Lakers can win any team's game, and they can be beaten by any team. After playing the Knicks, James' all-time total points came to 39,771 points, 229 points away from the 40,000-point mark. In this situation, a game against the Clippers in March, perhaps at the end of February, could set a career scoring record of 40,000 points. It can be said that there is no one before, and it is difficult to have someone in the future.
However, the Lakers should not be too complacent, and with the injury report coming out, Vanderbilt's situation is not optimistic. There is a possibility that he will have surgery and miss the whole season. The Lakers have one less defensive stalwart like this, which will have an impact on Ham's tactical arrangement and the Lakers' schedule in the second half of the season.
The Lakers will have to do their best to win the next games. In addition, you can reuse Christie and Hayes and Hachimura, they are all hard work on the defensive end, and you can't expect the 39-year-old Zhan to play 40 minutes in every game. Ham is going to change the rotation and play a little more for whoever can defend.