On January 30, Beijing time, the NBA regular season Clippers challenged the Cavaliers away, before the game, the Clippers ranked 3rd in the West with 30 wins and 14 losses, while the Cavaliers were 27 wins and 16 losses ranked 5th in the East. Clippers starting lineup: Harden + Mann + George + Leonard + Plumlee, Cavaliers starters: Okoro + Mitchell + Strus + Mobley + Allen.
In the first quarter of the game, Mitchell hit a three-point shot at the beginning, Leonard responded with a jumper, Plumlee hat Allen, the shooting rate of both sides was not high, Allen ate cakes, Okoro made a layup, George, Leonard and Plumlee were also scoring, Mitchell hit the board, Leonard fouled 2 early, and came back from a timeout, Strus scored three points, the Cavaliers led by 4 points, Powell hit two free throws, Plumlee made one of two free throws, Mitchell and Niang responded with three consecutive points, the Clippers rebound was exploded, and it was very difficult to play, with Mobley making a layup, The difference was 9 points, Powell and Coffey teamed up to stop the bleeding, LeVert made a layup, Leonard scored a step-back jumper, Wei Shao missed the pass, and Theis hit a three-point iron, and the Clippers trailed by 3 points at 25-28 in the first quarter.
Leonard scored eight points in the first quarter and Harden didn't score one. In the second quarter, Wei Shao hit a layup, Powell hit two three-pointers in a row, the Clippers overtook him, LeVert made a layup, Okoro hit a three-point shot, Mobley split a dunk with one arm, Harden responded to the layup, Okoro scored three points again, the score was 38 draws, Kofei 3+1, Allen tossed, Mann outside **, Leonard scored 6 points in a row, Mitchell stepped on the line on the Cavaliers' side and hit a three-point shot, at this time the Clippers led by 7 points, Leonard's single was simply unsolvable, Mitchell made a foul, Dean Wade chased three points to 51 draws, and then Harden made consecutive mistakes, Okoro made a free throw, Leonard missed a three-point shot, Harden actually dribbled for 8 seconds to violate, Powell missed a three-point shot, Okoro made a three-point shot, and the Clippers beat the Clippers 52-56 Cavaliers at halftime.
Halftime statistics, Leonard 14 points and 4 rebounds, Plumlee 3 points and 3 rebounds, Mann 5 points, Harden 4 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists are sleepwalking, George 3 points did not play well, Powell 10 points, Wei Shao 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. On the Cavaliers' side, Okoro scored 17 points, including 13 points in the second quarter, Mobley 4 points and 4 rebounds, Allen 8 points and 9 rebounds, Mitchell 14 points and 6 assists, and LeVert 4 points.
Yibian fought again, Strus made a layup at the beginning, George scored 4 points in a row, Mobley dunked with both hands, Leonard made a basket, the two sides went back and forth, but the Cavaliers have maintained a slight lead, Leonard made free throws to overtake, Wade responded with three points, Harden couldn't prevent Mitchell, was casually passed, Wei Shao made a layup, the two sides began to tug of war, Leonard and Strus soared each other for three points, Mitchell 2 + 1, Coffey outside **, Allen dunked with one arm, the score was alternately leading, Harden was completely out of shape, unable to attack and defend, Wei Shao made a layup, LeVert and Powell exchanged three points, Mitchell made a layup, Wei Shao made a passing error, LeVert made a layup, Leonard missed a three-point shot, and LeVert scored a three-point blast at the whistle, and the Clippers 81-89 Cavaliers ended the third quarter.
At the beginning of the critical last quarter, Powell was outside**, Niang also responded with three points, Mobley ate cakes, Niang made fouls, the difference was 10 points, Harden and Wei Shao took turns to play iron with three points, Strus hit three points again, the Clippers were not good, Wei Shao made a layup to stop the bleeding, Harden shot three points and finally went in, it was not easy, but then Strus faced Harden to make a three-point foul, Leonard cut 4 points in a row, and sure enough, you have to look at the small card, the Clippers chased to single digits, Allen made two free throws to stop the bleeding for the Clippers, George left the court with 6 fouls, Wei Shao made a layup to chase a 5-point difference, at the critical moment, Coffey made 2+1, Mitchell responded with a jumper, Powell missed three points, Allen 2+1 ended the suspense of the victory, Wei Shao made a mistake with his butter hand, and finally the Clippers lost to the Cavaliers 108-118 and missed the reversal.
Clippers stats: Leonard was 13 of 25, 2 of 7 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws and scored 30 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. George had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, including 0 of 5 three-pointers, and he was too iron to watch, and he graduated with 6 fouls in the final quarter.
Harden got 11 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 turnovers in 3 of 8, and the beard didn't seem to wake up in this game, all kinds of hesitations on the offensive end, Mitchell was blown up on the defensive end, and there was an 8-second dribble violation, Harden and George are undoubtedly sinners in losing, but as long as there is a normal point of play, maybe the Clippers will win. Plumlee had 5 points and 5 rebounds, and the interior couldn't defend the Cavaliers twin towers, Mann had 5 points and 2 steals, and Willis had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 turnovers.
Looking at the whole game, the Clippers exposed a fatal shortcoming, that is, they are afraid of the team with strong interior strength, before losing to the Timberwolves, the Clippers were also blown up on the inside, unable to prevent it, and unable to grab rebounds, even if Zubac comes back, I am afraid the problem will not be solved, Zubac is not good at protecting the frame after all, and besides, the Clippers rely too much on Leonard, and it turns out that only small cards can play tough battles, and Harden and George are easy to lag behind.
Of course, the Clippers also gained from the loss, Powell contributed 18 points and 3 rebounds, Coffey 13 points, the two benches played very well, Theis 4 rebounds and 5 assists. I hope Harden and George can be ** as soon as possible, just relying on small cards is not enough, after this battle, the Clippers' 5-game winning streak was ended, and the ranking fell to 4th in the West, but the game between the Nuggets and the Bucks is still ongoing, and the outcome of this game may affect the Clippers' ranking.
Cavaliers stats: Mitchell 28 points, 4 rebounds and 12 assists, playing Harden is really a hit, the bearded footsteps can't keep up, Okoro 17 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists, Allen 20 points and 17 rebounds, Mobley 10 points and 9 rebounds, Strus 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, LeVert 13 points and 3 assists. After beating the Clippers, the Cavaliers' record improved to 28-16.