On March 5, Beijing time, the Clippers lost to the Bucks 106-113 and suffered a 15-point reversal. Especially in the last half of the fourth quarter, the Clippers were beaten by the opponent in 198 seconds to go on a 15-0 run, and finally completely collapsed. Harden was in good shape, but scored 29 points. The Clippers' slate-quarter problem**, the bearded all-win law also failed to save the Lord, and the free throw shooting performance of the two teams was a rare reversal.
Review of the Clippers Black 198 seconds
With 5:33 left in the fourth quarter, George hit a three-pointer to make it 96-90 and give the Clippers a six-point lead. It looked like the Clippers were in good shape on the road, but the Bucks' madness was not long in coming. With 5 minutes and 16 seconds left before the end of the game, Lillard's key three-pointer was still colored, Beverley also hit a three-pointer, Lillard made a layup, AJ Green hit a long-range three-pointer, Portis scored 4 points in a row, and in just 198 seconds, the Bucks blasted a wave of 15-0 and completely broke the Clippers.
During this time, the Clippers played a lot of iron, and because they played a five-man lineup, they lost control of the rebound. The Death Five is the Clippers' trick, but in the face of the Bucks without a letter brother, they still expose the shortcomings of the interior line.
Speaking after the game, Lue said: "We relied too heavily on the jump shot. We didn't attack the basket, we didn't hit the inside. ”
When the attack of the Death Five is dumb, their disaster comes.
The defense has been at the bottom of the game since February
The Clippers allowed the Bucks to score 40 points in the fourth quarter of this game, and their defense in the final quarter was complained about and questioned. In fact, the Clippers' defensive problems have been in place for many days, only because their record is not bad, so it is overshadowed by a powerful offense.
Official data shows that since Feb. 1 local time, the Clippers' defensive efficiency in the final quarter has been just 1294. Ranked first from the bottom of the 30 teams in the same period, and significantly worse than other teams, the second-to-last 76 people in the same period was 1256。It is worth mentioning that the Clippers' final quarter offensive efficiency (1248) However, it was the first in the league in the same period, and the serious imbalance between offense and defense laid a hidden danger for the Clippers.
Back to this game, the Clippers played smoothly in the first half of the fourth quarter, Harden opened the situation with a breakthrough 2+1 and three-pointers, and once scored 10 points in a row to control the initiative on the court, but when the Bucks' offense started, the Clippers' defensive problems were completely exposed, even if there was no alphabet brother, Lillard and Portis and other benches created huge problems for the Clippers.
Harden's law of all-win failed to savior
Harden was still in good shape this game, contributing 29 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists in the game, shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range. In the final quarter, Harden scored 10 points and George scored 11 points, and they couldn't stop the Bucks' madness.
Before this game, as long as Harden scored at least 24 points, the Clippers had not lost. Previously, Harden scored at least 24 points 10 times, and the Clippers went 10-0, in this game, Harden, who is in excellent form, can't save the Clippers. In addition to the collapse caused by the defense in the final quarter, another cause of the Clippers' defeat was extremely erratic free throws.
Prior to this game, the Clippers were shooting 81 free throws for the season8 percent, which ranks fifth in the league, while the Bucks have a season free throw percentage of 77 percent, which ranks 19th in the league. And in this game, the advantage in free throw percentage is entirely on the Bucks' side.
The Bucks shot 24-of-28 from the field and shot a whopping 857 percent, while the Clippers made just 16 of 25 free throws and shot 64 percent. Harden missed three free throws and George missed four free throws, both of which were very rare, and the Clippers ended up losing by seven points.