On March 7, Beijing time, the NBA regular season Clippers challenged the Rockets away, before the game, the Clippers ranked 4th in the West with 39 wins and 21 losses, while the Rockets were 27 wins and 34 losses ranked 12th in the West. Clippers starters: Harden + Mann + George + Leonard + Zubac, Rockets starters: VanVleet + Jalen Green + Dillon + Jabari + Shin Jing.
In the first quarter of the game, Green scored first on a layup, Zubac missed all kinds of inside, Shen Jing jumped, Mann shot, Harden scored three points, Jabari made one of two free throws, the two sides played very fiercely, Harden made a layup and continued to cut points, and then Jabari, Dillon and George hit all three points, and Van Jordan hit a three-point shot, Green made a layup, at this time the Rockets led by 4 points, Leonard made a jumper, Jabari responded with three points, the Clippers called a timeout, and after coming back, Harden made a layup 2+1, the beard was very aggressive, Amen throws, George three did not stick, Green and Shen Jing scored successively, the Clippers were blown up inside, with Shen Jing making up the basket, the difference came to 10 points, the White Devils and Powell exchanged three points, Hyland scored a layup, and the Clippers fell behind by 8 points in the single quarter 19-27.
Harden had 8 points and 2 rebounds in the first quarter, the White Devils missed three consecutive points in the second quarter, Landale made a basket, George pressed the whistle and threw it, Zubac hooked his hand, Kofei made a foul, the difference was 4 points, Holiday scored three points and the White Devils dunked with one arm to stop the bleeding for the Rockets, Amen also hit a layup, the difference was 11 points, the White Devils made a layup, Harden, Powell and Leonard did not score three points, the White Devils went down to earth and scored 5 points in a row, Holiday and Van Jordan were outside**, at this time the Rockets actually led by 20 points, Mann scored three points to stop the bleeding for the Clippers, Zubac dunked and dunked, Leonard and Shin Jing scored on each other's shots, Powell hit a three-point shot, Harden made a layup, Dillon responded with five consecutive points, Leonard made a layup, Van Jordan was capped, George hit an iron shot, and the Clippers beat the Rockets 44-57 at halftime.
In the halftime, Leonard contributed 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, George 2 points and 4 rebounds, Zubac 3 points and 5 rebounds, Mann 5 points, Harden 10 points and 4 rebounds, and Powell 6 points. On the Rockets' side, Dillon had 5 points and 3 assists, Jabari had 6 points, Shin Jing had 9 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, Jalen Green had 7 points and 2 rebounds, VanVleet had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, Whitmore had 12 points, Amen had 4 points and 2 rebounds, and Holiday had 6 points and 2 assists.
Yibian fought again, Jabari hit three points at the beginning, George, Mann and Plumlee scored successively, the Clippers finally chased to single digits, Van Jordan responded with three points, Plumlee dunked in the air, George scored three points, the Clippers fought back tenaciously, the Rockets were not to be outdone, Jabari hit two free throws, Green and Mann soared three points, George shot again, Jabari responded with three points, the difference was 11 points, George scored three points again, he suddenly recovered in this quarter, Green 2+1, Mann dunked, Green made a layup, Theis dunked with both hands, Leonard made a foul, Theis ate cake, Hyland made a layup, the Clippers played a wave at the end of the quarter, Shen Jing hooked his hand to stop the bleeding, Dillon also made a shot, Leonard also responded with a shot, and the Rockets ended the third quarter 86-80 Clippers.
At the beginning of the critical last quarter, Shen Jing scored 4 points in a row, Harden made a three-point foul and made three free throws, Harden scored a layup again, Plumlee made a basket, Harden made a layup, George outside **, Plumlee dunked, Leonard hit a three-point shot, the difference was only 2 points, Shen Jing hooked his hand to stabilize the situation, Powell shot, Van Jordan also shot, Leonard and Powell kept scoring, after the Clippers tied Shen Jing made two free throws to stop the bleeding, the Clippers directly five small lineup at the critical moment, Plumlee missed two free throws, George three points overtake, Leonard jumped to create 2+1, Van Jordan continued his life with three points, Shen Jing missed two free throws, Van Jordan made technical fouls, George made three free throws, Leonard stole Green, Harden made all four free throws to end the suspense, and finally the Clippers defeated the Rockets 122-116 and completed a 20-point reversal.
I have to say that it is not easy for the Clippers to win, they are up to 20 points behind, looking at the whole court, the Clippers mainly exposed the two shortcomings of being blown up on the inside and playing more singles, the game is actually ugly, and winning is not worth celebrating, you must know that the Rockets are still back-to-back today, and the Clippers should win easily.
In terms of statistics, Leonard scored 28 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, and the small card was still stable and stood up at critical moments. Harden was 6 of 13, 1 of 5 three-pointers, 8 of 8 free throws contributed 21 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 turnovers, and the desire to attack in the first half was very strong, but the third quarter became a non-offensive again, and Harden scored 11 points in the final quarter.
George had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers, he had no touch in the first half, and scored 10 points in the third quarter. Mann played 15 points and 2 rebounds well, hitting 3 three-pointers, and Zubac had 3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, which was blown up by Shin Jing. Theis had 6 points, 1 rebound and 1 block, Powell had 12 points and 2 rebounds, Plumlee had 8 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks, and Hyland had 6 points. Since the All-Star, the Clippers seem to have returned to when Harden first came, the tactics were chaotic, the Clippers had 19 assists in the whole game, and there were often scenes of one person holding the ball and four people watching the show, so it was impossible to win the championship if it continued. After beating the Rockets, the Clippers are still ranked fourth in the West, and although they won, they need to reflect.
Rocket data, Shen Jing 23 points, 19 rebounds, 14 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers, got a triple-double for the fourth time in his career, and completely exploded the Clippers' interior line, in addition, according to statistics, Shen Jing scored at least 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the half, becoming the first person in the history of the Rockets since Harden in 20 years. Jalen Green 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 turnovers, playing decently, Green needs to shoot fewer three-pointers and break more, Jabari 19 points and 2 rebounds, VanVleet 15 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, Dillon 11 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, Whitmore 17 points and 2 rebounds, Amen 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. The Rockets lost too badly, and they remained in 12th place in the West after this game.