In the finale of the Christmas War today, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated their Denver Nuggets in last year’s playoffs. However, this year’s Clippers looked like a brand new look. They played quite a lot of dominance throughout the game, and finally beat the Gold Nuggets 121-108 to win 2 consecutive victories. It was the revenge of losing to the opponent in the Western Conference semi-final game last season. However, in this game, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was injured by teammate Serge Ibaka’s elbow in the fourth quarter.
Paul George continued high-end in this game, shooting 8 of 14, 5 of 9 3-pointers, 23 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Leonard was injured, 8 of 14 shots, 21 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Ibaka shot 6 of 9. Nikolas Batum made 2 of 3 3-pointers and scored 15 points. Nikolas Batum played 2 of 5 3-pointers and scored 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
On the gold nugget side, Nikola Jokic scored 24 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds on 7 of 13 shots, and had 5 turnovers. Jamal Murray made 9 of 20 shots, 4 of 11 three-pointers and 23 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Porter scored 4 of 9 shots. With 10 points, Will Barton had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
PG performed quite well in this campaign, continuing the fiery touch of the last game against the Lakers. We seem to be unable to equate this season’s PG with that of last season. From the player’s point of view, the Clippers were eliminated by the gold nuggets in the Western Conference Champions last season.
Get up from wherever you fell. Whether it was against the Lakers in the opening game or against the gold nuggets today, PG has played a superstar performance. The Lakers came forward at the decisive moment in the second half, and the gold nuggets laid the foundation for the Clippers.
In the case of Leonard’s sluggish start, PG scored 10 points in the first quarter and played the role of the offensive arrow and passing point, which completely activated the Clippers’ offense. PG also did a good job defensively. If he can maintain, he will have a chance to compete for MVP.
As a superstar, Leonard played very well in the second and third quarters. He also did a very good job of organizing passes, creating a lot of easy scoring opportunities for his teammates. As for the defensive end, Leonard has always been the most feared opponent.
At 6 minutes and 11 seconds into the fourth quarter, Leonard was struggling for offensive rebounds when his teammate Ibaka’s elbow hit the chin. Blood was dripping from his mouth, and blood was on his mouth and shoulders. After a simple treatment, Leonard went off the field, and then the news stated that Leonard had 8 stitches in his mouth, but head coach Tyronn Lue said he was fine.
The Clippers have a very luxurious lineup in the 2019-20 season, but they were eliminated by the Gold Nugget 4-3 in the Western Conference semifinals. The crux of the problem is that head coach Doc Rivers wasted the team’s good offensive and defensive configuration and failed to establish an effective offensive and defensive system.
The Clippers were addicted to offensive singles last season, and the defensive perimeter was not enough. Tyronn Lue restructured the Clippers’ offensive and defensive systems after taking over the Clippers during the 2020 offseason. Judging from the performance in the first two games of the Clippers season, Mr. Lu has done very successfully.
The Clippers scored a 17-point lead 72-55 in the first half, hitting a total of 21 goals, 18 of which were self-help attacks, and an assist and goal rate of 85.7%. They played a very good team offense. In 21 goals, there are 12 three-pointers.
The Clippers also made full use of the personal abilities of Leonard and PG. While giving full play to their scoring ability, they also exerted their strong containment power to create easy scoring opportunities for teammates in the gap by conducting the ball.
On the defensive end, the Clippers start with one big or four small ones and can change defenses indefinitely. The pressure of the outside defense and the double-team defense of the inside come very quickly. Under the Clippers’ defense, the gold nugget, who is good at three-point shooting, only made 4 of 14 shots, and the shooting percentage was only 23.1%.
In the first quarter, PG played the role of the team’s arrow, led the Clippers to rain three-pointers and made 4 three-pointers. At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers took a 6-point lead 32-26. PG scored 10 points in a single quarter.
The Clippers’ three-point rain continued in the second quarter. Luke Kennard, PG and Reggie Jackson made three consecutive three-pointers, instantly helping the Clippers lead 41-28 by 13 points. After the gold bullion requested a timeout, the difference was reduced to 8 points.
Leonard began to play the role of Mr. Key. He made another 2+1 and hit a three-pointer. He also intercepted and assisted Batum with a 2+1 fast break, helping the Clippers lead by 17 points 72-55 at halftime. The Clippers made 12 of 23 three-pointers in the half and hit 52.2% from the field.
In the second half, the Clippers opened up to a 21-point difference, but after Paul Millsap made a three-pointer, the Gold Nugget 69-84 narrowed the difference to 15 points. However, the Clippers veteran new aid Batum revived in this game, with a middle distance and three points. PG also showed off in succession. The Clippers led 98-79 in the third quarter.
But the gold nuggets did have confidence in the speedboat. No matter how far behind they were, they were still struggling. They came up with a 6-0 offensive in the fourth quarter, narrowing the difference to 13 points. The Clippers immediately requested a timeout. Leonard stepped up and scored consecutive mid-range points to help the Clippers temporarily stabilize their position.
Murray turned into the unreasonable bully of the season and hit 2 three-pointers successively to help the Golden Nuggets reduce the point difference to 11 points from 95-106. Leonard then left the field with a bloody injury.
At the critical moment, after PG made an emergency stop jumper to score mid-range, he assisted Beverley and Patrick Beverley made a three-pointer, helping the Clippers maintain a 14-point lead in the last 2 minutes and successfully won the game. In the end, the Clippers defeated the Gold Nugget 121-108 and won the second victory of the season.
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