Despite the recent arrival of James Harden, the Clippers are unable to launch their season. For the fourth time in a row, the third with “The Beard”, the players of Los Angelesinsipid against the Knicks and the Nets during their trip to New York at the start of the week, once again lost without manner.
Tyronn Lue’s men even hit rock bottom last night at Dallaswhere they took a big slap against Mavericks unleashed in attack (144 points at 52% shooting), in the momentum of a Luka Doncic grandiose. The Slovenian leader scored 44 points in 32 minutes (17/21 on shots, with 6 rebounds and 6 assists), allowing himself the luxury of resting almost the entire second half. In its wake, Kyrie Irving (27 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) and Derrick Jones Jr. (11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals) also provided.
The final gap, reduced thanks to a long “garbage-time”, does not reflect the real imbalance between the two teams (up to +32 in the third quarter!). Attack and defense, the Clippers did not display a coherent appearance, with the exception of a convincing first quarter. With a lot of individuality in its five majors, the Californian club does not currently display any cohesion, and has a lot, a lot of work to do in the coming weeks to launch its season and hope for something in this always tough Western Conference.
TO REMEMBER
– The Clippers, a team under construction. Without this really being a surprise, the Clippers struggled on attack. Or rather, struggled to develop a coherent attack. The evening’s total, 126 points, is a sham as the match was torture for the Californian club, knocked out as soon as they returned from the locker room. If we take a quick look at the figures: the Clippers only recorded 21 assists for 43 baskets, and the best passer of the evening is… Bones Hyland, with his 6 units. An observation which says a lot about the current difficulties that the quartet Russell Westbrook / James Harden / Paul George and Kawhi Leonard displays in building cohesion. Tyronn Lue’s gang must quickly find solutions… Not to mention that the defensive aspect is just as worrying: the Mavericks planted 19 (!) winning shots. In short, the Clippers collective… is currently not one. Construction is underway, and the clock is ticking quickly.
– “Luka Magic” attacked his favorite victim again. If he dissects all defenses, Luka Doncic has displayed since the start of his NBA career a particular propensity to destroy that of the Clippers. His performance last night in any case ranks very high in the hierarchy of his cards against the Los Angeles club, which took very dearly from the hands of the Slovenian magician: 44 points in 17 shots scored (out of 21 attempted), but also 6 rebounds and 6 assists. For a single ball loss. A walk in the park for the Ljubljana native.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
