Never since the arrivals of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in 2019 has a Clippers five played so much together! Last night, on the Pelicans floor, James Harden, Terance Mann, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Ivica Zubac reached the mark of 265 minutes played together. This may seem anecdotal and little, and yet, in four years, this is the first time that a starting five has played so much together. Their results? A differential of +90!
And this stability is paying off since the Clippers won a 14th victory in 16 matches last night. Fourth in the Western Conference, Tyronn Lue's players have the same number of defeats as the Nuggets (3rd), and one more than the Thunder (2nd). Enough to restore balm to the heart of Ivica Zubac, frustrated that his team cannot exploit its full potential because of the physical problems of the Leonard-George duo.
“Because I was always there, and I was a starter, it was very frustrating”recognizes the Croatian LA Times. “I've thought a lot about my passion for basketball over these four years and I can truly tell you that I really love this sport because I've been tested a lot. It shows that when we're healthy, we're a great team. »
“We knew that James Harden would make us a better team”
Facing the Pelicans who had nine victories in twelve matches, and had not lost at home against the Clippers for four years, James Harden and his teammates signed one of the best matches of their season, to the point of counting up '31 points ahead! For Paul George, the successful integration of James Harden (only seven shots last night…), made possible by the sacrifice of Russell Westbrook, changed the situation.
“The reason we took a chance on someone like James is we knew it would make us a better team,” believes Paul George. “We didn't feel like it was going to be what we're seeing now, but we were optimistic that James would make us a better team. I'm glad that everything was back to normal at that point and that we were able to roll with the punches without pointing fingers and looking at each other negatively internally. I'm glad we took the hits and came through. Once again, this is why we vouched for James to come. »
Imitate the Celtics and “play with your eyes closed”
Established, Terence Mann ensures that the group still has a lot of room for improvement, and he is targeting the quality of the Celtics' game.
“We have so much talent that sometimes there are moments when we still score even though we missed our system,” did he declare. “Once we get to a level of execution where we can almost do it with our eyes closed, we will take it to the next level. And I think that's the level Boston is at right now. They do things out of habit, almost with their eyes closed.”
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Kawhi Leonard | 29 | 34.7 | 52.3 | 43.7 | 88.0 | 1.1 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 24.6 |
| Paul George | 31 | 34.6 | 45.4 | 40.2 | 92.3 | 0.7 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 23.2 |
| James Harden | 28 | 34.1 | 47.0 | 43.3 | 86.7 | 0.3 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 8.1 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 17.7 |
| Norman Powell | 33 | 25.6 | 50.8 | 45.5 | 88.2 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 13.3 |
| Ivica Zubac | 33 | 26.9 | 64.2 | 0.0 | 62.9 | 3.1 | 6.4 | 9.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 12.0 |
| Russell Westbrook | 33 | 23.8 | 46.4 | 27.6 | 64.5 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 6.4 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 11.2 |
| Bones Hyland | 15 | 15.2 | 40.4 | 36.4 | 83.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 7.6 |
| Daniel Theis | 22 | 17.1 | 52.9 | 47.6 | 74.2 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 7.2 |
| Terance Mann | 27 | 25.6 | 40.7 | 21.7 | 74.2 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 6.9 |
| Bj Boston, Jr. | 5 | 8.7 | 41.7 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.8 |
| Mason Plumlee | 6 | 17.0 | 63.2 | 0.0 | 42.9 | 1.3 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 5.0 |
| Kj Martin | 2 | 15.7 | 40.0 | 20.0 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| Amir Coffey | 21 | 14.6 | 47.5 | 34.3 | 86.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Robert Covington | 3 | 23.1 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 |
| Moussa Diabate | 10 | 5.8 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.7 |
| Nicolas Batum | 3 | 18.0 | 37.5 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| Kobe Brown | 22 | 10.7 | 40.7 | 31.4 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 2.5 |
| Joshua Primo | 1 | 5.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Jordan Miller | 3 | 3.9 | 66.7 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Pj Tucker | 12 | 14.4 | 28.6 | 27.3 | 100.0 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 1.2 |
| Xavier Moon | 2 | 5.8 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
