NBA regular season continues, the Clippers hosted the Hawks game has ended, one of the biggest highlights of this game is Leonard's return. Before this game, the Clippers had just finished a three-game road trip, while the Hawks were on a continuous away trip; the two teams' records were not much different, both in the playoff position of the division standings; the game was once a stalemate, but the Clippers expanded their lead in the second quarter and eventually won the game at home. 20+18+15! The Clippers won big by 26 points with three key players, Leonard returned, and the landscape changed.
The first quarter began with Leonard's performance becoming the biggest highlight; he scored his first point of the season with a three-pointer; in the first quarter, the Clippers started with a run to expand their advantage to 15 points, but at the end of the quarter, the Hawks responded with a 14:0 run to reduce the gap to 1 point. In the second quarter, the Clippers exploded again during the lineup rotation phase, with Powell and Coffey hitting consecutive threes, and another offensive run of 13:2. Leonard also continued with the three-pointers, and the whole team's multi-flower attack scored 45 points in the second quarter, winning 19 points in a single quarter, completely changing the situation of the game.
In the second half, although the Clippers' offensive feel declined somewhat, they still restricted the Hawks' offense with excellent defense and maintained their advantage. In the final quarter, they steadily maintained their advantage, and the game became suspenseless; finally, when the Hawks had no hope of catching up, they chose to give up the game early; the Clippers won a big victory with a 26-point advantage of 131:105.
The Hawks did not perform well in this game; on the one hand, their three-point shooting was poor, with only 16 out of 46 attempts. Another point is that they frequently made mistakes against the Clippers' defense, with as many as 22 turnovers in the whole game; the Clippers took advantage of these mistakes to score 32 points. Just in terms of turnover scoring, there was a difference of 19 points, and the fast-break scoring comparison between the two teams was 46:14, with the Hawks at an absolute disadvantage. Trae Young, facing the Clippers' defense, shot only 7 out of 16 for 20 points with low efficiency, although he sent out 14 assists, he still could not change the losing situation.
The biggest highlight of this game for the Clippers was Leonard's return; throughout the game, he made 3 out of 5 three-pointers for 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal with a positive-negative value of +22. Although his efficiency was somewhat low, it was good that the rhythm of the game was fine, and his form could be adjusted through subsequent games, which was the best news for the Clippers.
After Leonard's return, Harden changed his playing style; he gave up the ball, shooting only 9 times and making 3 shots for 10 points while sending out 15 assists. Under his coordination, the whole team bloomed with multiple double-digit scorers. Zubac was like no man's land in the paint, shooting 9 out of 11 for 18 points while grabbing 18 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block; he was also the key to the team's victory. Powell also continued his form, shooting 8 out of 16 for 20 points and 4 rebounds at a 50% shooting rate; in addition, there were as many as four players who scored double digits off the bench. The Clippers easily won the game with a multi-flower attack.
After winning the game, the Clippers' record came to 20 wins and 15 losses, ranking 7th in the Western Conference standings, only 0.5 games behind the 4th place Nuggets. For the Clippers, the state is obviously good, and Leonard's return did not disrupt the team's chemistry; it was just that Harden changed his playing style and gave up the ball, taking on more of the burden of coordinating the team.
With Leonard's return, the biggest variable in the Western Conference standings battle has arrived, which is whether the new trio of Leonard, Harden, and Powell can take the Clippers to what kind of situation? Do they have the potential to make a better run this season?