On December 28th, Beijing time, the NBA 2024-25 season regular season welcomes a focus match in the West, with the Los Angeles Clippers continuing to host the Golden State Warriors. This is the third matchup between the two teams this season, with the Clippers winning both previous encounters, showing a clear advantage. Surprisingly, after the Warriors topped the Western Conference with a record of 12 wins and 3 losses at the beginning of the season, head coach Steve Kerr made a series of questionable decisions, benching Li Kaili and consistently using a small lineup with three guards while maintaining a large rotation of 12-13 players. As a result, the team's record plummeted, with only 3 wins in their last 14 games, dropping to tenth in the West with a record of 15 wins and 14 losses, which was quite unexpected. In response, the team's star player Stephen Curry said, "For me, fun is most important; if playing basketball no longer brings me joy, it will be time for retirement!"
It must be said that Curry's words also convey a sense of fatigue. However, while Curry is mentally exhausted, Harden on the Clippers is physically tired. According to Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, although the team's star player Kawhi Leonard successfully completed a 5-on-5 training match again, he will not play in today's game and will not accompany the team on the next three away trips. It must be said that if Leonard does not return, Harden will still have to lead the team alone, facing endless double teams from opponents, which is indeed very tiring. However, unlike Curry on the Warriors, although Harden is also tired, the current atmosphere within the team is excellent, with everyone recognizing Harden's leadership position and working together as one, playing smoothly.
Before the game, American media ESPN also provided the latest win probability prediction for today's game, with the Clippers having a high win probability of 66.1%, while the Warriors' win probability is only 33.9%, showing a clear contrast. For this game, the starting lineup for the Clippers includes Leonard, Mann, Tucker, and Kobe Brown absent, with Tyronn Lue's starting five being James Harden, Norman Powell, Dunn, Little Derrick Jones, and Zubac; the Warriors are missing Curry and Little Payton, with Green's participation uncertain, and the starting lineup is Li Kaili, Schroder, Hield, Wiggins, and Davis.
In the first quarter, Zubac made a strong low-post move, turning around to enter the paint and violently dunking over TJD to score the first points for the Clippers. Schroder stole the ball from Little Jones and completed a save with a flying leap, then assisted Hield with an extreme pass for a layup. Following this, Hield took a corner three-pointer, and Harden rushed in to block it with an incredible sky-covering cap. It's unbelievable that Li Kaili missed his layup attempt, with the Warriors currently shooting 4 out of 13 for a 30% field goal percentage. Zubac made a strong low-post move against Looney, continuously fighting hard before hooking in a 2+1 shot, giving the Clippers a six-point lead. After Kuminga hit a three-pointer and Schroder followed with a pull-up jumper, the Warriors closed the gap. Harden singled out Bogdan Bogdanovic, shooting and grabbing his own rebound to score his first basket of the game, with the Clippers leading by two points into the second quarter.
In the first quarter, the Warriors combined for 3 out of 12 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of only 25%, while the Clippers were 1 out of 7 from beyond the arc, with an even lower shooting percentage of 14%.
In the second quarter, Moody assisted Kuminga with an alley-oop pass, who leapt high to complete a two-handed slam dunk. Batum and Watson fought for the ball on the ground, with Dunn securing possession and counterattacking for a layup, immediately responding in kind. Li Kaili was left open and hit a three-pointer, with the Warriors hitting consecutive threes to take the lead. Zubac blocked TJD, and in the next play, TJD stole the ball and completed a one-handed dunk on the fast break, with both teams trading blows. Little Jones missed a layup but grabbed the rebound, only to be hit in the face and show a painful expression, with blood coming from his mouth but the referee did not call a foul, which was too dramatic and caused significant controversy. Harden singled out Schroder and stepped back to hit a three-pointer, then did the same against Kuminga, with the half ending with the Clippers leading the Warriors by six points at 49-43.
At halftime, Harden of the Clippers was 3 of 7 from the field, 2 of 4 from three-point range, scoring 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists; Zubac was 5 of 6, scoring 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 blocks. On the Warriors' side, Kuminga was 4 of 8, 1 of 3 from three-point range, scoring 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block; Schroder was 1 of 7, scoring 2 points, 1 rebound, and 4 assists; Wiggins was 1 of 6, scoring 3 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists.
It is worth noting that the Warriors led the Clippers in total rebounds 28-19, with offensive rebounds at 11-1, yet they were still trailing in the score, which was somewhat unbelievable.
Changing sides for the second half, Zubac broke through Li Kaili, completing a dunk over TJD's help defense, and Little Jones stole the ball from Hield, then quickly advanced for a soaring dunk, with the Clippers going on a 10-4 run to lead by double digits. Powell's forced three-pointer missed, but Little Jones leapt high again to complete an explosive putback dunk, and Harden also scored on a step-back jumper against Schroder, with the referees still not calling a foul despite a suspicion of one, and the lead had stretched to 15 points.
In the fourth quarter, Coffey and Powell hit consecutive threes, with the Clippers leading by 19 points after four straight threes. Harden rested on the bench in the fourth quarter, chatting happily with Leonard. Harden was stolen by Waters, committing four turnovers in two minutes in the fourth quarter, and Davis scored on a strong drive against Zubac, with the Warriors going on a 16-4 run to close the gap to five points. It must be said that the referees were too dramatic in this game, especially considering it was at the Clippers' home court. With Harden and Powell continuously scoring to stabilize the situation, the Clippers ultimately secured a tough victory, completing a triple kill against the Warriors this season, with their ranking experiencing another major change, altering the landscape of the Western Conference.
In the full game, Harden of the Clippers was 6 of 14, scoring 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists; Zubac scored 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 blocks; Powell scored 26 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals.
On the Warriors' side, Kuminga made 11 of 14 free throws, scoring an empty 34 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block; Schroder was 3 of 11, scoring 7 points, 1 rebound, and 5 assists; Wiggins was 2 of 11, scoring 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists; Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists.
