On December 30, the Clippers returned to Los Angeles to face the Utah Jazz at home.
This is the second time the two teams have met in three days.
In the last game in Salt Lake City, the Clippers had a difficult time winning.
In the final stages of the game, the Clippers relied on their hard power to kill the Jazz's comeback hopes in the cradle.
This situation is quite unfavorable for the Clippers. If it is difficult to beat a rebuilding team like the Jazz, it means there is something wrong with the team's state.
When a problem arises, you must find a way to solve it.
Before the game started, the TV host introduced the starting players of both sides and found that the Clippers had made adjustments compared to previous games.
James Harden did not appear in the starting lineup, and he did not suffer from injuries, but he sat on the bench.
The Clippers' starting five became Gasol, Randolph, Leonard, George and Curry.
Mike Malone, as an assistant coach, sat on the bench before the game started, with Harden sitting next to him.
He didn't know how Tyronn Lue convinced Harden. In short, this was not a simple thing, which was enough to show that Tyronn Lue had a high prestige within the Clippers.
In fact, Malone is simply overthinking. This has nothing to do with Tyronn Lue's prestige. First of all, he has a very good relationship with Harden. Tyronn Lue established a very "close" connection with Harden as soon as he came to the team. .
Secondly, Harden's character is different from that of many black stars. He does not have that kind of paranoia and arrogance. He is even a little too gentle and even slightly unenterprising.
He would definitely have no objection to letting him be the starter, but let him be the sixth man on the bench. He thought that the salary would be the same anyway, so what if he didn't start?
In the Clippers, he and Curry are known as the twin stars, but he knows that Curry is the biggest star of the Clippers and the thorn in the side of Manager Smart.
Harden is tantamount to stealing the show from Curry. He also renewed his contract with a high salary this summer, which is only slightly worse than Curry. He is already very satisfied.
As a substitute, he is also the sixth man and the main force of the team. This is what he does in the Thunder, it's nothing.
Min Congda did not expect before the game started that the Clippers would change their starting lineup and Harden would sit on the bench.
He thought to himself: "Whose idea is this? Could it be Malone's? Not bad, not bad. It was a beautiful idea to have Harden come up as a substitute. But Leonard and George were on the court at the same time, and the offensive organization was very good. The discount. The most important thing is that the pressure on Curry with the ball has increased, and his power without the ball is not as strong as before, idiot."
Min Congda's idea is opposite to that of Mike Malone.
In fact, the two of them have the same idea, but their focus is different.
Min Congda's focus is that if Harden is placed on the bench, the Clippers' offense will decline and be affected.
Mike Malone's focus is that the Clippers' defense can be strengthened.
In fact, it means the same thing, but the two people focus on different things.
After the game started, both sides played very anxiously in the first quarter.
Previously, Clippers players were accustomed to fast attacks in large spaces and in large areas.
Harden, Curry, and Gasol are the three organizational points on the court, and the ball moves smoothly and quickly.
Now there are only Curry and Gasol, which is actually enough, but I am not used to it.
Especially when the ball is given to George or Leonard, the two of them always have to pause more or less.
These two guys have average passing talents and lack sufficient vision and passing imagination.
As a result, the two sides tied at 25:24 in the first quarter, with the Clippers leading the Jazz by 1 point.
Harden came on the scene in the middle of the first quarter, replacing Curry, and Harden took the lead on the court alone.
To be honest, after getting used to playing with Curry, he is really not used to it without the pull of Curry off the ball.
Curry held the ball a lot in the first quarter, and he was also a little unaccustomed to it. No one shared the ball-holding task.
Mike Malone was anxious as he watched the game. Was there something wrong with his suggestion?
In fact, there is no problem, but it is normal for the players to feel uncomfortable in the first game after making adjustments.
The bigger unaccustomed thing is that the Clippers players still think about attacking to solve the problem, instead of investing more energy on the defensive end to achieve a balance.
Of course, the personal abilities of the Clippers players surpassed that of the Jazz. They still relied on a wave of offensive climax in the second quarter to establish a 10-point lead.
In the five minutes that Curry and Harden were on the same stage together, they set off a whirlwind offense, destroying the Jazz's defense with consecutive quick shots and three-pointers.
However, the Jazz team has always been known for its tenacity and strong team spirit. The team culture is low-key and pragmatic. Anyone who can concentrate on playing here can often perform at a super level.
Therefore, there is a strange phenomenon in the league, that is, once players who have made a name for themselves in the Jazz leave the Jazz and go to other teams, it is often difficult to replicate the glory of the Jazz, let alone go further.
For example, the previous Utah doubles Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer were at their peak age when they left the Jazz, but they did not live up to expectations when they went to the Nets and Bulls.
This is enough to show that for small city teams like the Jazz, their team system and culture have a strength bonus for their players.
If you leave this simple and rustic playing environment and go to a big city, you may get lost in it.
Trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Jazz fought back at the start of the third quarter.
It was difficult for them to produce an effective offensive shock wave against the Clippers, so they began to use the league's common "tangle" tactic.
Dragging the Clippers into the quagmire of chaos, they used a series of methods such as offensive rebounds in the interior and forwards to kill the basket and draw fouls to disrupt the situation.
At the same time, the back line also began to attack Curry crazily. Curry was the only stable point on the court to hold the ball, and the Clippers' offense was greatly affected.
In the third quarter, the Jazz beat the Clippers 23:16, and their 16 points also created the Clippers' lowest score in a single quarter this season.
The Jazz narrowed the point difference to 4 points, and they still had room to play in the fourth quarter.
Clippers fans are expecting the Clippers to play a great game in the fourth quarter and take away their opponents at home.
However, it is difficult for a player's offensive feeling to explode all at once. It requires preparation and practice in previous games.
Especially for pitchers, if they can't pitch well in the first and second quarters, it will be very difficult for them to suddenly turn around and explode in the third and fourth quarters.
It is a good idea to play Harden on the bench, but it is obvious that the players are not ready. There are still problems with rotation, tactical routines, and game feel.
At the critical moment of the fourth quarter, Tyronn Lue still adopted the safest method and gave the ball to Fatty Lan on the inside.
Fatty Lan is indeed the mainstay left behind by Min Congda when he renewed his contract against all odds.
At the age of 32 this year, he has declined physically, but his offensive skills have become increasingly refined and proficient.
At the critical moment, the low post attack succeeded in consecutive singles. The Jazz either watched the ball go in, or committed a foul and sent the fat man to the free throw line.
Randolph did not let up on himself because of his decline in the team's tactical status.
Instead, he continued to improve his skills. Compared with before the age of 30, his explosive power dropped a lot (although it was not much to begin with).
But his skills are smoother, and his physical distribution is better. He can score points with the ball at critical moments and grab one or two key rebounds. Randolph is definitely worthy of his salary.
At a critical moment, the Jazz lacked a decisive figure. Gordon Hayward's breakthrough short-range jumper was intercepted directly from the air by Leonard.
The Clippers counterattacked, Curry assisted George, and succeeded in a dunk despite a double interception! It also caused the opponent to commit a foul.
With George hitting the extra free throw, the Clippers finally defeated the Jazz at home with a 6-point advantage of 97:91.
However, at the end of the game, the players' faces were not particularly good-looking. They played against the Jazz twice in a row. They won, but they were not pretty.
Far from being as destructive as the 15-game winning streak in November, the main team dug a hole for 30 minutes and threw the opponent down, and the substitute players came on to fill in the dirt, completely burying the opponent.
Both games were quite constipated. In one game, the opponent also broke 100 points. In this game, he simply didn't score 100 points.
Mike Malone watched the entire game from the sidelines and followed the players back to the locker room after the game.
He felt quite uneasy because he was the one who suggested Harden be the sixth man off the bench.
To be honest, when an assistant coach just comes to a team and asks a star player to play as a substitute, this behavior is quite offensive.
The only thing he was lucky about was that the Clippers won tonight. If something unexpected happened at the last minute and the Jazz came back, Malone would have a hard time.
For the coaching industry, the salary is high, the circle is small, and the substitutability is low, which are advantages.
Disadvantages: high pressure, high elimination rate, and reputation is very important.
Once a coach's reputation in the circle is bad, he will be in trouble in the future.
Mike Malone regrets a little. Was he too hasty in proposing Harden as the sixth man prematurely yesterday?
However, he didn't expect that Tyronn Lue would agree so directly, and then bench Harden in the game the next day.
The efficiency is too high. The atmosphere within the Clippers team gives him a very different feeling from other teams.
After returning to the locker room, the players were in a bad mood, but there was no quarrel. Instead, they reviewed the interview after the interview.
On the whiteboard where the head coach was supposed to draw, Curry, Harden, Marc and others came to express their views and opinions, pointing out some problems in the game.
There were arguments in some places, but the overall atmosphere was friendly. After the discussion, everyone took a shower and left happily to do whatever they wanted.
The locker room is the most secret place for every team. Malone had no idea before that there was such an atmosphere in the Clippers.
You have to know that in many teams, the players work well together on the field, but off the field, the relationship may be poor in the locker room.
It's okay if the team wins, but once the game is lost, the locker room is likely to explode.
Intense quarrels and cold wars between each other often destroy a team's combat effectiveness.
Don't look at these black players. They are stars on the field and millionaires off the field. In fact, many of them are poor students with little culture and quality.
Let’s not talk about the quality of character for now, but many people’s temperaments and personal qualities are really worrying, and they are often unstable time bombs in the locker room.
But the Clippers are different. Curry, George, and Gasol have complete and beautiful families and good character qualities.
Although Harden and Leonard are single parents, Harden's mother is strict in discipline, and Leonard has an uncle who cares about him.
Butler has no parents, but he gets great help from his friends. He is very diligent in the team and rarely makes mistakes off the court.
There is no thorn in the bench left. The only thorn in the side, Ricky Davis, has long been playing peacefully and has become the ballast veteran of the team.
Mike Malone asked Tyronn Lue after everyone disbanded, "Tylenn, the atmosphere of the team is really good. This is the first time I have seen everyone so proactive in discussing tactics."
Tyronn Lu said: "I told you, the Clippers pursue the idea that everyone has a ball to play. The most important thing here is basketball, and everything else is just an accessory."
"When you are serious about playing basketball well, what should come will naturally come."
Tyronn Lue said philosophically.
It’s not that Mike Malone doesn’t understand this, he understands it, but it’s too difficult to achieve.
Because the NBA is a huge vanity fair with so many temptations, it is not easy to play basketball seriously.
How did the Clippers create such a team atmosphere?
Mike Malone was very curious.
After this game, the Clippers rushed to the away game venue, Denver, without stopping.
This schedule is quite difficult for the Clippers.
Salt Lake City and Denver are both plateaus, which consume a lot of physical energy for the players.
And after playing the Nuggets on January 1st, they will go to Golden State to face the Warriors on January 2nd.
Back-to-back away games and fighting at high altitudes are a huge test for the players' physical fitness and energy.
However, the Clippers are in a phase of lineup changes at this time, and the players have to adapt to the new starting lineup and rotation.
As a result, on the first day of the New Year in 2013, the Clippers were beaten 101:89 by the Denver Nuggets in the away game, losing the Nuggets by 12 points in the away game.
89 points is the Clippers' lowest score in a single game this season. The 12-point difference is already the largest point difference the Clippers have ever lost. They suffered their first disastrous defeat of the new season.
The Clippers players had not yet gotten over the frustration of the big defeat. The team immediately flew to Oakland and faced the Warriors away from home on the night of the 2nd.
As a team that has been targeting the Clippers since the offseason and is determined to surpass the Clippers, the Warriors will certainly not let go of this good opportunity to beat the league's No. 1 team.
Young players such as Lillard, Thompson and Barnes have all shown strong potential.
They are obviously different from the previous generation of NBA players. They play more concisely, their shots are stronger, and their three-point shots are extremely decisive.
With resentment towards the Clippers, Mark Jackson built the team according to his ideas, with Lillard as the core, attacking outside and defending inside, improving the defensive intensity of the team, and has already built the Warriors in a good shape.
In this game, the Warriors exploded with three-pointers from the outside. Lillard, Barnes, and Thompson scored more than 20 points, and the whole game scored 115 points.
In the end, their 115:109, 6-point advantage gave the Clippers two consecutive losses at the Oracle Arena.
This is also the Clippers' first losing streak this season.
The fans at Oracle Arena cheered loudly, and the Clippers were pierced by their three-point rain!
Mike Malone was really a little panicked this time. As soon as he came, the team lost two games in a row. Isn't this not good?
Sure enough, when he followed the players back to the locker room, Malone saw Min Congda standing in front of the whiteboard with a serious face.
He thought to himself, "It's over, I will definitely be criticized."
(End of chapter)
