At 3:30 a.m. today, the fourth game of the first-round series between the Clippers and the Mavericks was ushered in, and the former is currently 1-2 behind. Before the game, the Clippers officially announced that Leonard will miss G4 due to knee inflammation, and the specific return time cannot be determined. As a result, the Clippers will most likely finish the first round without Leonard, and George and Harden will be under great pressure.
In this game, the Clippers, who were almost in a desperate situation, played an excellent offensive and defensive level in the first quarter of the game, George scored 16 points in a single quarter, leading the team to shoot 8 three-pointers with a 72% shooting rate, Harden, Mann, Powell, and even Wei Shao could hit three-pointers, and the Clippers quickly extended their lead to more than 20 points. In addition, under the defensive constraints of the Clippers, the Mavericks scored only 16 points in the first quarter, Doncic scored a double-double but was not efficient, and Irving has not yet scored. At the moment, the Clippers are playing this game with the determination to win.
Just when everyone thought that the Clippers could easily win the game, Irving and Doncic did not agree, the former exploded 40 points in the second three quarters, and even used a difficult pull-up layup in the last 3 minutes of the quarter to help the team overtake the score, at the critical moment, Harden hit consecutive throws, George hit a key three-pointer, and the Clippers finally got through the danger, defeating the Mavericks 116-111 and tying the series 2-2.
Highlights
In this round, Harden held the ball and advanced to single Kleber and completed the finish with his signature step-back three-pointer.
In this round, Harden broke through the interior line to attract the defense and passed to Wei Shao to receive it, but unfortunately the latter dunked away, but George grabbed it back and continued to pass to Wei Shao on the bottom line, and Wei Shao aimed at it and hit a three-point shot.
In this round, George pulled away from one side and hit a mid-range jumper after the confrontation. George was hot in the first quarter and couldn't defend at all.
Starting line-ups for both sides
Clippers: Harden, Mann, Coffey, George, Zubac
Mavericks: Doncic, Irving, Jones, Washington, Gafford