Again, they lost 2 cities at the start. Although the Clippers have just staged a 0-2 counterattack in the first round, the Jazz are different from the Mavericks. The Jazz have a stronger overall strength and can handle the ball in the lineup More, this makes Leonard and George have to put more energy on the defensive end, and the most important thing is that it is no longer the offensive and defensive black hole Porzingis, but DPOY Gobert .
Gobert had 32 rebounds and 5 blocks in 2 games, and Porzingis only had 38 rebounds and 5 blocks in 7 games.
If the Mavericks can win because of their extraordinary performance, then the Jazz are completely normal. Even if they haven't even played Conley, there is no doubt that the Clippers, the last hope of the whole Los Angeles village, are really crumbling now. However, after 0-2, the Clippers have suffered a double blow.
First of all, the Clippers' starting No. 5 Ibaka may have been reimbursed, according to the Clippers' reporter Tomer Azarly revealed that "Because of a back injury, Ibaka has not yet reached the state of comeback, and can only stay in Los Angeles continues to recuperate."
As we all know, Ibaka, a 19 million inside player, has basically no sense of participation in the playoffs. So far, he has only played 2 games in the first round of G1 and G2. It took less than 20 minutes to get up and fight, and Ibaka's injury is still a very difficult neuralgia, and it is difficult to recover in a short time. Although the Clippers did not list Ibaka as a reimbursement status, judging from the fact that the regular season has been raised for almost 2 months and has not recovered, there is a high probability that it will be difficult to have a chance to appear in the playoffs.
And the Clippers face Gobert, the top insider, the best choice is that the starting center Ibaka can come back. At least Ibaka, who has shooting ability, can mobilize Gobert, who likes to squat, to a certain extent. Now the playoffs can only be a spectator, it is not as good as the Lakers Drummond at least make the appearance.
From last season against the Nuggets to let Murray break out, and now they can't handle Doncic and Mitchell , the Clippers seem to have a hard time restricting this super strong backcourt on the defensive end. The backcourt can’t be restricted. If the inside line is not matched, it can be said that the Clippers will hardly have another miracle, and the probability of being able to drag it to the tie for the final promotion is very small.
Secondly, one of the reasons why the Clippers lost is that the core is not as strong as the first round. In the first round, the continuous outbreaks, almost indiscriminately eating the Mavericks defender Leonard seems to be running out of energy, the first in the second round. He only scored 23 points on 9 of 19 shots in the field, and today's game was even more sluggish, with 21 points on 8 of 17 shots.
And in the final battle, the Jazz also found a nemesis called Leonard. According to the statistics after the game, under the main defense of Bogdanovic in the distal quarter, Leonard only hit 1 of 4 shots, scored 2 points and 2 mistakes, and was completely prevented from being invisible. It can be said that Bogdanovic can be considered a ruthless character if he can seal Leonard.
It is worth mentioning that this is not accidental. In the 2018 season while the Pacers, Bogdanovic defended James in the playoffs and achieved effective restrictions. In the 173 rounds of defending James, Limiting James' shooting to only 45.5%, while facing Thaddeus Young and Turner's defense, James' shooting percentage was 76% and 57%, respectively.Bogdanovic's best defense is sticky candy defense, and he almost didn't stick to James at the time.
There is no doubt that the Jazz will continue to let Bogdanovic defend Leonard. Obviously, this will be a test for Leonard.
Objectively speaking, the Clippers may have been getting further and further away from the championship. Even if they staged a miracle in the first round to enter the Western Conference finals, they will play this kind of protracted battle in each round. Leonard estimates next season Going to the ultimate wellness mode.
