21 turnovers, 26%, and 120 points without overtime! Kawhi and Harden burned out, is Coach Lu the culprit?

The Clippers lost to the Heat 119-120. On the surface, it seemed that Kawhi's missed shot directly led to the loss. In fact, the Clippers lost because of mistakes, defense and chemical reactions.

The Clippers made 21 mistakes in the game and lost as many as 37 points due to mistakes!

Harden made 7 turnovers in the second half, and Kazek and Paul each made 2 turnovers. That is, the Clippers made a total of 11 turnovers at the three main ball-holding points.

The Heat are under full defensive pressure and will provide strength to the ball holder at all costs. We all understand the reason. The three old guns who bully Harden, Paul, and Kawhi are old and exhausted in the battle. Especially in the second half, the three old brothers will definitely be unable to bear it.

The performance of the game was indeed like this. Harden played 38 minutes and 50 seconds, and Kazek played 37 minutes and 09 seconds. A regular season requires such hard work, and Director Lu did not dare to let the two brothers rest for one second.

The Clippers' defense also encountered a huge challenge. Zubac was hit by Adebayor for 5 fouls. Whether guarding the pick-and-roll or Adebayor's one-on-one, Zubac was controlled from the beginning (the Heat started 12-2) to the end (Adebayor scored 4 points in a row on Zubac in the last 1 minute and 31 seconds).

The defense of the Clippers veterans was overwhelmed by the Heat's youth, and they committed 24 fouls, while the Heat only had 15 fouls. In particular, Paul and Luo suffered defensively when they were on the court. The Clippers lost 120 points in the fourth quarter and ranked 20th in the league in defensive efficiency so far this season.

The team made many mistakes and had poor defense, which most intuitively illustrates the Clippers' poor chemical reaction. As far as the Clippers' performance since the start of the season is concerned, Coach Lu is fully responsible.

Powell returned to face his old club. Spoelstra adjusted the starting lineup according to the characteristics of the Clippers' starting and bench lineups: the space-based center Weir who had started 5 games before was switched to the bench to face the Clippers' space-based inside star Luo; Adebayor + Wiggins + Powell + Larsson + Mitchell formed an inside and four-out lineup to match the Clippers' Zubac + Kazakhstan + Jones + Beal + Harden.

The Heat's offensive idea at the beginning was very clear. Powell + Adebayor switched to playing Zubac to defend the pick-and-roll. Powell single-blocked the shot, and Adebayor was promoted to a space-based center since the beginning of the season. He averaged 6.8 three-pointers per game and averaged 2.3 three-pointers per game. In this campaign, Zubac was unable to get out of the pick-and-roll mid-range shot. Powell and Adebayor took care of the Heat's first 12 points.

The Heat used pick-and-rolls to bully Zubac. The Clippers are also a team that specializes in pick-and-roll offense. Harden/Kazi + Zubac started the pick-and-roll to test the Heat's defensive options. Once Adebayor was in the trap, Harden and Kazuki set up single-block screens and scored consecutive three-pointers; once Adebayor switched defense, Zubac took a bite out of Wiggins.

It is not difficult to find that the Heat's three-guard lineup is relatively small. Mitchell, Larsson, and Powell cannot switch to defend against Kazakhstan. Because the size advantage of Zubac and Kaziger's matchup is too obvious, the Heat can only use Adebayor VS Zubac and Wiggins VS Kaziger to defend the Clippers alone. The Heat's three-guard lineup has extremely limited switching flexibility at positions 1, 2, and 3, and was directly destroyed by the pick-and-roll offense of the Clippers' starting group.

The Heat were trapped in the trap and were pick-and-rolled by Harden and Kawhi to shoot three-pointers. They were forced to beat Zubac/Kazko when switching defenses. No matter how they chose the defense, they were wrong.

The Heat have ranked first in the league in bench scoring average of 49.8 points per game since the start of the season, and they have the firepower to compete with the Clippers in the transition period.

The Heat's league's first bench played Weir + Jovic + Hux + Fontecchio + Drew Smith in the transition period. All five of them have three-point range, and Hux and Jovic have breakthrough and killing capabilities at both points. Fontecchio is top-notch in offense without the ball. When this lineup was on the court, the Clippers were forced to adopt a zone defense.

Paul and Luo are older, and the Heat regard the defensive end as a breakthrough. In order to protect Paul and Luo's single defense, the Clippers adopted a 2-3 zone defense to test the Heat's three-pointers.

The Heat, coached by Spoelstra, also like to use zone defense, and are naturally very good at breaking it. Fontechio and Weir hit 4 three-pointers in the two corners. The Heat's second lineup once overtook the Clippers by 7 points, 54-47.

The Clippers' way of solving the predicament is also very simple. They use Kazi and Harden to take turns to lead the substitutes. There is always a pivot to lead the substitutes on the court. Especially Harden's presence can maximize the activation of Luo's three-pointers, Collins's pie-eating finish, and Jones' counterattack fast break. The Clippers took advantage of the depth of the lineup to instantly establish an 11-point lead.

Both sides played a good game. The Heat were limited by their talent, while the Clippers made frequent mistakes. Low-level mistakes led to power outages.

The Clippers paid the price for their mistakes and defense, and ultimately lost the game in an extremely disappointing way.

The Clippers made 8 turnovers before the third quarter was finished, and Harden made 7 turnovers in the second half. We must pay tribute to the Heat's defensive aggression: the rotation of the double attack always put defensive pressure on Harden and Kawhi's two strong points. Powell switched to Zubac under the basket and sent out steals. The Heat showed full defensive toughness at every point. This physical consumption strategy also forced Kawhi to start making difficult shots at 3 minutes and 50 seconds in the fourth quarter.

The matchup between Adebayor and Zubac was even more dominant. In the fourth quarter, Adebayor faced the basket and held the ball one-on-one to bully Zubac, who was slow to move defensively. After the three threats, whether it was a mid-range shot or a breakthrough, Adebayor scored 25 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. He really took care of Zubac.

Zubac really loses his temper when he encounters a mobile insider with range like Adebayor. Moreover, Zubac's one-on-one one-on-one with Adebayor in the low post was not very effective. Zubac scored only 9 points on 4-of-9 shots.

In the interior matchup, Adebayor stands at the top of the biological chain. The center plays one on one and the four shooters spread out. This is the easiest way for the Heat to end the game.

Harden scored a difficult life-saving three-pointer. Kawhi was 1 point behind and bet on the buzzer beater. After all, the last game was also a familiar script.. Kawhi really wanted to be a hero, but Powell successfully blocked Kazi outside the three-point line. Wiggins attacked in time to prevent Kawhi from reaching the zero-degree sweet spot on the right side. Kawhi faced the double team and forced a three-pointer.

Mistakes, sloppiness, and heroic balls, the overall performance and chemical reaction of this Clippers are far from the expectations of the lineup.

The Clippers' problem is not with the players. Harden played 38 minutes and 50 seconds and Kazek 37 minutes and 09 seconds. They were really burned out. The Clippers are not the only ones with these two cards. They play badly with a good hand. There is no doubt that Coach Lu is the person with the biggest problem for the Clippers!