Celtics vs. Clippers preview: Leonard continues to be absent, Harden vs. Brown wins 2 consecutive games
6686 Sports November 16th The NBA regular season will continue tomorrow, with the Celtics playing against the Clippers at home.
The Celtics' competitiveness has declined this season. Tatum is injured, Holiday and Porzingis have been traded away, and they can only rely on Brown and White. The current record is 6 wins and 7 losses, temporarily ranked 11th in the Eastern Conference. In the last game against the Grizzlies, the Celtics were in hot offensive form, hitting 21 three-pointers and winning a 36-point victory. Pritchard recovered, scoring 24 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists.
Due to the lack of Tatum, the Celtics' offensive threat is much smaller this season, averaging only 113.2 points per game; fortunately, their defensive performance is still excellent, averaging only 108.5 points per game, the second-fewest points loss in the league. In addition, the Celtics still rely on three-point shooting, averaging 15 three-pointers per game, but the shooting rate is only 33.5%. In the lineup, Brown has become the team's biggest support, averaging 27 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, and his competitive status is still good.
The Clippers' performance at the beginning of this season was disappointing. In the offseason, they introduced Bill, Collins, Paul, and Lopez, and the lineup seemed to be improved. But after the start of the season, this team's age disadvantage was exposed and they were completely unable to keep up. They suffered a miserable six-game losing streak. During this period, Paul was abandoned and Bill was injured and ended the season early. Fortunately, in the last game against the Mavericks, with Harden's strong performance of 41 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, he won the double overtime game and ended a 6-game losing streak.
The Clippers' current record is 4 wins and 8 losses, ranking 11th in the Western Conference, which is still very poor. According to the injury report before the game, Leonard will continue to be absent. He has not played in 7 consecutive games, and his return time is still unknown. Today's Clippers can only rely on Harden. Only when he performs strongly can the team have a chance to win the game. In addition, other players also need to step up, such as Bogdan in the last game, it depends on whether he can continue.
This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. The Celtics won the two meetings last season. This time, both teams won the last game. It depends on who can win two consecutive games.