Even if Harden burns out, he can’t carry the Clippers, which overdrafts the lack of talent in the future. It’s ironic to rely on second-round picks to hide their shame.

If it were placed last season, the Celtics' home game against the Clippers would definitely be the focus of the game. However, the season has not been easy for both teams so far. Due to Tatum's serious injury and the departure of many rotation players, the Celtics are now only ranked tenth in the Eastern Conference. Not to mention continuing to compete for the championship, even tickets for the playoffs are difficult to obtain. The Clippers are even worse. They basically rely on Harden for support. The other main players are either injured or have a huge decline in form. If they fail to make the playoffs, they will have to give the Thunder a good pick.

So the Clippers have no way out. They must strive to win every game this season. Harden, who leads the team alone, is indeed exhausted. In this battle, faced with the Celtics' heavy siege, Harden made 9 of 22 shots and scored 37 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Regardless of long-range shots, breakthroughs, or damage, he put a lot of pressure on his opponents. In fact, Harden did not give up at the last moment of the game. He scored points like crazy to extend the suspense of the game. As a result, he could not lead the Clippers and had to accept the narrow defeat again.

Even before the start of this season, the Clippers' problems were obvious. This team is too old. The management's operations in the past few years have simply overdrawn the future, resulting in an extremely lack of talent. Originally, you said that the players are old and have little potential at best, or that they can rebuild quickly after trying their best. But now the Clippers are not doing well either. Except for Harden and Zubac, the performance of other players is ups and downs. Especially Leonard and Bill, these two are too fragile, especially the latter is likely to be reimbursed for the season. Future Hall of Fame guard Paul is certain to enter the last year of his career, but he seems completely hopeless and has been abandoned by the coaching staff several times.

In this situation, the Clippers are very embarrassed. Zubac and John Collins, who have been established recently, are both considered "junior players" in the team. And because of the pursuit of immediate combat effectiveness, the first-round picks were given to the Thunder, 76ers and some other teams. The Clippers have no fresh blood. In the end, their strength will only decline further, and they will not be able to gain anything now and in the future.

In this battle against the Celtics, the Clippers even had to rely on this year's second-round pick Kobe Sanders to cover up their shame, which is a bit ironic. You must know that among the players, he and Jordan Miller are relatively young, and Kobe Sanders has only played 4 times in total including this game. Of course, he seized the opportunity. In the last game against the Nuggets, Kobe Sanders scored 9 points and 3 assists. However, he was too inexperienced and left the game with 6 fouls in 25 minutes. But Kobe Sanders was more calm in this battle. He scored 11 points and 6 rebounds on 4 of 7 shots. He was the best substitute on the team.