Because after Paul's 0-of-12 surprise loss to the Pelicans, the Clippers' loss came to 10.

With 10 games remaining, there has been some controversy within the Clippers over the rotation of players.

As the head coach, Rivers hopes that the team can hit 70 wins, after all, only the 1996 Bulls have reached 70 wins in NBA history, which is undoubtedly a very great achievement.

And assistant coaches Mike Brown, Tyronn Lue and others hope to expand the rotation and put some games aside a little to prepare for the playoffs.

Mike Brown suffered a loss in the regular season, playing 66 wins in a single season with the Cavaliers, only to be killed by the Magic in the playoffs.

Last season in the regular season, the Lakers also won 62 wins, and in the end, it still depends on the playoff performance.

The Clippers are still plagued by a number of injuries, particularly their fragile bench.

Livingston and Granger have both had major injuries, Odom and Crawford are veterans, and Barnes and Paul are also susceptible to some minor injuries.

Of course, Li Liang, Griffin and Jordan Jr. are very healthy.

Griffin has been jumping around every day since he drank the water soaked in the bruising pills, and he feels very good.

Little Jordan is God who gave him less brains and more physical talents, and he is also very healthy and strong, with few minor problems.

Needless to say, Li Liang is fully equipped for every training and competition, like an old man who has played football for 20 years, and does not let himself have a little risk of injury.

So, there was some controversy within the coaching staff.

After playing the Pelicans on the 26th, the Clippers flew to Dallas that night, and they had to play back-to-back games on the road.

This is the fourth time the Clippers have played back-to-back games on the road this season, and it's really torture for the players.

On the plane, the players put on their blankets and blindfolds, and hurried to sleep.

The plane arrived at the Dallas airport in the early hours of the morning, and everyone yawned and got off the plane and took a bus to the hotel.

On the way, Mike Brown said to Rivers: "I think the players should still be given a good rest, if an injury happens at this time, it really doesn't pay off. ”

Brown suggested that Rivers should rest the main players, especially Paul, who has not been in a very consistent state since returning from injury.

In the last game, he was 0-of-12, and if the team needs to fight for the rankings, Paul will certainly play on the field.

Now that they're locked in first place in the West, there's no need for Paul to play anymore.

Rivers hesitated, it's not that he doesn't understand the importance of health, and as a head coach, he still has his own considerations.

Regular-season wins are one thing, but there's also the problem that he's afraid of hurting Paul's pride.

Since taking Paul out of the core position by default and making Li Liang the absolute core, Rivers has been a little worried that it will frustrate Paul's heart.

This is a very proud little player, very competitive, stubborn and aggressive.

Rivers, as a former NBA player, understands Paul very well and understands that he should deal with Paul's possible emotions.

Paul hit the Pelicans 12-0, and he definitely wants to prove himself in the next game, and if he doesn't let him play, even if he says to protect him, it will inevitably make him have ideas.

Rivers thought about it carefully and decided that he still wanted to ask the players for their own wishes.

So, the next morning, when the team was working together in the training hall, Rivers approached Paul and asked him how he was doing, how he felt, and if he needed a break.

Paul, of course, didn't want to rest, he was smart and said, "Coach, you don't want me to take a break, do you?" I don't need to, I don't need it at all, I can play and I'll be good in the next game. ”

Paul is confident that he can bounce back after a terrible performance.

The conversation between the two happened to be overheard by Li Liang on the side.

Li Liang heard the two discussing whether to play in the next game, and he had learned from Mike Brown that the team was considering whether to rotate and rest to preserve strength.

Li Liang stepped forward and said: "Lao Li, let Bao'er rest in the next game, his arm should have a good rest, look at what the last game was like?" 0 out of 12! It's a stat I can't make in my life, let him rest! We want to win! ”

Rivers was speechless, was this talking about human beings?

Li Liang's voice was so loud that the whole team heard it, which amused everyone.

Paul's face couldn't hold it, and he directly smashed the ball in his hand towards Li Liang.

Li Liang dodged very sensitively, and bluntly said to Paul, "You are annoyed and angry, you can rest more!" ”

Paul is so angry and helpless, who can't make himself inferior to others?

He remembered the scene when he stayed alone with Li Liang after training that day, and his defense was ......

Paul was surprised to find that Li Liang was very likely to be hiding his strength so far.

He showed defensive ability in heads-up games that he had never seen before.

The intensity, the speed of reactions, and the "glittering" momentum – Paul didn't know why he had that impression.

Anyway, Paul suddenly felt that Li Liang was a terrible player, he was still hiding himself, how deep is this pool?

In fact, Li Liang hides his hair, and he goes all out in every game.

Last time, I opened a golden shield one-on-one with Paul, which made him feel distressed to death and consumed a lot of anger points!

So what is hidden strength, Paul thinks too much.

After some discussion and discussion with the players, Rivers decided that Paul would still play normally in the next game, and at the same time, he would appropriately increase the playing time of the bench players, expand the rotation, and let the main team get a better rest.

That night, the Clippers took on the Dallas Mavericks on the road.

The Mavericks are currently in eighth place in the West, and the two teams are likely to meet in the first round of the playoffs.

Therefore, in this game, the Clippers encountered a strong block from the Mavericks in Dallas.

The match between the two sides started sharply at 7 p.m.

The Mavericks currently have a full lineup and are in good shape.

At the beginning of the game, Nowitzki hit a jumper and scored the first point.

And Paul responded immediately, hitting a three-point shot from the top of the arc with the help of Li Liang's defense.

Then, Paul made a steal on the defensive end, and he made a layup!

It can be seen that Paul is full of fighting spirit today, just to prove himself.

Then, Nowitzki hit another jumper on the offensive end.

In the case of good physical fitness in the opening scene, Nuo Tianwang feels amazing.

Li Liang then scored three points in color, and the opening feeling on both sides was very good.

Because the Clippers didn't cover Nowitzki in the opening game, Griffin was allowed to defend one-on-one, and Nowitzki hit his third jumper.

Then he received a pass and made a layup, causing Griffin to foul and go to the free throw line.

This opening is to beat Griffin out of temper.

No way, the difference in height and arm span is too big.

Both are big forwards, Griffin claims to have 2.08 meters, but in reality he should only look like 205.

And Nowitzki is definitely 2.10 meters up, reaching 213 or even 214, and there are too many high griffins.

After five minutes of play, Nowitzki scored 10 points.

During the timeout, Rivers replaced Griffin and let Li Liang play opposite Nowitzki at the power forward position.

The two sides played extremely anxiously in the first quarter, and after switching to Li Liang's defense, Nowitzki's pressure increased, and Li Liang began to catch the ball around Novitzki.

However, the Mavericks began to exert their strength on the outside, and Carter and Barria hit three points one after another.

And Paul really felt very good tonight, made another steal, and was viciously fouled by Carter in the fast break, and made two free throws.

Paul hit both free throws, and then passed the ball to assist Li Liang to hit a 45-degree three-point shot, and the Clippers took the lead.

At the end of the first quarter, the two sides sent on the bench, and Granger came on and received a pass from Livingston for a layup as soon as he got on the court.

The two sides were tied at 30-29 in the first quarter, with the Clippers leading the Mavericks by one point.

In the second quarter, the confrontation between the two sides was still fierce, and the score alternately rose to lead.

Although Li Liang and Paul on the Clippers side kept scoring, the Mavericks, who were striving to enter the playoffs, fought hard, and the whole team was in very good shape.

Carter hit consecutive three-pointers from the outside, Nowitzki was even more old, and his step-back jumper was very accurate, and Li Liang couldn't do anything about him.

Rivers thought to himself that he would take a turn off, and this game would have to be rested, not to lose.

The Clippers led by five points at 63:58 in the first half and went into halftime.

By the third quarter, the fierce confrontation finally led to a conflict between the two sides.

Because it is a potential opponent in the playoffs, the Mavericks are playing very confrontationally.

Paul was in good shape in this game, so on the Mavericks' side, Marion occasionally asked Marion to mark Paul.

A small player like Paul will inevitably have to make a little move if he wants to survive on the court.

As a result, on a return serve, Paul pushed Marion.

And Paul pushed it, and Barnes on the side also came up to make up for it, pushing Marion out of the bottom line.

This annoyed Marion and rushed forward to reason with Marion.

The conflict between the two sides was on the verge of breaking out, and the players poured up.

The referee hurriedly came to the rescue, at this time Li Liang was squatting in the bottom corner to pull the space, as soon as he saw that something was wrong, could he not rush up?

As a result, before he could rush up, one of the three referees on duty had already come over to stop Li Liang, separating him from the crowd of conflicts.

"I'll see, I'll go and see." Li Liang was anxious to get involved, but the referee had already stared at him, just not letting him pass.

"I'm going to see what's wrong? You let me see ......"

Li Liang just wanted to join in the fun, but the referee knew that he couldn't let Li Liang go over when he encountered this kind of thing.

He has a mouth open, and absolutely nothing becomes something, and small things become big things.

So there was a skirmish between the players on both sides of the pitch, some people were arguing and some were persuading, and the referee was blowing the whistle to calm the situation.

On the other side of the court, a referee hugged Li Liang's thigh to prevent him from passing and dragged him to prevent the-stirring stick from causing trouble.

The referee said so badly that he didn't let Li Liang get involved.

Then he gave Barnes and Marion a technical foul each, and Paul a technical foul after watching the footage.

Li Liang felt very sorry that he didn't participate in it and say a few words, otherwise he would have been punished at least one or two.

After this hiccup, the Clippers seem to have suddenly found a sense of the game.

Li Liang hit consecutive three-pointers from the outside - in fact, he used props.

This guy is very thief, taking advantage of the slight slackness in the mentality of both sides after the conflict, because after the conflict, both sides are in some states, and the confrontation is not so intense.

Three three-pointers in a row stretched the difference between the two sides to more than 10 points.

The Mavericks then launched a counterattack in the fourth quarter, at one point narrowing the gap to five points, only to have Paul's consistent mid-range jumper suppress the Mavericks' counterattack.

In the end, the Mavericks used foul tactics and sent Jordan Jr. to the free throw line.

As a result, Jordan Jr. was very competitive, hitting 3 of 4 free throws, but the Mavericks missed the attack and lost the opportunity to turn the tables.

In the end, the Clippers defeated the Mavericks by 7 points 115-108 on the road, extending the winning tally to 63 games and continuing to create the best record in team history.

Li Liang and Paul scored 30 points and 28 points in this game, and scored 58 points together!

Paul's form has recovered, but he still can't fight Li Liang for points.

Li Liang has taken another solid step on the road to MVP.