Whiteside jumped hard, but still lost to Jordan Jr. on the jump ball, and Jordan Jr. was indeed one of the best centers in the league in terms of bounce.

Whiteside, who lost the jump ball, was very unwilling, and after returning to his own basket, he began to defend Jordan Jr. in close hand-to-hand combat.

The Clippers attacked first, and Liu Ren led the defense of Paul.

Whiteside and Jordan Jr. were battling on the inside, and the fierce physical confrontation and even the sound of muscle collision reached the ears of the players around them.

This brought a huge sensory stimulation to the players on both sides, and they subconsciously entered a tense rhythm.

Liu Ren originally liked to play with the Clippers, but now his emotions were completely mobilized and he had a fierce confrontation with Paul.

If Liu Ren's favorite point guard is Curry, the second is Paul.

Paul and Curry are two completely different types, in fact, compared to it, Liu Ren feels that it is easier to fight against Curry.

This simplicity is not to say that Curry is easier to deal with, but Curry's style of play is actually relatively simple, the kind of "just to do" type similar to Kobe, you know he exists to score.

And against Paul, Liu Ren feels that it is much more complicated, let's talk about scoring, Paul's scoring ability is not bad, he averages 20+ per game all year round plus a super high shooting rate, say he is short, he is indeed short, but he has an average of 4.4 rebounds per game in his career, which is higher than the main small forward of many teams, and he also has the strength of the assist king, and his three aspects are not separated, but can be completed together in the same season, and in the best season, he averaged 22 points, 11 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game.

This kind of player is really difficult to defend, no, Liu Ren's defense of Paul is already very strict, but he still found an opportunity to send the ball to Redick, who only had a moment of vacancy, Redick started the game hot, and hit a three-point shot to take the lead for the Clippers.

Liu Ren is indeed amazed by Paul's personal ability, he has always felt that in terms of the ability to ensure the overall strength of the team, the first in the league should be James, and the second is Paul, they are the strongest players in the league to ensure the lower limit of a team's strength, as long as they are in the team, no matter what their teammates are, they can just have a wave with any team.

Switching offense and defense, Liu Ren advanced to the front court with the ball.

Liu Ren looked at the Clippers' defense, smiled playfully, passed the ball to Antetokounmpo, and sat directly on the left edge of the three-second zone.

The reason is simple, it was Paul who defended him!

Liu Ren feels that Paul is really bitter! Paul, like Wade and James before 2010, is the team's leading scorer, the best playmaker, who needs to take on everything on the offensive end, and at the same time is the best defensive player on the team's perimeter, really being a father and a mother.

Defending Antetokounmpo is Pierce, a former Green Shirts soul who now follows Rivers to the Clippers, who acquired the Clippers' two-year mid-season last summer.

Defending Kobe Bryant is Redick, who also signed a contract extension with the Clippers last summer, getting a three-year, $20 million contract with a last-year player option.

Both of these offenses are okay, Redick's ability to run, catch and shoot can compete with Korver, and although Pierce has a lot of iron this year, the key ball is still that terrifying truth.

However, these two defended ...... What a disaster! Pierce defended Antetokounmpo and couldn't even interfere with Antetokounmpo standing on the ball.

It stands to reason that when the opponent has an attacker in the low post who can crush the opposing player, the player who defends the ball carrier needs to use height and bounce to interfere, and Pierce can't do that at all, with slow feet, can't jump, and has a huge gap in size to Antetokounmpo.

Pierce's defense of Antetokounmpo can be described as very hard but very weak, and Pierce is really hardworking, which is very much in line with the impression of his career.

But the old man is cruel, and the more Pierce tries to defend Antetokounmpo, the more sad he becomes, Antetokounmpo just holds the ball with one hand and makes an upward lob movement, Pierce immediately takes a big step back and jumps hard to steal the pass.

However, Antetokounmpo was just a fake move, but Pierce had to intercept it, because if he didn't jump, Antetokounmpo only needed to stand to pass the ball over, and he couldn't interfere at all, and he would rather make a defensive mistake than let Paul be eaten by Liu Renqiang, so Paul was likely to be fouled by Liu Ren at the beginning, and Paul ...... His presence is everything to the Clippers!

After tricking Pierce away, Antetokounmpo accelerated and strode into the basket, the road was empty, Whiteside turned and stuck Jordan Jr. firmly behind him, and Antetokounmpo scored two points with a one-handed dunk under the basket.

I have to say that the Clippers' defense is ...... right now It's really rotten out of the new world after Paul came to this team!

The Clippers have begun to decline in the past two years, on the one hand, because of the gradual increase in contradictions between players, and on the other hand, their defense has declined, mainly in the position of outside small forward.

Originally, the Clippers had a very good lineup, balanced offense and defense, but after Rivers came to the Clippers, he always felt that the scoring ability of people at the small forward position was too poor and wanted to change it.

After all, Nofes has had a top small forward throughout his coaching career, which is a matter of habit, and he has become accustomed to handing over to small forwards when he encounters something that cannot be solved when he is coaching.

Rivers used to coach the Magic version of Maddy and the Green Shirts version of Pierce, how can he look down on Matt Barnes who can only defend and open threes.

But after Matt Barnes was sent to the Grizzlies late last season, the Clippers' well-balanced offense and defense completely collapsed, and the exchange for Jeff Green and Pierce, who joined this year, was a nightmare on the defensive end...... This nightmare is their Clippers themselves, and in the eyes of opponents, the Clippers' small forward position is as bad as before, and the defensive end has become an ATM.

Rivers is still a chicken soup coach after all, and he wants to strengthen the small forward, and he wants the small forward to score more.

But with Redick, Griffin, and a point guard who needs a lot of ball-handling and scoring ability, how much more ball-possession does their small forward have?

The blind "reinforcement" of the small forward has transformed the Clippers from a balanced offensive and defensive team into a team that is on the verge of becoming a pure offensive team.

However, the bottom of the Clippers is there, there are Paul and Griffin, two of the top ten superstars in the league, and the top five in the league by attacking alone.

Redick's catch-and-shoot shot, Paul's playmaking, Griffin's regular singles, Pierce's catch-and-shoot shot, rebounding blast as Jordan Jr. and Whiteside wrestle...... Defensively, the Clippers are playing really well.

On the Lakers' side, Kobe's off-ball running and Liu Ren's low-post threat helped his teammates a lot, Antetokounmpo, Green, and Whiteside formed a triangle formation, and the score under the basket rose staggeringly, and the two teams tied 29 at the end of the first quarter!