Another hard time for Harden! After the Clippers went 1-9, Kawhi Kawhi missed his 10th game due to injury, and Bill’s 2.67 million special case couldn’t be used.

I can only suffer Harden one more time! After the Clippers had 1 win and 9 losses in the past 10 games, Kawhi was confirmed to miss the 10th consecutive game due to injury, and Bill's $2.67 million injury exception could not be used.

Kawhi Kawhi misses 10th game due to injury

According to the official injury report, Leonard, who suffered ankle and foot sprains, will miss the Clippers' game against the Hornets. This will be the 10th consecutive game that Leonard has missed due to injury.

Previously, Clippers reporter Law Murray revealed that Kawhi's injury condition is improving. He not only follows the team on away trips, but also gradually increases the intensity of training.

However, Kaka has not yet participated in confrontational training. He has only participated in a small amount of training within the team on a limited basis. There is no clear timetable for his return yet.

Kawhi has missed 9 games before. During his absence, the Clippers have 1 win and 8 losses. This is also the epitome of the frequent injuries he has suffered since joining the Clippers. Since joining the Clippers, Kawhi has missed more than 44% of the games.

Bill's 2.67 million special case cannot be used.

With Kawhi Kawhi continuing to be injured, Bill, another scoring core, was reimbursed for the season early due to a hip fracture. Famous reporter Jake Fischer revealed that the Clippers have applied for an injury exception for this purpose.

Based on Bill's annual salary of US$5.334 million, the Clippers will receive an injury exception worth US$2.677 million, which can be used to strengthen the lineup and sign personnel.

Unfortunately, the Clippers have already used mid-level exception signings, causing the team to trigger the hard salary cap. Currently, the Clippers are only 1.28 million US dollars away from the hard cap.

This means that the Clippers, who are trapped in hard cap restrictions, will not be able to use Bill's injury exception for the time being unless they further free up space through trade or layoffs.

Paul is really out of gas

In addition to injury problems, the performance of the Clippers' new players is also disappointing, especially the old captain Paul.

After welcoming Paul back in the off-season, the Clippers have high hopes for him, hoping that Paul can play the role of backup point guard and the backcourt brain when Harden is off the court.

As a result, Paul's performance since the beginning of the season has proven that he is really out of gas. In averaging 13.7 minutes per game, he can only score 2.5 points and 3.3 assists, with a career-worst true shooting rate of 37.4%. Therefore, he is frequently DNPed by Tyronn Lue.

Harden can only suffer a little longer

In the situation of internal and external difficulties, this luxury battleship that was aiming to compete for the championship before the start of the season turned into a leaking and precarious little ship one month after the season started.

Since the beginning of the season, the Clippers have ranked last in the league in 12 statistics. The specific statistics are as follows:

22nd in offensive efficiency, 24th in defensive efficiency, 25th in net efficiency, 28th in turnover rate, 29th in game rhythm, Ranked 29th in assist-to-turnover ratio, 23rd in defensive rebounding rate, 22nd in offensive rebounding rate, 27th in allowing opponents to score in 100 possessions, 29th in allowing opponents to score on fast breaks in 100 possessions, 30th in allowing opponents to score on turnovers in 100 possessions, and 29th in fast break scoring in 100 possessions.

In this case, the Clippers can only choose to suffer Harden again, even if the latter has obviously burned out.

Since the beginning of the season, Harden has played 35.8 minutes per game, ranking ninth in the league, a further improvement from 35.2 minutes last season. Since last season, Harden has played a total of 3,290 minutes, ranking third in the league during the same period, second only to the 29-year-old Bridges and Booker. He is a real workhorse.

During the past 10 games with the Clippers, which was 1-9, Harden gave it his all, averaging 29.1 points, 7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game. Still unable to lead the team to turn the situation around, American media ProphetX still believes in Harden’s ability to save money and believes that the Clippers still have a 55% chance of reaching the playoffs. Since entering the league in 2009, Harden has led the team to the playoffs for 16 consecutive years. I don’t know if he can continue this magical record this season.