Dillon forced me to explode, Harden made it clear after the game, and Leonard also showed off his cards.

The Clippers defeated the Suns 129-102. In the last game, Harden was the first to enter the state of the team, but it was a pity that his teammates were not the best. Against the Suns, it was Harden who was the first to adjust his condition. He was on full fire in the first quarter. When the Suns were chasing points in the second quarter, he hit three unstoppable three-pointers in a row. He directly stopped the counterattack momentum and scored 26 points in the half. In 28 minutes, Harden made 8 of 12 shots and 5 of 7 three-pointers, scoring 30 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 block, with a plus-minus of +22.

There is no doubt that the Clippers made a lot of money by renewing Harden's 81.5 million two-year contract, and Frank also left a backup plan. What he gave Harden was only fully guaranteed in the first year and partially guaranteed in the second year. But based on Harden's current status, this two-year contract is basically fully guaranteed. The Clippers will definitely include attendance, and Harden's current physical fitness will definitely meet the standards. The Clippers want to free up space for reconstruction in 2027, but Harden has no problem letting the Clippers spend these two seasons happily.

You can clearly feel that Harden's desire to compete for the championship has not stopped. During this offseason, he took the initiative to announce that he has a 6-year-old child and made it public. This can also be seen that Harden no longer has any pressure, and he just wants to compete for the championship without any regrets. And he is very aggressive. Today he faced all kinds of personal defense and trash talk from Dillon. Harden did not back down, but responded with strength and scored all kinds of finishes against Dillon. It was like he failed to invite the gods, but instead invited the 2019 Rockets to return. It was just a casual attack.

Harden also talked about Dillon after today's game. He made it clear directly. He said that if Dillon hadn't been so annoying and pestered him so much, he might not have exploded.

Harden said: "Our last two games have started a little slow. We lost to the Jazz in the last game because of the slow start. Today I think I have to be a little more aggressive. Obviously when I can attack, good things happen for us. It's great to get the first win of the season. We will have more in the future. What a victory. I need to thank Dillon. His defense woke me up. After that, I scored 3 points in a row. Kazi said that Harden's three-point explosion is the response given to defenders. Kazi also praised Harden. He said that this is one of the greatest scorers in the league. Who do you think he is? Finally, Leonard also said frankly, don't think that Harden doesn't score sometimes because he doesn't have the ability to score. No matter what day he wants points, he is the league's top scorer.

From Leonard's perspective, Harden is indeed the team's treasure. Without Harden, it will be difficult for the Clippers to maintain the lower limit of the playoffs. After all, Leonard's health has always been a problem, but it is also true that Kazi's strength has declined in recent years. One is because of too many serious injuries, and the other is because of age. Kazi was born in 1991, do you think he is older? In fact, compared to Harden and Paul, he is only 34 years old. But 34 years old is also a watershed for players. Many players performed very well before the age of 34, and then fell off a cliff.

At the age of 33, Paul was still tied with Harden for the league's singles king in the Rockets, with Harden first and Paul second. But after the age of 34, Paul declined significantly, but he overcame these and ushered in his second spring with the Thunder. He was 34 years old at the time, and then set a record with the Suns at the age of 35 and led the team to the Finals. Now Kawhi is also facing a watershed as a player, it depends on whether he can pass it. After all, the knee problem is too serious. Another player with such a knee injury is Embiid. He is only 31 years old and is already on the verge of retirement. The reason why Embiid lost weight during the offseason is to reduce the pressure on his knees.