I don’t believe in evil! Even though the veteran inside man has been beaten in various ways on the court, the Clippers still insist on using him?

In the previous NBA regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Clippers at home 126-107. After this game, the Thunder, who had won 8 consecutive games since the start of the season, improved their record to 8-0, ranking first in the Western Conference; while the Clippers, who suffered two consecutive losses, have dropped to 3-4, and their ranking has dropped to 10th in the Western Conference.

In this game, the performance of the Clippers' backup center Brook Lopez was simply appalling. Lopez played for 15 minutes and 48 seconds, shooting 3 of 7 from the field and 4 of 4 from beyond the three-point line. He scored 12 points and 2 rebounds. He also had 2 turnovers and 2 fouls. The plus-minus value was as low as -29, the lowest in the game. It seems that Lopez hit more three-pointers and provided some support for the team on the offensive end. However, from the actual situation, he gave up many more points on the defensive end than he scored on the offensive end. Lopez's weakness in movement speed on the defensive end is simply exploited by opponents in various ways, and opponents can easily use this to carry out targeted attacks on the Clippers. The team's situation is in a mess when Lopez is on the court, which is also closely related to his performance on the defensive end. It is no exaggeration to say that if Lopez had not played, the Clippers might not have lost this game so easily.

In the NBA regular season last season, Lopez played a total of 80 times on behalf of the Milwaukee Bucks in 82 games, averaging 31.8 minutes per game. According to statistics, he had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.9 blocks, 1.1 turnovers and 2.1 fouls. He shot 50.9% from the field, 37.3% from the three-point range, and 82.6% from the free throw line. In the playoffs, Lopez played a total of 5 times, averaging 14.8 minutes per game. He averaged 5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.2 steals and 1 block per game. He also had 0.8 turnovers and 2.2 fouls. He shot 36.4% from the field, 26.7% from the three-point range, and 100% from the free throw line. Since the start of this season, Lopez has averaged 16 minutes per game in the first 7 games, averaging 7 points, 3 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. He also has 0.9 turnovers and 1.4 fouls. His shooting percentage is 36.2%, 36.1% from three-point range, and 50% from free throws.

Lopez seems to have good outside shooting ability, and it seems that he can have a certain effect on the offensive end. However, from the actual situation, Lopez's average plus-minus per game is as low as -3.4. As a substitute player, this average plus-minus per game is already very eye-catching, and it also shows that the team is basically in an extremely passive state when he is on the court. The Clippers are not without anyone available inside. This year's first-round pick Yanic Konan Niederhauser has almost no chance to enter the rotation and can only play garbage time. Each of us can see the damage Lopez caused to the team on the court, but the Clippers still insist on using him, so let's continue to see if other teams will continue to target him like this!