Although it may not feel like it, it’s not every night that the L.A. Clippers (24-25) come back from some absurd deficit. Tonight, however, was one of those nights! In what was arguably their most exciting game of the season, the Clippers came back from down 35 points, the 2nd largest deficit in NBA history, to steal a win from the Washington Wizards (23-25). Amir Coffey led the way with a career high 29 points, followed by Luke Kennard with 25 including an incredible game winner.
Summary
First Quarter:
It shouldn’t be possible to have less energy than completely empty stadiums, right? Wrong. The night in Capital One Arena started with a lull and seemingly non existent energy—an energy that the Clippers decided to match perfectly. The Clippers went to the previously red hot Zubac early on, and unlike his 3-3 start against the Knicks, he started 0-3 with a pair of missed free throws. Zu wasn’t the only one struggling, as the Clippers didn’t score a single field goal until the 6 minute mark of the first quarter, where they found themselves down 4-17.
Amir Coffey chipped in a very needed 7 points, a prelude to his career night, in order to keep the starters afloat until the 2nd unit was brought in. Thankfully, the 2nd unit ignited the Clippers’ offense with some well needed energy that brought them back into the game. They ended the quarter on a 15-6 run and found themselves down by only 9 points, 23-32.
Second Quarter:
With the momentum on their side, the Clippers decided to hit the brakes and shift into park. The good news was that they held Washington star Bradley Beal scoreless until the 6 minute mark of the 2nd quarter. The bad news is that they only had 2 more points than Beal in that same stretch of time. If you did the math correctly, that means the Clippers scored 2 points in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd quarter. Sound familiar? It should, because the Clippers did the same thing in the first quarter. Unlike the first quarter, the entire team continued to lack any effort whatsoever. The Clippers never found their offensive groove like they did to end the first quarter, and they found themselves down by 30 points entering the half.
Third Quarter:
Lue decided to change things up to start the second half with a lineup of Bledsoe – Kennard – Mann – Coffey – Hartenstein. This gave Jackson, Batum, and Zubac well needed rest for their tough upcoming stretch, in addition to playing a lineup with much higher levels of energy on both ends. The starting trio for the Clippers would not see the floor for the rest of the game, which should be a boon for their next game in Orlando.
In complete contrast to their snail pace scoring, the Clippers scored a quick 7 points in 90 seconds—an achievement that took them the majority of the 2nd quarter. Higher energy led to much more inspiring play as well as a 16-5 run. As the Clippers slowly chipped away at the lead, the Wizards fought to keep them a comfortable distance away throughout the quarter. While Washington steadily held the line at 20+ points for nearly the entire period, an end of the quarter push from the Clippers cut the lead down to 17.
Fourth Quarter:
Being down 17 put the Clippers in an interesting spot. The game wasn’t completely out of reach, but it also wasn’t particularly close enough to bring Jackson, Batum, or Zubac back into the mix. Luckily for them, it didn’t matter.
The Clippers started off hot with great pressure on both sides of the court, and they simply never let up. They kept Washington fighting for every shot, while also scrambling on defense. Quickly enough, a double digit lead turned into a single digit lead, and a multiple possession game became a single possession game. The Clippers continued to fight valiantly to make up the 35 point deficit they dug themselves into, but big plays seemed to swing in favor of the Wizards. In the final minutes of the game, a Beal and-1 pushed a 2 point game to 5, a Trez block kept the Clippers from cutting it into a single possession game, and big Beal 3 from a broken play seemed to be the nail in the coffin… unfortunately for the Wizards, the Clippers don’t give up that easily.
With 10.5 seconds left in the game, the Wizard were up 115-109. Kennard proceeded to hit a DEEP 3 ball to cut it down to 3. All Washington had to do was inbound the ball, nail a single free throw, and that’s all she wrote. Instead, they were unable to inbound the ball only to be saved by a timeout. Kuzma was then unable to inbound the ball again, but with no timeouts left to save him, the Wizards were called for a 5 second violation. If that wasn’t catastrophic enough for the Wizards, what transpired next absolutely was.
The Clippers, with no timeouts, inbounded the ball to Winslow who handed it off to Kennard. Kennard runs off a Winslow screen, launches a three, and proceeds to get fouled on the shot. Oh yeah, and the shot went in. Needless to say, cool-hand-Luke swishes the game winning free throw and the Clippers complete the second largest comeback in NBA history.
Game Notes:
- A tale of two halves: For as incredible of a finish this game was, it took an incredible amount of effort, luck, and Washington missteps in the end game for the Clippers to have secured a win. It’s not a new story, but they certainly cannot continue to go 6 minute stretches without a field goal.
- Brewing up a career night: Amir Coffey was simply sublime tonight. He was the only bright spot for stretches of the game, and he finished with a career high 29 points.
- Team Effort: If it isn’t clear by now, the Clippers win off of team efforts. Kennard had a phenomenal night with 22-8-6, Coffey had his career high of 29, and Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 16, 5, and 6 along with some very important defense.
Well that was an unreal win and a fun half of basketball! As much as it may seem like it’s time to celebrate for the Clippers, they have a plane to catch as they face up against the Orlando Magic tomorrow at 4PM PST.
