The Clippers played great tonight—but only for about three quarters. Giannis Antetokounmpo took over in the 4th and the Clippers’ stars could not respond. Check out our recap of this Clippers-Bucks game below:
Summary
LA started the game well—especially on the defensive end. Ty Lue started with Ivica Zubac guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo, who opened the game 0/5 from the field. But Giannis was able to get some down-hill a few times and the Clippers’ shooting fell off, so the Clippers only found themselves up nine after the first quarter despite leading at 15 points at one point.
The Bucks started the second quarter with a seven point run (13-0 including their run at the end of the first quarter). But the eight minute mark, it was Milwaukee who had the lead. Giannis’ assault on the rim took off once Zubac got his third foul and was replaced by Robert Covington. The Clippers responded with a 10-0 run of their own, though. Norman Powell’s 15 second quarter points held offset Giannis’ 20 in the half, allowing the Clippers to take a seven point lead into half time.
The Clippers started the third quarter with a 9-0 run, prompting a quick Bucks timeout. The runs went back and forth throughout the quarter, including at 13-3 run by the Bucks to end the quarter. That helped take a 21 point Clippers lead down to just nine going into the fourth quarter.
Milwaukee continued to chip away at the Clippers lead steadily throughout the first half of the fourth quarter. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton came alive for the Bucks, while Giannis continued to dominate. Ty Lue elected to stay with Zubac on Giannis, but Giannis got whatever he wanted: he hit jumpers, drove the lane, and earned several trips to the free throw lane. With 1:47 left in the game, Zubac finally fouled out. Kawhi did fine on Giannis over the last two minutes, but the damage was done. The Clippers too long to change their defensive coverage.
Although Giannis took over in the fourth, the bigger issue was the Clippers’ inability to score down the stretch. They did not score for three straight minutes, missing seven straight shots. With 27.1 seconds left, down one, Ty Lue called a timeout (his last). Kawhi missed a midrange, turnaround jumper (another isolation play with no ball movement). The Clippers got a gift, though, when Giannis threw the ball away. Unfortunately, the Clippers could not make anything of it—Kawhi dribbled the ball for 15 seconds and put up an airball as time expired.
Really, this game came down to Giannis taking over and the Clippers’ stars inability to respond. Kawhi was an abysmal 7/26 from the field (1/6 from three) and only earned one trip to the free throw line (2/2). Paul George went 6/16 from the floor (2/6 from three) and was a miserable 2/6 from the free throw line. Powell, again, was stellar, outscoring the Bucks’ bench with 26 on great efficiency.
Notes
Paul George, 8-Time All-Star: Today, it was announced that Paul George was voted to be an All-Star reserve. To some, this was a bit surprising given that he has only played 38 of the Clippers 55 games (including tonight’s game). But, at the end of the day, the Clippers are a .600+ team when he plays and he’s averaging 23.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. That’s not nothing. And, plainly, his reputation as an elite two-way player is still intact, so guys like Anthony Edwards or De’Aaron Fox would have had to to significantly out-perform him to leap over him.
Trade Deadline Needs: Over the last few weeks, the Clippers have been connected via trade rumors to several point guards. Tonight, though, was reminder that the backup Center position is a much bigger need. When Zubac went to the bench with three fouls, Giannis dominated. Sure, not every team has a Giannis. But guys like Jokic, Sabonis, Zion, Ayton, and even Christian Wood will punish the Clippers if they are relying on Brown, Batum, or Covington to play center off the bench night-in, night-out.
Rotation Update: With Marcus Morris, Sr. back in the lineup, Luke Kennard was the odd man out. The Clippers played two guards (Powell and Jackson) and two forwards (Batum and Covington) off the bench. At the end of this game, though, it looked like the Clippers could have used Kennard’s shooting during those 3:30 minutes when they could not score.
That about does it for this recap of the Clippers’ comeback loss against the Bucks. As always, check out The Lob The Jam The Podcast and Clips ‘N Dip for analysis throughout the week, and follow us on Twitter to watch the game with us!
