The Clippers finally completed their six game Grammy’s road trip in Brooklyn to take on the Nets, who were severely short-handed. The Nets played with pride, though, and almost stole this one from the Clippers. Check out our recap of this exciting Clippers vs Nets game below:
Summary
The Nets were lights-out from three in the first half of this game: 8/12 in the first quarter and 4/9 in the second. They were led by Cam Thomas, who had 22 first-half points, and Royce O’Neale, who had five of the Nets’ 12 threes through twenty-four minutes.
Despite the Nets’ hot shooting, the Clippers—led by Norman Powell, who had eight points in four minutes—finished the first quarter on a run and earned a two point lead after one frame. Then, in the second quarter, the Clippers grew their lead to 11. The Nets’ shooting, though, kept them in it, chipping the lead down to just two at half time.
The third quarter was extremely chaotic and exciting—at least from the Brooklyn perspective. But, in the end, we ended up about where we started: Going into the fourth quarter, the Clippers held a three point lead after winning the third by one. But the Nets got their home crowd into the game with some impressive plays from Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton.
The Nets continued their spirited play in the fourth quarter. A 14-0 Nets run gave them an eight point lead with 6:20 remaining in the game, to which the Clippers responded with a 9-0 run to get the lead back, prompting a Nets time out with 4:39 to go. From there, both teams landed big punch after big punch. But Kawhi and Zubac figured out how to do a *better* job on Cam Thomas, forcing a few turnovers, while the Clippers found ways to score.
In the end, the Clippers won 124-116 despite Cam Thomas’ 47 points.
Notes
Rotation Watch: For the last few games, Ty Lue has kept to a nine-man rotation: Powell, Jackson, Batum, and Covington playing off the bench (or eight, with no Covington). Today, though, Luke Kennard was the first guard off the bench. He had a tough time knocking shots down, but it was nice to see Kennard get shots up and the Clippers were +9 in his first half minutes. Covington did not play in the first half, so Ty Lue did in fact have three guards on the court at the same time, which he’s tried to avoid as of late.
Reggie Jackson started the first half with Morris having been ejected. Then, Batum and Powell came in for Zubac and Mann. And then Kennard and Zubac came in for George and Leonard to end the first quarter. This was notable for two reasons: First, Kennard got a second shift after shooting poorly in the first half. Second, PG and Kawhi spent a lot of time sitting at the same time, which has been rare as of late.
The closing unit was: Jackson, Powell, George, Leonard, and Zubac, although Batum made some huge plays in relief for Zubac, who sat at times because he had five fouls.
Medal Stand: As many of you know, the Podcast Crew at the Lob The Jam The Podcast award medals after each Clippers win. I’ll go:
Gold—Kawhi Leonard: Although he was not great tonight, he had nine points in the fourth quarter and almost single handedly brought the Clippers back from their eight point deficient deep into the fourth quarter.
Silver—Ivica Zubac: Zubac was +27 in 30 minutes, put up 19 points on 6/9 shooting and grabbed 12 boards. He also had three steals, a block, and was 7/10 from the free throw line. He did a bit of everything, including defending at a high-level with five fouls in the fourth quarter.
Bronze—Reggie Jackson: Reggie was not perfect. In fact, he had a few bad stretches tonight. But he was a team-high (tied with Zubac) +27 in 26:38 minutes, put 12 points on 5/10 shooting, and took a huge charge from Nic Claxton while the game was still in the balance.
Honorable Mention—Paul George: PG should probably be on the metal stand, given that he had a team-high 29 points on 10/20 shooting. But I am going to dock him for a bad clutch-time turnover and because he only had three points in the fourth quarter.
Dishonorable Mention—Marcus Morris, Sr.: I have no clue what Morris said to get bounced so quickly, but it must have been bad. Regardless, in 17 minutes, he had two points, one rebound, and three fouls. Not great.
Who is on your metal stand? Tell us your Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the comments!
That about does it for this recap of this Clippers – Nets matchup. 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!
