Overview

The Clippers suffered one of their worst losses of the season, falling to a shorthanded Nets team 129-120 mostly due to an embarrassing 1st quarter performance. The Clippers loss to the Nets was a combination of bad defense, stagnant offense, and a team that took over a quarter to really wake up. The effort was mostly there in the 2nd half, but it was too late.

Game Summary

This game started about as poorly as possible for the Clippers. They looked lethargic and disinterested, not moving the ball on offense and giving up open shot after open shot on the other end. They were quickly down double figures, but didn’t seem to be getting any more fire. The Nets were on fire, draining every single shot they took, while the Clippers connected on midrangers but didn’t hit from deep or get to the line. Kawhi Leonard did his best, but no other Clipper seemed up to the task, and a flurry of threes at the end of the quarter got the Nets lead out to 21.

The second quarter began promisingly enough, with a speedy 7-0 Clippers run forcing a Nets timeout. However, the Nets hit a couple threes shortly thereafter, and their lead remained around 20 for much of the quarter. The bench was clearly playing with more energy and effort than the starters had been, but still couldn’t string together either stops or buckets. That changed when Kawhi Leonard returned. He took the game into his massive hands, and began scoring at will on the undersized Nets. His activity on defense forced a couple turnovers as well, and the Clippers rallied to cut the lead down to a manageable 11 at halftime.

The 3rd quarter began with an insane Kawhi Leonard flurry, as he hit a midrange jumper and then three deep balls to go on a personal 11-0 run to start the quarter. The Nets began to throw double teams at him, and for some reason, the Clippers took this as an opportunity to go away from him. The Clippers struggled to score, and the Nets quickly regained a narrow lead. Eventually, the Clippers returned to Kawhi, and he rewarded them by making some beautiful passes to shooters, reading the Nets’ defense like a book. The Clippers’ offense faded when Kawhi sat, but Lou Williams was able to score a bit, keeping the Clips close.

Unfortunately, Kawhi’s push in the 3rd quarter didn’t end up mattering. The Clippers missed a couple of open threes at the start of the 4th quarter, the Nets made two of their own, and they were suddenly back up 10. Terance Mann played with aggression on both ends, forcing Nets’ mistakes and capitalizing around the rim, but the Clippers just could not string together buckets or stops. Kawhi returned (and played almost the entire 4th), but his shot went cold, and every time he missed, the Nets went back and converted on the other end. The Clippers battled on, showing some nice heart and energy, but the shots were not falling, the defense remained porous, and ultimately, the better team pulled away. The final result: the Clippers lose 129 to 120 to a Nets team missing half of their rotation.

Notes

Kawhi Superstar: While this game was disheartening overall, the Clippers can be encouraged by at least one thing: Kawhi Leonard looked fantastic. He was aggressive going to the rim, was all over the place (in a good way) on defense, and his shot was silky smooth until the 4th quarter. The fact that he was able to play 36 minutes says a lot about his conditioning and overall form, and he was in full superstar mode tonight. As long as he’s healthy and playing like this, the Clippers should be pretty good.

Reggie Disaster: Reggie Jackson was miserable tonight. His effort level was bad, he made awful decisions on both ends, and contributed almost nothing positive outside of a single corner three. His tendency to take shots (and bad ones) early in the shot clock is a singularly poor one, and he just doesn’t seem to have much control over the flow of the game. In short, he’s not a true point guard, and continuing to play him like one is harming the Clippers on offense. But that’s not even the worst of it. His play tonight defensively was one of the worst performances by a Clipper in my memory, and this with a team that has featured Lou Williams and Jamal Crawford for most of the past decade. He was blown by with ease by every Nets player he guarded, he was lethargic in making rotations, and he made a couple of awful fouls. He was a -15 in 15 minutes, but it felt like -150. His play throughout the bubble has been subpar, but this was a new low. After being a guy who looked like such a find in March, he has looked every bit like a low-end waiver pickup over the past couple weeks. He needs to turn this around, stat. And if he doesn’t, Doc should bench him. Tonight was unacceptable.

Mann Battles: Contrasted to Reggie was the rookie Terance Mann. Mann has fallen out of the rotation since the early part of the season, largely due to his lack of aggression on the offensive end. Well, tonight he was probably the second most effective Clipper on that end behind Kawhi. He made smart passes, drained a couple corner threes on kickouts, and had several beautiful takes and finishes around the basket. His defense was somewhat more energetic than effective, but it was still far better than nearly everyone else on the team, and he had a couple nice stops on Caris LeVert. I don’t think he’s close to supplanting Reggie (or even Rodney McGruder) full time, but a few more performances like this could earn him a shot in the playoffs if Doc needs some energy.

Missing Trez: For one of the first times in the bubble, the Clipper really missed Montrezl Harrell. His energy and passion would have been huge tonight, and his scoring in the paint would have been extremely helpful for a Clippers team that struggled to create open looks. We still don’t know when he will return, but this loss was a reminder of all the great things that the likely 6th Man of the Year Award winner brings to the table.

The Clippers have two days off before a now massive game against the Nuggets on Wednesday. If they win that, they probably secure the 2 seed. If not… all sorts of unpleasant playoff scenarios might be in play.

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