The best season in Clippers history might be over – and we didn’t get to see how it ended. While the NBA still publicly hopes to resume and conclude the 2019-20 season at some point this summer, the growing threat COVID-19 poses to public health and rising number of diagnoses around the league make it hard to be optimistic that we’ll ever get to watch Kawhi Leonard try to lead LAC to their first-ever championship in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
While the season is indefinitely suspended, large public gatherings are banned nationwide, and California is under a statewide stay-at-home order, even NBA players are banned from individual workouts at team facilities or local gyms. Given the circumstances, the Clippers are doing their best to give us some basketball to watch: they’ll re-broadcast 14 games from this season over the next few weeks. Here’s the schedule and a brief synopsis of each game, starting tonight in just a few hours (all times Pacific, all games on Fox Sports Prime Ticket):
- Friday, March 20th at 8pm: Clippers vs Suns (12/17/19). The Clippers beat the Suns 120-99 to win their 10th straight home game, led by 24 points from Paul George and 20 each from Kawhi Leonard and Lou Williams.
- Monday, March 23rd at 4pm: Clippers vs Knicks (1/5/20). The Clippers, playing without Kawhi Leonard, barely had enough to hold on and beat the Knicks 135-132 after a miserable first quarter and Paul George fouling out in the fourth. George, Williams, and Montrezl Harrell became the first trio in Clippers history to each score 30 or more points in the same game.
- Wednesday, March 25th at 4:30pm: Clippers vs Celtics (11/20/19). The Clippers narrowly edge out the Celtics in overtime, 107-104, behind 27 points from Williams and 24 from George. Patrick Beverley had a staggering 14-point, 16-rebound, 7-assist, 3-steal, 2-block line, and made the dagger in overtime to seal the win.
- Friday, March 27th at 4pm: Clippers vs Mavericks (11/26/19). L.A.’s defense stifled Luka Doncic and the rest of Dallas, who shot just 38% from the field as the Clippers won 114-99 behind 28 from Leonard and 26 from George in under 30 minutes each.
- Saturday, March 28th at 5pm: Clippers vs Hornets (10/28/19). Ivica Zubac blocked 5 shots, Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points, Landry Shamet made four threes, and Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell combined for 42 points off the bench. What more could you ask for in a 15-point early-season win?
- Monday, March 30th at 7:30pm: Clippers vs Pacers (12/9/19). In the midst of a long road trip, a beat-up Clippers squad with Derrick Walton, Jr. and Jerome Robinson playing rotation minutes was able to get a tough road victory behind 36 points from George against his former team, and a big 26-point boost from Harrell off the bench.
- Thursday, April 2nd at 7pm: Clippers vs Kings (12/31/19). The Clippers ended the decade with a thorough dismantling of the Kings.
- Saturday, April 4th at 7:30pm: Clippers vs Thunder (11/18/19). In another big Paul George against a former team, the Clippers wing made the go-ahead triple with 25 seconds to play. Harrell led the Clippers with 28 points and 12 rebounds as the Clippers’ defense worked against the former-Clipper trio of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Danilo Gallinari.
- Monday, April 6th at 7pm: Clippers vs Raptors (11/11/19). Kawhi Leonard struggled offensively against his former team, but the Clippers held the reigning NBA Champions to just 88 points in a big early-season victory.
- Tuesday, April 7th at 7pm: Clippers vs Jazz (11/3/19). The Clippers put together a 40-point fourth quarter to come back and win by double-digits against Utah, with Leonard scoring 18 points in the final frame to finish with 30 on the night.
- Thursday, April 9th at 7:30pm: Clippers vs Raptors (12/11/19). In one of their most impressive games this season, the shorthanded Clippers (playing essentially an 8-man rotation) had 7 players reach double-figures as they took down the 2019 NBA Champions by 20 points on the road.
- Saturday, April 11th at 5:30pm: Clippers vs Warriors (1/10/20). In a game that was closer than it should have been, the Clippers fell behind before rallying to win the fourth quarter 36-17 and the game 109-100.
- Monday, April 13th at 7:30pm: Clippers vs Timberwolves (12/13/20). Kawhi Leonard and Paul George propel the Clippers to victory by combining for 86 points (tying an NBA record), but the Wolves keep it competitive behind 73 total points from Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.
- Wednesday, April 15th at 7:30pm: Clippers vs Heat (1/24/20). Four Clipper reserves reach double-figure scoring in order to hold on to give Miami their second home loss of the season. Among the starters, Landry Shamet had one of his best games of the season with 22 points and 6 assists while Kawhi Leonard had his first career triple-double with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.
There you have it–happy viewing!