The Clippers got back in the win column on the road, but it was probably about as hideous of a win as you’ll see them have all season.
Summary
This was an abysmally played basketball game. The Clippers were dreadful, and pulled out the win mostly because the Grizzlies were ice cold shooting the basketball and missing most of their best players.
It didn’t look that way to start. The game moved quickly early on, with both teams scoring nearly at will. The Clippers led 16-14 at the 7:05 mark, in fact, when Terance Mann picked up his second foul. In came Russ and – surprise – PJ Tucker for Mann and Harden. Harden actually came back a couple minutes later, as Ty Lue really changed up his rotations. The Clippers’ lead was as large as six, but a Russ-PJ-Mason trio down the stretch killed the Clippers’ spacing and the game was 29-29 after one.
The game rapidly went downhill from there. Every time the Clippers would string together some good possessions on offense, they’d let the Grizzlies score on the other end. Conversely, the Grizzlies kept throwing bricks, but getting offensive boards, and forced the Clippers into a million bad turnovers. At halftime, the Grizz led 59-53 because they’d taken 20 more shots than the Clippers, 55-35, through two quarters. It was just as ugly as it sounds.
The first half was nothing compared to the second half. The Clippers scored just 16 points across the first 7:30 of the 3rd, yet made up six points because the Grizzlies scored just 10 in that time. Things were knotted up late, but a Kawhi middy, steal, and then buzzer-beating three got the Clippers up 79-74 going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was every bit as sloppy, with Ty going without Harden and Kawhi to give his bell cows some rest. This was a bad idea, as a 9-2 Grizzlies run put them up 83-81 within 3.5 minutes. Zu came back for PJ at that point, with Harden checking in less than a minute later. The rest of the quarter was less of a dogfight and more both teams seemingly trying to lose with bad turnovers, poor rebounding, and lots of fouling. In the end, a couple big shots by Kawhi and a monster three and steal by Harden got the Clippers a hideous 101-95 win.
Notes
No Norm: Norman Powell missed his first game of the season tonight as he was a late scratch with a sprained ankle. By all accounts the injury is not serious – it’s possible he plays on Sunday, and seems very likely he’d be back no later than Wednesday. For all of Norm’s flaws on defense and as a playmaker, his scoring and shooting is important to this team, and they missed him in this one.
Hello PJ: PJ Tucker entered a game for the first time in over three months in this one. In typical PJ fashion, his only stats were three rebounds and two fouls in 14 minutes – no shots attempted at all. In the first half he played mostly alongside Mason Plumlee in a horrible unit I want to forget. In the second half, he played as a small-ball five and was ok. His rebounding (especially on offense) and defense are helpful, but he’s such a non-threat on offense he just has to play at center. Hopefully that’s the case going forward.
Slumping Plum: Mason Plumlee had six points in eight minutes in this one on 6-6 from the line. Not bad right? Wrong. Plumlee was a -5 in his time on the court, and did not play after halftime. He’s just not playing well right now, giving nothing on defense and contributing very little on offense. This is two straight games he’s been benched after one shift, and it seems possible he’s removed from the rotation soon for Tucker or Daniel Theis. Maybe he gets another few games at it, but right now he’s not in sync on offense or defense.
