The Clippers snared the Hawks at home 106-93 in one of their better wins of the season. Keep reading for a full recap of the Clippers’ win over the Hawks.

Summary

The Clippers started off the game frigid on the offensive end, but the process was much better than it has been in recent weeks, with actual ball movement leading to open shots. On the other side of the ball, Amir Coffey did a good job on Trae Young, but Trae forced switches onto lesser defenders, creating advantages for Hawks buckets. The Clippers’ offense slowly improved as the quarter went along and the bench trickled in, helped by nice shooting and even playmaking from Amir Coffey. With Zu holding down the paint on defense and grabbing rebounds, the Clippers were able to push in transition and gain the lead. Jumpers by Eric Bledsoe and Serge Ibaka further capped the run and grew the Clippers’ lead to eight.

The second quarter started off nicely with another Coffey three, but when he sat for Marcus Morris, the Clippers offense slumped. Their defense remained active and kept the inept Hawks bench at bay, but they failed to take advantage and expand the lead further. Most of the rest of the quarter with the starters back in played similarly to the rest of the half, with the Hawks pushing the Clippers lead down to as little as three points at times but the Clippers answering and getting it back to multiple scores. At halftime, the Clippers led 59-53.

The Clippers started out the second half with some nice play on both ends courtesy of a Reggie Jackson floater and a Nic Batum block on Trae Young. Unfortunately, after this spurt, there was a several minute stretch where the Clippers gave the ball up on increasingly sloppy plays. Fortunately, the Hawks proved unable to take advantage due to some poor shooting and stout Clippers’ defense. The key Clippers were Amir Coffey and Nic Batum, as the two wings proved menaces on defense and turned those stops into transition buckets the other way. At the end of the quarter, Eric Bledsoe got into the action as well with a nice layup and then a gorgeous steal resulting in a Mann dunk that pushed the lead to 13.

The fourth quarter continued in much the same fashion, with Bledsoe and Mann getting two jumpers to fall, but the Hawks matching with a pair of Onyeka Okongwu buckets. The Clippers continued to hold the Hawks at arms length, helped by a successful coaches challenge that overturned a shooting foul on Mann. Bledsoe’s playmaking and scoring acumen rmained strong throughout, with his forming a devastating pick and roll duo with Serge Ibaka, who looked fresh and energetic. The Hawks’ frigid shooting never turned around, and the Clippers slowly expanded their lead until it neared 20 points, effectively ending the game with a few minutes left in the 4th. The remainder of the game was garbage time, and the Clippers held on for a comfortable 106-93 victory.

Notes

Amir Coffey with Career Night: The story of the game for the Clippers was Amir Coffey, who tied a career high with 21 points and 5 threes made. Coffey played 33 minutes, tied with Terance Mann for most on the team, and also chipped in 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Not only did he knock down most of his threes, but he also created several for teammates off remarkably polished drive-and-kicks, and played excellent defense on Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic. I wrote about the leap Amir has made this season, and tonight was absolutely the culmination of that. Ty Lue may have found something with this new starting unit, and Coffey is 100% locked into a key rotation role at the very least. Folger Soldier indeed.

Strong Batum and Zu Games: In their third and second games back from fairly lengthy absences respectively, Nic Batum and Ivica Zubac looked much more like themselves. Batum pulled in 8 rebounds in 30 minutes, nailed two threes, and was the Clippers’ best defender. Zubac grabbed 13 rebounds in 25 minutes, feasting against an injury-ridden Hawks’ frontcourt unit on both ends of the court. The duo’s rebounding prowess helped the Clippers outrebound an opponent for what feels like the first time in forever, and also were critical to the Clippers’ locked in defensive effort. As Batum and Zu get healthier, the Clippers’ play should improve substantially, raising the floor on defense from decent to very good, and on offense from atrocious to just bad. Great performances by both vets.

Bledsoe Outplays Reggie: While Reggie Jackson wasn’t awful in this one, he still had more shot attempts than turnovers and had a 1:1 assist to turnover. Eric Bledsoe, conversely, scored 12 points on 9 shots and dished 7 turnovers to just a single turnover. Moreover, the eye test bore the stats out – the team looked in considerably better rhythm and generated much better shots with Bledsoe out there instead of Reggie. Reggie is certainly the better fit alongside a team with both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George due to his shooting, and maybe even the superior option alongside one star, but with both wings out, it looks increasingly like Bledsoe is the better point guard to generate some clean looks. Ty Lue might not make the starting move swap, but Bledsoe did play more minutes than Reggie tonight, and that trend could continue if the level of play remains at this level.

Lou Inactive: While the Clippers played a wonderful video tribute for Lou Williams, Sweet Lou was inactive in this one, as he’s out of the Hawks rotation and the Hawks felt it was more respectful to just keep him in street clothes. It was a bummer for Clippers faithful who may have wanted to see Lou in action, but the tribute was great, and the crowd gave a well-deserved standing ovation.

That about does it for this recap of the Clippers’ win over the Hawks. Share your Coffey puns in the comments below!

9 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments