The Clippers got back to their winning ways Saturday night against the Charlotte Hornets, as they crushed their visitors 125-98. Let’s see how the Clippers vs Hornets player grades shook out in a dominant victory.
Clippers Starter Grades
Reggie Jackson: B+. It feels like there’s always an “oh Reggie” moment or two, but I really have no complaints regarding an overall solid outing for the Clippers’ fill-in starting guard.
Paul George: A. For a guy who has been as turnover prone as PG has this season, I feel like you have to give top marks for a 10-assist, 0-turnover game. Plus, he started to get hot again with his shot, putting up 21 points on 14 shot attempts.
Kawhi Leonard: A-. I’m starting to think that maybe Charlotte just isn’t very good defensively. Kawhi turned in a low-volume, high-efficiency offensive night with 17 points on 6-13 shooting despite being cold (0-4) from deep, adding 4 assists, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers. Yeah, it was just that kind of night for Charlotte.
Marcus Morris: B. Morris had a solid outing overall but didn’t jump off the screen, most notably having his minutes limited because he found himself in foul trouble throughout the game. I’m not gonna knock him for 13 points on 9 shots and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes, though.
Ivica Zubac: B+. Zu’s individual box score line wasn’t as pronounced in recent games, but him playing bigger minutes with the starters in recent games has really clearly shown how valuable he can be on both ends of the floor. He’s by far the Clippers’ best defensive big man in the post, against ball screens, and especially stepping up in help against drives, and it’s becoming unavoidable that his screening, rolling, and offensive rebounding adds more to the team’s attack than Serge Ibaka’s superior (but still only average) jump-shooting.
Clippers Bench Player Grades
Nicolas Batum: A. In a vacuum, this performance might not earn full top marks, but Nico gets an A for his revenge game against the Hornets, who cut him before the season began (and didn’t even call him–he found out on Twitter). He had 11 points on 5 shots, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals, and even got a dunk (and a second almost-dunk). Plus, he’s a super valuable member of the Clippers’ team defense and has done admirably playing more center minutes with Serge Ibaka out.
Terance Mann: A. What a game for Terance slashing to the rim! He had 16 points on 7-10 shooting and looked like a really dynamic downhill player who finished acrobatically around the basket. My gut instinct is that a lot of this performance had to do with an already-bad Charlotte defense growing disinterested in a game where they trailed by double figures for 41 straight minutes, but these are single-game grades and he had a phenomenal outing.
Lou Williams: B. A good-but-not-great outing for Lou, who supplemented his 4-11 shooting night by earning–and converting–6 attempts from the free throw line. That earned him 15 points on 11 shots, even though he only had 1 assist to 2 turnovers. And how about his defense? 3 steals for Lou Williams?
Patrick Patterson: B+. The Clippers pretty much got everything they can realistically expect from PatPat at this point, but it was all they needed from him in 12 minutes as an injury fill-in center against an inferior team: make a couple shots to keep the defense honest, grab a few rebounds, and end up +12 with him on the floor. I don’t think there’s a ton of added value from having PatPat in these minutes compared to someone like Amir Coffey, but he did what was needed from this spot tonight, even if it was a small ask.
Garbage Time Crew: NG. Luke Kennard, Amir Coffey, Mfiondu Kabengele, and Daniel Oturu all got a nice little shift together to round out this game, but I don’t really feel like giving any of them grades. Kennard was the only one who really stood out–and that’s really the bare minimum expectation for a player of his caliber who has found himself out of the rotation. Coffey, Fi, and Oturu all had more or less neutral stretches, though we might remember Fi’s made three from the wing as the last shot he makes in a Clipper uniform. He’s probably a lock to be off the roster by the time the trade deadline passes Thursday afternoon.
No Grades
Now for the rest of the no grades crew: Patrick Beverley and Serge Ibaka are still sidelined with knee soreness and lower back tightness. Both of them seem ripe for a potentially imminent return, but the Clippers are certainly going to be cautious with these two veteran starters–and I wouldn’t rule out Beverley’s name coming up in some trade conversations over the next few days as well. Jay Scrubb, who is likely going to miss the entire season as he recovers from foot surgery in training camp, continues to be ungraded.
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