The LA Clippers slugged through a 113-104 win at home against the Charlotte Hornets.
Summary
It may not have been pretty, but a win is a win.
Maybe it was a little too much Christmas, but whatever it was the Clippers came out sluggish against a Hornets team that was down three starters and sporting one of the worst records in the league at 7-20.
The Hornets are an inconsistent shooting team, but the Clippers allowed a parade into the paint in the first quarter and they trailed 27-26 after one. The Clippers put together a mini-spurt in the second quarter but the Hornets continued to hang tough, trailing 55-50 at the half.
The Clippers looked like they were on the verge of taking control of the game in the third quarter as they build a ten point lead. But they took their foot off the pedal and allowed the Hornets to gain confidence.
“When we were up ten, just a couple of bad shots, shot selection was bad, just messing around with the game,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. “We just got to be professional just playing through the game. You can’t take bad shots, you can’t mess around with the game when you get up.”
Things got worse in the fourth quarter as the Hornets, with newfound confidence, surged ahead and took a 91-84 lead. That was when the Clippers finally woke up. Trailing 93-87, the Clippers used a 14-0 run to take the lead and never look back.
During that surge, Paul George, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Ivica Zubac were all crucial. Westbrook in particular, as he injected life into the team when they were sleep-walking.
“Russell was really good off the bench for us, saved the game for us. I thought James was really good, Zu was better in that second half,” Lue said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game, but it was a good bounce back win for us.”
