The Clippers fell to the Kings 113-110 despite a strong bench performance due to a slow Kawhi game and a dominant outing by De’Aaron Fox. For a full recap of the Clippers’ loss to the Kings, read on below.
Summary
The first quarter moved extremely quickly, with both teams pushing the ball up and down the court. While the Clippers’ starting unit was mostly cold, the Kings couldn’t get any outside shots to fall, which kept the Clippers attached. Still, the Kings built a small lead, mostly behind De’Aaron Fox drives to the rim. The Clippers began playing a bit beter when the bench unit came in, buoyed by the energy and dfens of Terance Mann. While Marcus Morris took three straight bad shots when he checked in, he then made a catch and shoot three and turnaround jumper that put the Clippers ahead to end the quarter.
The start of the second quarter went well, too. Lou Williams looked invigorated, repeatedly attacking rookie Kyle Guy to score or get into the paint and find shooters. Ivica Zubac continud to anchor the defnese, walling off the paint and snaring several rebounds. Unfortunately, Reggie Jackson helped a bit too far off of Kings shooters, and they were able to nail a couple corner threes. The Clippers sunk more with the starters back in, with the culprit, shockingly, being Kawhi Leonard. Leonard forced too much offense, and missed a bevy of jumpers. The Kings used those misses to get out in transition, and seized a small lead entering halftime.
The Clippers made a quick run out of halftime, forcing a Walton timeout, but the Kings came right back on a run of their own to retake the lead. While shooting well enough, Reggie Jackson was jus doing far too much, taking several shots and wasting the shot clock by overdribbling. Meanwhile, Buddy Hield got hot on the other end, and the Kings were able to grow their lead a bit. Order was restored offensively with the return of Lou Williams, who immediately found Ibaka for a dunk and then got to the line. Terance Mann chipped in too with some offensive rebounds, and a foul on a Marcus Morris three put the Clippers ahead going into the final period.
The 4th quarter started inauspiciously, with Reggie barfing up a bad midrange jumper. Fortunately, Zu was there for the putback. That heme continued over the next couple minutes, with the Clippers missing jumper after jumper but Zu giving them life with offensive rebounds. At the other end, Tyrese Haliburton drained a couple threes, keeping the Kings afloat. However, when De’Aaron Fox came back, the game shifted towards the Kings. Fox made two threes when Jackson helped too far off him, and then began attacking the paint. Kawhi Leonard could not stay in front of him, and Fox’s crafting finishing enabled him to score around Zu. On the other end, after a long night, Kawhi was finally able to get a couple buckets to drop, but it was too late, and missed threes by Lou and then Batum finally put a cap on the Clippers’ run. That sentence is a perfect recap in miniature, as the Clippers made just eight threes on 28.6% shooting while the Kings made 10 on 34.5% shooting. Not a big difference, but it swung the game.
Notes
Kawhi Tired: This was probably Kawhi Leonard’s worst performance of the season, and one of his worst as a Clipper. He scored 20 points, but they came on 21 shots, and dished out only two assists. He also repeatedly failed to stay in front of De’Aaron Fox, and while Kawhi’s specialty is bigger wings, it would have been nice if he was a bit better on that end. The 10 rebounds were great, but the Clippers needed a much better performance with Paul George out, and didn’t get it. A lot of Kawhi’s jumpers were short, indicating some fatigue, so it’s great that the Clippers will now have a couple days off until their next game Wednesday night.
Lou-Mann-Zu Great: If there’s been a bright spot to the past couple weeks of patchy Clippers play, it’s been the improved performance of their bench. Lou Williams (23 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), Ivica Zubac (12 points, 14 rebounds), and Terance Mann (6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) were the Clippers best players in this one. Mann was the Clippers’ best perimeter option defensively, proving the only player capable of staying in front of Haliburton and Fox on at least a part-time basis. Zu gobbled up rebounds, created second-chance opportunities, and made all his free throws while playing solid defense around the rim. And Lou Williams, while he did take a couple bad shots and had a few sloppy turnovers, was also the only Clipper creating looks for others or consistently getting downhill in the halfcourt. All three guys look rejuvenated, and it has come at a great time with George and Beverley out.
Serge and Luke Struggling: Conversely, Serge Ibaka and Luke Kennard have continued to struggle. Neither of them were bad, per se, but the Clippers need a lot more from both of them. Serge’s outside shooting has been shaky – he only took one three in this one, and has taken only 10 in the past four games. If he’s going to be out there to space the floor, he should be shooting more threes. Kennard, meanwhile, came out aggressive again, scoring six points in the first quarter, but then faded the res of the way, scoring only two more points and playing a mere 19 minutes. Now, he probably should have played a bit more at the expense of Reggie Jackson, but while Jackson at least attempts shots, Kennard is too frequently invisible on the court – when he’s not getting blown by on defense. It’s fine to be patient with both guys, but a starting lineup change (at least while PG and Beverley are out) might be warranted at this point. As mentioned elsewhere in the recap, Reggie Jackson was also bad against the Kings despite a decent statline, and the Clippers could look at shifting him back to the bench as well.
Fox All Star: De’Aaron Fox looked phenomenal all game, pouring in 36 points on 25 shots and dishing out 7 assists to just a single turnover. No Clipper outside of Mann was able to stay in front of him at all, and he seemingly made every shot he took around the basket while also hitting a couple big threes. The Western Conference is a crowded one for All Stars, but Fox deserves real consideration for a Kings team that is now over two games over .500 and is one of the hotter teams in the West at the moment. Good for the Kings!
That’s about all I have for this recap of the Clippers’ 113-110 loss to the Kings. Be sure to check out the Kings Herald for the Kings’ perspective, and enjoy the Super Bowl safely tonight!