On short rest, the Clippers went north to Sacramento to take on the Kings and lost, 104-99. As noted in our preview, Paul George has fallen off since his MVP start to the season. Tonight, he was 5/21 from the field with five turnovers, and the Clippers were minus-2 with him on the floor. Not even Marcus Morris Sr.’s huge game could make up for the Clippers’ best player coming out flat. Check out how it unfolded in our recap below.
One note: Coach Ty Lue again started with the “big” lineup: Reggie, PG, Morris, Serge, and Zubac.
Summary
The Clippers started the game hot, with PG and Reggie hitting two threes apiece. The Kings’ response was led by Fox and Halliburton, who had six and seven early points respectively. Halfway through the first, the Clippers led 16-13. The rotations came early and often, which is to be expected on a second-game-of-a-back-to-back. Bledsoe, Kennard, Mann, and Hartenstein all saw minutes before the three minute mark of first quarter. Even Brandon Boston, Jr. got some first quarter burn. The Kings took advantage of the Clippers’ awkward lineups and finished the quarter strong, making it a 29-29 score after one frame.
The second quarter was pretty ugly for both teams, but the Clippers’ offense (or lack thereof) was why the Kings had a 50-45 lead going into halftime. Specifically, Reggie Jackson made one-of-two free throws with six minutes left in the quarter, and the Clippers only scored five more points the rest of the way. Even though they were in the “bonus” for most of the quarter, the Clippers settled for long jumpers born out of little ball movement. The Kings only scored 21 in the quarter, and really should have been up by more, but they had three costly turnovers and missed some open shots.
As Lucas put it on Twitter, the Clippers played better in third quarter, but nonetheless saw their deficit grow by one. One interesting development was the benching of Serge Ibaka, who was 1/4 from the field (0/2 from three) and had only one rebound in the first half. Instead, to start the third, Ty Lue went with Terence Mann.
The fourth quarter started off poorly, gave us a little hope, and then let us down. The Clippers ended up losing 104-99, but were down by as much as 14 halfway through the final frame. Morris, who had nine in the fourth, did his best in the fourth but the Clippers could not come up with enough stops to get over the hump. The Kings again led by Terence Davis, who had 28 points on 9/16 shooting (6/11 from three).
Notes
- Nic Batum: Although Batum was (apparently) cleared to return to basketball activities with the team, he did not make the trip to Sacramento. But it is safe to say he’ll have an opportunity to join the team in Portland, when the Clippers take on the Blazers.
- Terence Mann feature in The Undefeated: An article by Marcus Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated highlighted Mann’s unlikely rise, which of course culminated in his huge performance in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. It’s great to see Terence get some national recognition!
That does it for our Clippers-Kings recap. Check out our podcast for more analysis of tonight’s game and the schedule ahead.