Maybe, this is the game that gives Kawhi over the hump. He needed this finish to this game more than anything. We all saw what we saw for 3/4 of the game and then suddenly “the real Kawhi stood up.”

Harden, over the past 3 games, cleaned up his ballhandling and it shows.

The more that I see Bogi, the more I appreciate him. He has a higher skill level than I gave him credit for.

I’m all for playing Kobe.

On to New Orleans.

Sacramento probably should’ve won this game. It was a classic, half court affair. Very few fast breaks, not that many made 3s & not many turnovers. Zach and DeMar are very, very tough covers in half court sets. LaVine gets to the rim from the win position with ease, and has the hang time to get to the other side of the rim and lay it up off the glass. He also showed off a good mid range off the bounce. DeRozan is the mid range mafia. But somehow the Clippers pulled it out even when falling behind by 7 twice in the last 2 mins of the game.

James Harden was brilliant (again), especially in crunch time. He orchestrated every possession down the stretch so well, lulling the defenders to sleep, calling his own number, hitting Zu and DJJ, making his floaters and hitting that huge, high degree of difficulty 3 to start the OT. He just had the defense off balance throughout the game, but especially in Q4/OT.

Kawhi – had a bad game in half court sets up until the last 2 mins of regulation and OT. His shooting was just bad and it bogged the team down and kept them from getting any momentum or separation. He wasn’t super active on defense until late. That said, the tough and 1 baseline jumper to cut the lead from 7 to 4 in Q4, the big block in OT and of course, the buzzer beater erased all of the clunky play.

Zu – Was great again with 22/14 on just 14 shots. The team needs to get his shot total in the 18+ range. Valanciunas played well and was physical enough to make things a little harder for Zu. Still, he dominated this game at both ends.

Batum – Having him in the starting lineup improves things immeasurably. His rim protection is underrated. His passing is precise and contagious. He wasn’t on the floor a lot in Q4 and I think that was a mistake by Shaw (who did not impress). Kawhi didn’t need to play 40 min tonight. Letting him rest a bit in Q4 and letting Batum play might’ve made this game a little easier.

Kris Dunn – Had a very rough game offensively. Clips got up by +9 and then he made 2 bad mistakes in a row- driving deep into the paint and recklessly throwing it back for a TO and a shooting foul at the defensive end. He didn’t make the defensive impact he usually makes b/c of too much fouling. His offense is good when he plays through and leverages Zu. When he has to make a play, or teams go to zone to make him take a shot, he struggles.

DJJ – One of his best games of the season. Hit big time shots, finished at the rim and guarded DeRozan well.

Bogdanovic – I liked his game a lot tonight and Shaw should’ve played him 30 mins. He’s a more fearless ballhandler than I probably realized. He gets deep in the paint with his steady, low dribble. His point of attack defense and on switches looked very good.

Coffey – Had a good stretch in the first few possessions of Q4 where he got a stop, a rebound, drew 2 fouls and made a bucket, but outside of that he was basically food for LaVine and DeRozan. They wanted that switch on him on every possession. Amir should not have played 27 mins tonight. 15 would’ve been fine.

Kobe Brown – got called for some touch fouls vs DeRozan but I liked what I saw in hsi 4 mins.

This was an important win. Clippers are now back to +6 over .500. If they win vs New Orleans, they’ll be at +7, which is where they were before the big road trip. Next 4 games are @NO, @Miami, @ ATL, Charlotte. If they can go 4-0 or 3-1, they might be in a position to climb back into the #6 spot if GSW and/or Minn slow down.