Okay Clippers fans, no 1200 word dissertation with videos on what went wrong tonight.
By the Numbers — Clippers 4-factors and offensive rating:
Offensive Rating — 103.2
eFG% — 47.1%
Offensive rebounding rate — 39.5%
Turnover rate — 11.4%
Free throw (made) rate — .103
Lakers 4-factors :
Offensive rating — 111.5
eFG% — 54.5%
Offensive rebounding rate — 25.6%
Turnover rate — 16.7%
Free throw (made) rate — .363
4-factors : 2/4 for Clippers, 2/4 for the Lakers
The Clippers won the possession battle, but not enough to counterract the Lakers’ ability to hit from long range and from the foul line at a far greater rate than the Clippers. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum both did very well offensively (with a lot of damage done against Reggie Evans by Gasol). From behind the 3-point line, Derek Fisher and Andrew Goudelock took advantage of the Clippers bad spot-up defense, with Mo Williams especially guilty of an inability to recover from his interior help.
Caron Butler’s strong effort (4/8 on 3PAs!) wasn’t enough to mask the shooting woes of Chris Paul, Mo Williams (although he hit well from range), Chauncey Billups, and Randy Foye. Blake and DeAndre were effective offensively despite the Lakers’ length, but down the stretch the team fell apart offensively (turnovers, offensive fouls, an inability to get good looks at the basket in general), and the Lakers received just enough timely production from Metta World Peace and Kobe Bryant to close the game out.
For more on this game, here’s the Ledger.
