Michael Shagrin wrote this recap for us tonight. I’ll weigh in on this game if I don’t punch a hole in my laptop first. -D.J.
Man, did the Clippers look awful tonight. If the deficiencies in this performance were unique to the matchup against the Western Conference leading Thunder, then tonight’s loss could be written off. But we all know this not to be the case. The theme to today’s three observations is “have the Clippers hit rock bottom?”
First Quarter Highs
Ugh. The Clippers did nothing to shed their reputation for playing down to inferior opponents, needing a furious comeback in the final minutes to beat a depleted Rockets team, 95–91. With three minutes to play and the Clips down six, I was trying to figure out if this would be a more dispiriting loss than Thursday’s loss to the Steve Nash-less Suns (For the record, my answer was ‘Yes’). Then Chris Paul happened and everyone went home smiling.
Ed note: Trade news coming soon. Here’s the recap from last night’s win over the Hawks by Michael Shagrin.
The Clippers rarely come away with a victory if Chris Paul isn’t using his wizardry to tear apart an opposing defense. It’s even less common to ride that victory on the chariot of unrelenting rebounding and defense off the bench. This was a very reassuring game. After a streak consisting of nail-biting losses, bad losses, and nail-biting wins, the Clippers defense held the Hawks high-powered stars in check all game. Three Happy Takeaways:
1. Offensive Rebounding
In an effort led by Reggie Evans, who nabbed four offensive boards and ten overall, the story isn’t that the Clips cleaned up the board particularly effectively, but rather that the team capitalized on the second chance by converting on all of their recorded attempts (according to Synergy Sports, the Clippers were 5-5 from the field off offensive rebounds, including an And-1). This was the second straight game Reggie has successfully put his effort towards finishing around the rim instead of dishing it out for a reset.
2. Held on to the Lead
The Clippers have found a knack for giving away a lead they worked hard to pad. The blame for choking usually falls on the Vinny Del Negro via the mindless rotation of the bench, but that was not the case last night. The Clippers found a lead in the first quarter and never gave it up despite concerted offensive runs led by Joe Johnson and Josh Smith.
3. Sparks
Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe scored a combined 39 points (25 and 14, respectively), with much credit going to Vinny Del Negro for bringing duo off the bench at the right time and leaving them in for extended stretches of excellent play. Their ability to speed up the pace of the game leading to offense created by defense provides both guards with the exact transition scoring opportunities they’re most comfortable in; transition dives to the basket for Bledsoe with pull-ups and spots-ups for Williams. The potency of the defense’s influence in this success can’t be overstressed. Williams had up two steals and a block, while Bledsoe racked up four steals and two blocks.
The Clippers fell to the Celtics 94-85 last night in a tough loss. We’ve got more coming on the way (including a new episode of ClipperBlogLive) but for now, here’s the Lob City Ledger done by yours truly over at ESPNLA.com.
Griffin is like a great NFL receiver — leave him in single coverage at your own risk. Griffin’s face-up isolation game of spins and pump fakes around the rim was highly effective, even with Kevin Garnett patrolling the paint. Perhaps most important was Griffin’s rekindled offensive chemistry with DeAndre Jordan. That’s been missing entirely lately. Griffin’s reverse alley-oop jam wasn’t half bad, either.
Call the Celtics old and slow all you want — they still defend the pick-and-roll with the best of them. Boston begged anyone but Paul to beat them on the weakside, and the strategy worked brilliantly. The Clippers displayed no offensive creativity to get their best player open shots. Paul was bad, but Vinny Del Negro certainly didn’t help him out.
As of late, it seems like the Clippers go as Mo goes. With Randy Foye and Caron Butler struggling yet again to produce any perimeter scoring, Williams stepped up and carried the Clippers with his aggressive offensive play. Williams was exploited defensively time and time again with Paul Pierce pindown screens for Ray Allen, but the Clippers desperately needed his offense.
It was almost like the Clippers of 2010 hopped in the Delorean and traveled back to the future in the third quarter. After firmly controlling the first half, the Clippers couldn’t buy a bucket in the third. Mo Williams came in to save the day by leading a 7-0 run, but all the good work of the first half was erased like a Polaroid.
Who says coaches don’t matter? Doc Rivers thoroughly outcoached Vinny Del Negro in this one by going to a stable of simple yet effective plays to create the mismatches the Clippers’ defense readily offers. The Celtics may not have the horses for a championship run, but no one in the East wants to see this smart, tough team come playoff time.