Brooklyn Nets guard Jarrett Jack, center, scores the winning goal past Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and forward Matt Barnes during the second half of NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, in New York. The Nets won 102-100. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
 Los Angeles Clippers |
Recap | Box score |
 Brooklyn Nets |
Buzzer Reaction
MVP: Jarrett Jack. During the game, my mom texted me with simple missive: “Jack is a good player.” I considered sending a #wellactually response, then forgot to reply, then settled on an emoticon. Sometimes we need a crushing experience to remind us that Mom is usually right.
X-Factor: The Clippers’ free throw shooting. Losing by two points when the team misses 13 of 25 free throws is rough. But it really hurts considering they were up by nine points with less than 2 minutes to play.
That was … A letdown. The Clippers have followed some good wins with bad losses lately: Beat the Mavericks? Lose to the Heat. Beat the Blazers? Lose to the (then-struggling) Cavs. Beat the Spurs? Lose to the Nets. The good news: L.A. doesn’t play very many bad teams going forward — 12 of the next 18 opponents are playoff teams.
– Patrick James
Tweet(s) Of The Game
Clippers & Nets combined to go 16-for-43 from the free throw line Monday, the worst free throw percentage in NBA history (37.2%) via Elias.
– Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) February 2, 2015
Clippers might have lost to Nets 102-100, but Blake Griffin is still impressive…
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 2, 2015
Check Your Messages
(Gag)
What in the flip?! Didn’t the Clippers just beat this Nets team by 40 a couple of weeks ago???
Alright, alright. I still think the Nets have talented players, and you remember when you get rocked by that much in a previous meeting. So the fact that the Clippers dropped one doesn’t … shock me.
It’s a shame that DeAndre Jordan’s 22-point, 20-rebound performance is going to be overshadowed by free throw shooting. Not necessarily his. He’s bad every night from the line. That’s not worth a click.
What is, though, is that this was one of the worst free throw shooting performances in NBA history: 8-25! In a two-point loss! Bruh!
The only teams to ever have a performance as bad as that with at least 25 free throws? The Portland Trail Blazers lost 102-100 to the Boston Celtics in February 1975 while making 8-25 free throws (that’s eerily similar), and the Seattle SuperSonics (RIP) lost to the Phoenix Suns 102-86 while making only 9-of-29 free throws.
I can’t even tag that. To lose a game by two points, shooting 32 percent from the free throw line? I can’t even justify that with analysis. See y’all Thursday
– Law Murray
Uh Oh
It’s time to get paranoid forward-looking and turn to the schedule.
The Clippers have consecutive games against Cleveland, Toronto, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in their next six. After one winnable contest against Sacramento, they then have Memphis, Houston Memphis again, and Chicago. Seven of those games are on the road.
Fact: The Clippers are only 2.5 games ahead of the No. 7 seed Spurs.
Fact: The strong-as-ever Western Conference is only getting better with the anticipated rise of the Thunder and sneakily starting-to-get-hot Pelicans.
Fact: Predicting the tropes of each team has become impossible.
The Clippers need to win the gimmes—and they lost to the Nets.
– Fred Katz
