Tag Archives: Kawhi Leonard

Down by a point after 3 quarters, Clippers lose by 21 at San Antonio

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Chris Paul

Chris Paul/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

The Clippers trailed the San Antonio Spurs by just a point at 71-70 after three quarters Tuesday night at San Antonio. But the Spurs opened the fourth quarter on a 26-9 run and rolled to a 108-87 victory over the Clippers. It was the first game of a five-game road trip that continues Wednesday in Houston.

Chris Paul led the Clippers (42-24) with 22 points, DeAndre Jordan scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Jeff Green scored 15 and J.J. Redick had 14 points. The foursome shot a combined 26 of 47 (55.3 percent).

It was the bench that hurt the Clippers. Reserves shot a combined 6 of 22 (27.2 percent). Sixth-man Jamal Crawford was 1 of 9 from the field, Austin Rivers 1 of 5.

The bench scored just 20 points. The Spurs’ bench scored 51.

Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs (57-10) with 20 points, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 and Patty Mills had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench. Manu Ginobili had 13 points in reserve and Danny Green scored 12 while making 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.

San Antonio is now 33-0 at home.

 

 

Five things to take from Clippers’ 107-97 loss to Atlanta

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Los Angeles Clippers forward Jeff Green, left, and Atlanta Hawks forward Kent Bazemore reach for a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 5, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The Clippers’ Jeff Green, left, and Kent Bazemore of Atlanta fight for a rebound during Saturday’s game at Staples Center, won 107-97 by the Hawks/AP photo by Mark J. Terrill

 

– The Clippers were coming off a highly emotional 103-98 come-from-behind victory over Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Then they bolted to a 17-point lead over the Hawks with 10:20 left in the second quarter. It was a recipe for disaster. The Clippers, as it sometimes happens under these circumstances, suddenly hit emotional bottom and they were just never the same the rest of the way.

– Hack-a-DJ played a role in this loss as DeAndre Jordan was forced to shoot 17 free throws. He made only seven. This greatly contributed to the Clippers’ 60.7 percentage (17 of 28) from the free-throw line. The Hawks made 85 percent (17 of 20) of their free throws. Jordan did score 17 points, grab 11 rebounds, make four steals and block five shots.

– The Clippers committed a total of 19 turnovers – 18 player, one team. Point guard Chris Paul had four of them in an uncharacteristically sloppy performance. “I had some bad turnovers tonight …,” he said afterward. Paul scored 17 points, but he shot just 6 of 16.

– It also didn’t help the Clippers (40-21) that their best 3-point shooter – J.J. Redick – made just 2 of 7 from beyond the arc, just 4 of 13 overall from the field. Redick is still shooting 47.5 percent (151 of 318), but he’s fallen from No. 1 in the league to No. 2 behind San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, who is shooting 47.8 percent (108 of 226) from distance.

– The Clippers had no answer for Atlanta’s Paul Millsap. All he did was scored 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting and grab a whopping 18 rebounds. He also had five assists and three steals. His effort helped the Hawks (35-28) outrebound the Clippers 53-41.

Five things to take from Clippers’ 105-86 victory over the Spurs

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Chris Paul, left, gets up a shot over San Antonio’s David West during the Clippers’ 105-86 victory over San Antonio on Thursday/AP photo by Mark J. Terrill

 

– The Clippers (36-18) entered this game without a victory over a truly elite team. They were a collective 0-4 against the top three teams in the West – Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. So to beat the Spurs by 19 – even if it was the first game right out of the All-Star break – was a big deal. Yes, the Spurs (45-9) were without Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili. But the Clippers were minus Blake Griffin, Austin Rivers and Pablo Prigioni. That’s not to mention that Lance Stephenson was on his way to Memphis after being traded there for Jeff Green, who also was not available to the Clippers for this one.

– Chris Paul has been a beast, and was again. He scored a game-high 28 points, doled out 12 assists, grabbed five rebounds, made a steal and blocked a shot in 37 hard minutes. He had just two of the team’s 18 turnovers. Paul shot 9 of 18 and made all seven of his free throws.

– With Rivers and Prigioni both out, Jamal Crawford played some backup point guard. The results were a mixed bag. He came through with six assists to go along with his 19 points on 7 of 15 shooting. But he committed seven turnovers in 30 minutes.

– When LaMarcus Aldridge (3 of 12) and Tim Duncan (1 of 6) shoot a combined 4 of 18, it’s going to be difficult for the Spurs to beat a good team. Part of that was Clippers defense, part of it was just poor shooting.

– Cole Aldrich played 20 tough and successful minutes for the Clippers. The backup post scored eight points on 4 of 5 shooting, pulled down eight rebounds, doled out two assists and blocked three shots. Seriously, this young man plays hard. He doesn’t back down.

BONUS TAKE: How do you not acknowledge DeAndre Jordan? He scored just nine points. But he also grabbed 17 rebounds, made three steals and blocked two shots in 37 minutes.

Clippers’ J.J. Redick would like to be part of the 50-40-90 club

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J.J. Redick

J.J. Redick/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

J.J. Redick is a terrific shooter, but he has never been in the 50-40-90 club. That’s shooting at least 50 percent overall from the field, at least 40 percent from 3-point range and at least 90 percent from the free-throw line.

Redick has shot at least 90 percent from the free-throw line five times during his career, which is in its 10th season. He has shot at least 40 percent from beyond the arc three times, but he’s never shot 50 percent overall.

Redick has been ultra-hot from 3-point range this year, shooting an incredible 49.1 percent (81 of 165). He’s shooting 48.5 percent overall and 87.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Redick admitted at practice Tuesday that he would like to join this club before he retires.He knows it won’t be easy.

“That’s always like a goal every season,” Redick said. “It’s hard because I don’t shoot a lot of layups. It’s hard because most of my shots are 3s and then long 2-point jumpers, so it’s hard to get to 50 (percent overall). I don’t want to say it’s a dream of mine to accomplish it, but it’s definitely something from an individual standpoint as a shooter that you kind of earmark and you would hope that if things work out in a certain season you could accomplish it at least once.”

Heading into Wednesday’s games, only Kawhi Leonard of San Antonio had a higher percentage from 3-point range than Redick. He was shooting 50 percent (67 of 134). The Clippers play Wednesday night at Portland, San Antonio will host Utah.

 

Five things to take from Clippers’ 122-117 victory at Charlotte

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Coach Doc Rivers and son Austin Rivers chat during the Clippers’ 122-117 victory Wednesday at Charlotte/AP photo by  Bob Leverone

 

– The Clippers, as they have recently, once again showed a lot of resolve even though they were missing leading scorer Blake Griffin, who has missed the past three games with a partially torn quad tendon. The Clippers have won four in a row overall.

– Another solid game by a the bench, which has not included the services of Josh Smith, who apparently remains in Doc Rivers’ doghouse; Smith has now not played in four of the past five games. Even Lance Stephenson played only two minutes in this one. Austin Rivers led the reserves with 22 points, Jamal Crawford scored 11, Cole Aldrich had seven points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks; and Pablo Prigioni had five points – making both of his field-goal attempts – and four assists.

– J.J. Redick scored a team-high 26 points and made 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Redick is now shooting a career-high 47.7 percent (73 of 153) from beyond the arc. Redick is third in the league behind Kawhi Leonard (48.8 percent) of San Antonio and Jared Dudley (48.3) of Washington.

– Another solid effort from 38-year-old Paul Pierce, who started and played 21 minutes. He scored 13 points. He shot 4 of 9, 3 of 7 from 3-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds, doled out two assists, made a steal and had a block.

– Speaking of 3-pointers, the Clippers shot 50 percent (15 of 30) from long-distance. After struggling in this area early on, the Clippers are now shooting 35.3 percent from 3-point range – tied with Portland for 13th in the league. A month ago, the Clippers’ percentage was 32.8.

Clippers and Spurs are tied 55-55 at halftime at AT&T Center

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Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Blake Griffin scored 13 points and Chris Paul had 10 as the Clippers were tied with the host San Antonio Spurs 55-55 at halftime on Friday.

The Clippers (16-10) shot 55.6 percent from the field overll, 54.5 (6 of 11) from 3-point range.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs (22-5) with 12 points and Kawhi Leonard had 10.
San Antonio shot 51.1 percent – 66.7 (6 of 9) from beyond the arc.