LOS ANGELES – As the Western Conference standings continue to change almost daily, every game is important for the Clippers as they fight to capture the conference’s top seed. After a home win against the Wizards, the Clippers are in the middle of a three-game road trip and Los Angeles’ first two games have been rather disappointing.
The journey began in Minnesota, where the Clippers found themselves in a defensive battle against the best team in the West. Even though the Clippers escaped with an 89-88 victory, the majority of Los Angeles’ stars underperformed and left a bad taste in fans’ mouths.
The Clips struggled to find buckets in this game and only managed to score 18 points in the first quarter, trailing the Timberwolves 30-18 at the first break. However, Los Angeles managed to settle in and after getting a few stops on the defensive end, a Paul George triple with 8:59 left in the second quarter gave the Clippers their first lead. The score didn’t increase much for either team as Los Angeles entered the half with a narrow three-point lead.
The Clippers and Timberwolves continued their back-and-forth, low-scoring run in the fourth quarter as Norman Powell, who finished the game with 24 points, scored a running three-pointer to beat the buzzer late in the third quarter . , brings the Clippers back to a 68-67 deficit. But things started to look up in the final minutes of the game when Kawhi Leonard converted a traditional three-point play opportunity to give Los Angeles an 87-84 lead with 2:01 left in the fourth.
With time running out, the Clippers allowed the Timberwolves to score an easy dunk and keep their lead at one, forcing Minnesota to play foul play. After poor execution by the Timberwolves, the Clippers held on until the final buzzer and walked away with a one-point victory.
Kawhi Leonard led the way with 32 points, followed by Powell’s 24 points, but James Harden struggled mightily all night as he went 0-10 from the field and finished with just four points. Sunday marked the seventh time in Harden’s career that he went a game without scoring a basket. Paul George also struggled finishing with just 15 points on 5-16 shooting from the field. The Clippers were also without Russell Westbrook, who Los Angeles hopes will be back early in the playoffs after surgery on his fractured left hand. Los Angeles’ 89 points were the fewest in any Clippers victory this season.
After a close defensive battle in Minnesota, the Clippers’ road trip continued to Milwaukee for a matchup against the red-hot Bucks, who entered the game as winners of five straight games. In what was supposed to be a game featuring star power on both sides, the Clippers found out shortly before the game that they would be facing a Bucks team without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks superstar sat out Monday night with Achilles tendinitis.
Since it was already announced that Milwaukee’s three-time All-Star Khris Middleton would also not play as he continues to recover from a sprained ankle, it looked like the Clippers were going to take a major break during on the second night of a back-to-back game. on the road.
This was not the case.
After the first quarter, the Clippers found themselves facing Milwaukee 35-25. However, the Clippers failed to capitalize on that lead as the Bucks cut it to seven entering halftime thanks to a 19-point first half from Damian Lillard.
Los Angeles came out strong to start the third quarter and built a 14-point lead over the Clippers with 8:23 left in the third quarter. But despite Milwaukee’s lack of firepower on offense, the Clippers couldn’t put them away for good, as the Bucks trailed by just eight early in the fourth quarter. While Kawhi Leonard and Paul George had relatively quiet nights, it was up to James Harden to bounce back from his poor performance on Sunday.
In the fourth quarter, Harden scored several baskets that helped the Clippers stay ahead and finished with 29 points and eight assists. Except the Bucks rallied strongly in the fourth, deeming Harden’s efforts irrelevant. Milwaukee closed the game on a 23-10 run and received a big fourth quarter from Bobby Portis, who scored 14 of his 28 total points in the final period, sealing one of the most disappointing losses of the Clippers of the season.
Championship-caliber teams usually hit their stride after the All-Star break and with the Clippers at 5-5 in their last 10 games, a strong finish to the regular season will be vital to keeping pace with the best teams in the West in an unstable context. race for first place.
