On a night where all eyes were on the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series, the LA Clippers got back on track against the visiting Dallas Mavericks in a 119-98 victory. The Clippers, coming off of back to back losses to the Detroit Pistons and the Golden State Warriors over the weekend, did what they've been preaching all of training camp and the preseason: get stops, run the ball, and keep it moving.
Blake Griffin was one of five Clippers players to score in double figures, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds, and seven assists in just under 29 minutes of action. Beyond that, the ball hopped around a lot more and six players finished with at least three dimes as LA dished out a season-high 27 assists.
“It felt like the first five minutes, we still had a hangover defensively,” said head coach Doc Rivers after the win. “Like, we were awful. Then all of a sudden, we clicked in. We started getting stops and running. This is the first game in three games that we got our pace back and you could tell, when you see our guards going downhill, then that tells you our pace is back.”
The first quarter saw much of what the Clippers did in their previous two losses: leaving shooters open on rotations, not enough ball movement, and walking the ball up the floor. The amount of stagnation and lack of ball movement on offense that resulted in just three assists, all from Griffin, made it seem like LA might be in for another long night.
Then the second quarter came, and thanks to a solid start by Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari, as well as the hustling Montrezl Harrell, the Clippers outscored the Mavericks 34-19 to blow the game open. Dallas shot just 29 percent in the quarter committed nine fouls and turned the ball over four times. The Clippers, in turn, got out in transition to score a whopping 15 of their 20 fast break points in the second period alone.
“They had a smaller lineup and Gallo was playing the four,” added Rivers, “And I thought what happened was the spacing when Gallo is at the four, Montrezl rolled so hard and our guards were going downhill and put a lot of pressure. I thought it was good for Gallo too because he was featured more and he got the ball a lot more, made plays with the ball, and I thought that was good for him.”
“We got stops,” said Blake Griffin. “We gave up too many easy buckets in the first quarter for the first six minutes. I thought we did a better job after the first timeout. Just got stops, went out and ran, drove and kicked the ball. We did all the things we talk about.”
Gallinari only shot the ball once and went scoreless in the second, but he created a number of opportunities with his rebounding and ability to push the ball in transition with the second unit. The starters returned one by one and kept the foot on the gas pedal to turn a close game into a blowout within minutes.
“We were just being more aggressive on defense, we were running more,” said Gallinari. “We picked up the pace and we were just able to find open shots in transition.
“We were able to share the ball like we wanted to, play our fast paced game, and other than the beginning, where we didn't start with a very good defense, our defense got better from there.”
Austin Rivers scored 19 points with three assists, Lou Williams poured in 17 points, four rebounds, as well as four assists off the bench, and Gallinari added 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Although rookie Sindarius Thornwell finished with just three points and three assists, he played a career-high 23 minutes and showed his versatility on both ends of the floor.
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After promising to reduce back-to-backs during the season, the NBA scheduled the Clippers for an afternoon back-to-back set at home against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday and the Miami Heat on Sunday.
“Most of us have experienced the back to backs. the great thing about noon games is that it's a noon game for both teams, so is not like we're at a disadvantage,” said Blake Griffin on the upcoming back-to-back. “For us, it's just about coming in and focusing. Coming in for practice on Friday, taking advantage of these two days in between games, and coming in Saturday and executing our offense and defensive game plan.”
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