It has been a draining season so far for Terance Mann and the Los Angeles Clippers, but they just started the New Year, and ended their road trip, with a big win. If you ask him, it's just another week in the NBA.
Behind 19 points, three rebounds, and a clutch 3-pointer from Mann, the extremely shorthanded Clippers upset the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Saturday night. Eric Bledsoe led the way for LA with 27 points, three rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocked shots. It's one of the biggest wins of the season for a Clippers team that has been on a roller coaster so far.
“It just shows our grit.,” Terance Mann said after the win. “It shows what we’ve been here in the last year and a half in terms of next-man-up mentality. Just shows what we’re capable of, really.”
Mann was able to lead his Clippers to a win over the Boston Celtics last Wednesday night. Having grown up in Lowell, Massachusetts, he called it “amazing” and a “dream come true” to play in TD Garden, a place he used to go watch games from the nosebleeds.
Sunday marked Terance Mann's return to his birthplace in Brooklyn. He says it's just as meaningful.
“It means a lot for me,” Mann added. “I mean, I was born down the street in Brooklyn hospital. So being from Brooklyn, my whole family’s here. Hitting that big shot in front of a big-time team, it’s just nice.”
The Clippers were down 11 players, plus their head coach. Tyronn Lue, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, Ivica Zubac, Luke Kennard, Isaiah Hartenstein, Brandon Boston, Moses Wright, Jay Scrubb, and Jason Preston all missed the game due to injury, rest, or health and safety protocols. Three of the five players who played off their bench — James Ennis, Wenyen Gabriel, Xavier Moon — were 10-day COVID hardship signings, all of whom contributed some part in the win.
“I think the big thing was our guys didn’t hang their heads and just give in once Brooklyn went on their run,” acting head coach Brian Shaw said after the win. “Our second unit did a great job, both stints, when they came in the first and second half, and then they cut it down to six and I subbed our starters back in to bring it home with exception to Serge. Maybe Serge was in there for a minute.
“Then Brooklyn went on a run, we hit a couple of 3s and they came back and hit a couple, and at that point, we could have just given in. But they just kept fighting. It just goes to show in this league, anything can happen on any given night. You win some that you are maybe not supposed to win, and then you lose some that you are maybe not supposed to lose. Although we felt bad about last night because we were in control of that game for a good part of it, we didn’t make the plays down the stretch that it took to win last night’s game. But tonight was the absolute opposite of that. We made the plays, Bled played great on both ends of the ball, he found guys, got in the paint all night, they shared the ball, different guys hit big shots, big free throws, and that was the difference in the result from last night to tonight.”
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James Harden finished with a 34-point, 12-rebound, 13-assist triple-double, while Kevin Durant poured in 28 points and nine rebounds. Patty Mills scored 17 points but fouled out in the fourth quarter, allowing the Clippers to adjust their defense to guard the only two shooters on the floor: Durant and Harden.
“They only got two shooters!” Durant said the Clippers yelled after Mills' sixth foul.
“It was just easier for us to be able to pack the paint and get some stops, and rebound. With [Mills] out there, it’s kind of hard, because you almost don’t have a defender out there. You’re hugging him on the 3-point line because of how great of a job he shoots the 3. You say he did a great job last week. He shot 5-for-9 from 3 today. And I felt like it was more, the way they were going in. But he’s a great player. So it’s hard when he’s out there to be able to shrink gaps.”
The Clippers shrunk enough of the floor, sending doubles at Harden and Durant late and forcing guys like James Johnson to score. They didn't, and the Clippers capitalized, capped off by Terance Mann's game-sealing 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining.
Terance Mann is CLUTCH 🎯
Puts the Clippers up 4 with less than a minute to go!pic.twitter.com/LmAOjDiS75
— Clippers Nation (@ClipperNationCP) January 2, 2022
Beyond just the final few minutes, Kevin Durant says his Nets didn't do a good job of entering the game with the right mindset. Considering the Clippers were missing 11 players, it's easy to see why.
“It's natural when a team is missing so many players,” Durant said after the loss. “They've been going through so much over there and you relax. You don't think you could lose an NBA game like this.
“We get up 10, then miss a layup or turn the ball over and they get a fast break. Give up a 3, straight-line drive. Like coach said, we didn't deserve to win this game. We came in here with a fucked up attitude to start, thinking we was just gonna walk into a W.”
"We didn't deserve to win this game. We came in here with a fucked up attitude to start, thinking we was just gonna walk into a W."
Kevin Durant on loss to shorthanded Clippers. pic.twitter.com/le2zGhrYnL
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 2, 2022
The win wraps up the Clippers' tough road trip, one in which they finished 2-1 with wins over Boston and Brooklyn, as well as a close loss to Toronto. January, however, isn't getting any easier.
Their next five games are all against teams in the playoff hunt: Timberwolves, Suns, Grizzlies, Hawks, and Nuggets. Four of those will be at home, but there's a good chance the team will still be pretty severely shorthanded due to health and safety protocols.
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