The L.A. Clippers suffered a tough defeat at the hands of the Washington Wizards prior to the Thanksgiving Day break, but they responded with an impressive 112-107 victory over the Western Conference's top-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
Montrezl Harrell led the way for the Clippers with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocked shots. Danilo Gallinari added 20 points, nine rebounds, and two assists, including three clutch free throws to force overtime with 1.6 seconds left in regulation. Lou Williams scored 15 points and dished out six assists. Avery Bradley finished with 13 points, two rebounds, and three assists, including four game-sealing free throws in overtime.
As you know, I cover the L.A. Clippers and Ryan Ward covers the Los Angeles Lakers for ClutchPoints. Instead of giving fans the traditional postgame recap, we're working on this new segment called, “Five ClutchTakes” following Clippers and Lakers home games. Let us know what you think!
-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tobias Harris nearly sit out an entire quarter-
The Clippers lost the second quarter 30-28 and saw both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tobias Harris play a minute and one second of that period. Neither were in foul trouble, but head coach Doc Rivers elected to go most of the period with a bigger lineup that featured Danilo Gallinari, Montrezl Harrell, and Boban Marjanovic alongside Patrick Beverley as well as Lou Williams.
The Clippers tried a couple different lineups in this game, including having Gallinari at the five and defending Marc Gasol for long stretches. Gallinari finished with five fouls, but was also able to spread the floor and knock down five three-pointers on seven attempts.
-Tobias Harris' streak comes to an end-
Coming into today's game against the Grizzlies, only two players scored at least 15 points in every single game this season: Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and L.A. Clippers forward Tobias Harris. The run ended for Harris as he finished with a season-low 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Although he wasn't scoring at his regular clip, Harris did add seven rebounds and four assists while finishing with a team-high +13 plus/minus.
When I approached him about it after the game, he said he wasn't even aware that it was a streak to begin with. He'll likely begin a new streak for himself in the Clippers next game. Harris' season averages have now ‘dipped' to 20.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.0 three-pointers per game on 51.6 percent shooting from the field and 43.4 percent from beyond the arc.
-Staggering Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris-
It feels like staggering stars, or best players anyway, has been a topic of discussion when it comes to Doc Rivers-led teams. He's done a terrific job of it thus far this season with Harris and Gallinari, but we saw arguably the worst stretch of the game to start the fourth quarter when both forwards were on the bench.
The Clippers held a 75-70 lead entering the fourth quarter and within minutes, gave up a 12-3 run and trailed 82-78. Both entered the game with 6:53 left in the period, combined to score eight points, and forced overtime on Gallinari's three clutch free throws with 1.6 remaining in regulation.
-Credit where credit continues to be due-
Doc Rivers deserves all the credit in the world for the way he's coached this star-less Clippers team. Without a big-name, Rivers' Clippers have earned the the second best record in the Western Conference after the win, and it could even be the number one seed if the Blazers fall to the Warriors later tonight.
Rivers has gotten this Clippers team to buy into the hard-nosed, unselfish, never-say-die mentality that rightfully suits them. They've developed an identity that makes them very relatable as well as fun to root for, and they'll continue to grow with each passing game.
“We just keep growing, we're gonna get so much better. We had some broken plays, execution wise but then we ran some flawlessly. What I loved about this game, for me, was this was a frustrating game for our guys, because things were not going our way. You can feel that at halftime and instead of going away at the game, they actually went and attacked the game with even more vigor, that says a lot about your character of your team.
-Not satisfied-
Tobias Harris and the Clippers aren't satisfied after wins over the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, and Memphis Grizzlies in the last two weeks.
“We're a team, we're gonna fight as a team and we're gonna play hard as a team,” said Harris after the game. “We're gonna play off each other. We have fun out there playing. Everybody enjoys playing with one another and we like making plays for each other. That's the beauty of our team. We have different guys every single night who can contribute and step up and give us a lift.
“It's a big win, but at the end of the day, I think it's still 12-6. Like I said, there's still a lot more games to be played and lot more growth to be made.”
The Clippers will take on the Portland Trail Blazers in their next game on Sunday night. That game will be on the road with a start time of 6PM PST.
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