Clippers Dominate Spurs 107-92: The 5 Things We Learned

Jamal Crawford is looking healthy

oApr 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; The Los Angeles Clippers bench looks on during the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

What with the weakness of the Clippers’ bench (you can read all about that here) Jamal Crawford is going to a pivotal part of their playoff chances. He’s the only guy coming off their bench with the ability to provide a spark of energy and some quick offense.

Now that’s returned from injury (after not playing for nearly all of March) he’s settling back in and starting to look like his normal streaky self.

The Spurs have some excellent wing defenders with the likes of Kawhi and Danny Green, and the recently returned Crawford was still able to wriggle through guys and showcase his lightning fast ball handling on the way to 17 points in just 22 minutes. He made 7 of his 10 shots and — on a night where the rest of the Clippers’ bench hardly played due to the Spurs’ improvement from the 2nd quarter — he was able to give his starters some much needed help.

His strong shooting in the third quarter helped increase the Clippers’ lead as they out scored the Spurs by 9 before heading to the fourth, and even though he didn’t make too many highlight reels, he did exactly what could be asked of him.

In order to make up for L.A.’s lack of depth once you get past their elite starting five, Crawford is going to need to dazzle this series. He has the quickness to shake anyone at times, so hopefully for the Clippers his three-pointers and mid-range pull-ups will keep falling like they did last night.