2) Well played defense
Defensively, the team played as a unit and looked better than they have in a very long time. The team showed consistent effort throughout the game, which is nice to see when they usually looked gassed in 4th quarters.
Starting at the very end of the 1st quarter, the Clippers held the lead, largely in part to their defense. The majority of their efforts went beyond the stat book, including but not limited to great coverage and help defense.
The Clippers aren’t playing anywhere near as well on defense as they were during their 14-2 run at the start of the season, but that is largely due to CP3’s absence.