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Clippers stunned with seconds left vs Kings

By Leonard Saldana

Mar 26, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) gives chase as Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield (24) grabs a rebound and passes it down court in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Kings won 98-97. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) gives chase as Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield (24) grabs a rebound and passes it down court in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Kings won 98-97. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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The LA Clippers lost an early game at Staples Center on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings to drop a half game behind Utah for the fourth seed.

The LA Clippers and the Sacramento Kings played the early game in LA and it was a doozy. The Clipper’s hold on the lead began to slip with 9:11 left in the fourth. The Clippers looked like they would be able to sit their starters, but even the starters could not stop the bleeding.

The lead for the Clippers dropped to ten points before Doc Rivers had enough and began to slowly bring back the starters. Blake Griffin, who was first to come back with three minutes left made a bad pass resulting in a turnover immediately. It would foreshadow how the Clippers would play the last three minutes.

Two seconds to win it all

With two seconds left in the game, Willie Cauley-Stein was clutch in sealing an amazing comeback victory for the Sacramento Kings. The Clippers were left stunned.

Chris Paul echoed a similar feeling post game.

"“It’s a bad loss, probably the worst one in the regular season in my career.”"

The Clippers played without their sharpshooter J.J Redick, who sat out after rolling his ankle against the Utah Jazz yesterday. The Clippers and Kings kept it close through the first two quarters, but LA opened it up in the third like they have done so often. The starters had a chance to rest the last quarter until the lead started to slip.

DeAndre Jordan scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Chris Paul and Griffin both scored 17 points in the loss to the Kings. The Clippers were a minus-one on the boards to the Kings and with every possession at a premium, LA did not do enough to come out with the win.

Darren Collison (former backup to Chris Paul) was efficient for the day going 8 for 11 from the field. Buddy Heild and Anthony Tolliver scored 15 points in the win and second year player Willie Cauley-Stein scored his first game winner and it was the most important possession for the game.

Turnovers down the stretch

The Clippers were able to keep the turnovers under 10 (9), but Blake Griffin had three for the game. Recently, Griffin has had some problems taking care of the ball down the stretch and it has effected games when it mattered most. During “Winning Time”, the Clippers’ stars need to take care of the ball, but have had a bit of bad luck toward the end of two of the last three games.

LA averaged 13 turnovers per game and although they are 10th in the league, turning over the ball less and actually taking over on the boards will no doubt help the LA Clippers in winning games, but that does require effort on the boards and have been too inconsistent for their talent level with their bigs.

The Clippers need to remain aggressive and stop playing down to the level of talent and just play their own game. Playing down to the level of play against poorer teams has been a problem, lets just hope they win when it matters most.

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