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Tobias Harris Ties Career High as LA Clippers Down Trailblazers

PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 25: Avery Bradley #11, Danilo Gallinari #8, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2, and Tobias Harris #34 of the LA Clippers look on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 25, 2018 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 25: Avery Bradley #11, Danilo Gallinari #8, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2, and Tobias Harris #34 of the LA Clippers look on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 25, 2018 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)

Led by a career high scoring outburst by Tobias Harris, the LA Clippers downed the Trailblazers and held onto the top spot in the Western Conference.

The LA Clippers are still the top seed in the Western Conference. Let that sink in. In route to tying a career-high, Tobias Harris led the team to a victory over the Portland Trailblazers which kept the team solely in first place.

Tobias Shines

It was announced early during the game that Tobias was under the weather in the team’s overtime win against Memphis on Friday, but was feeling much better prior to last night’s contest.

He definitely was as he tied his career-high of 34 points. He did it on 64.6% shooting. On top of that, he also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

The knock on the Clippers this season has been that the team does not have a star, but it’s becoming tough to argue that Tobias isn’t one. He is currently tied for 20th in the league in scoring at 21.5 points per game and can be trusted to get a bucket when LA needs one.

He did turn down an extension from the team this summer, but hopefully the Clips can find some way to keep him on board. At 26 years old, his best basketball could very well still be in front of him.

Big Men

The big men actually tell a large part of the story last night, even if the box score doesn’t show it. Marcin Gortat looked impactful on the defensive end against Jusuf Nurkic who finished with only 6 points on the night after leaving the game in the second quarter.

Gortat seemed very engaged defensively and also added in 6 points in route to a plus/minus of +16, which was second highest on the team behind Avery Bradley.

This was much needed, especially with Montrezl Harrell having an off night. He did manage to put in 14 points and grab 10 rebounds, but struggled from the free throw line (4 of 12) and seemed slightly off.

No Quit

The Clippers played one of their best quarters of the year in the third quarter. Down 58-45 at halftime, the team came out blazing, shooting 66.7% from the field. The aforementioned Harris scored 15 of his 34 in the quarter and rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 10.

The team dropped 38 as a whole while holding Portland to only 16 points in the quarter.

This performance was inspiring for fans as years of Lob City seemingly giving up soured us into assuming leads were often insurmountable. This iteration of the LA Clippers has proved time and time again though that this is a thing of the past and that they will fight until the last second.

The Clippers face Phoenix at home Wednesday before traveling to Sacramento on Thursday to face the Kings. While neither are pushovers, both are very winnable games and would help LA to hold onto the first seed.

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