Three takeaways from the LA Clippers’ Game 3 defeat

Danilo Gallinari, starters struggle on both ends

On a night when the LA Clippers needed their starters to step up, the complete opposite came true.

The Clippers’ starting unit combined for a mere 46 points on Thursday night (29 points when you take all of Ivica Zubac‘s garbage points away), and only one of them (Zubac) scored more than 10.

Some of those struggles are to be expected. Despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet‘s late-game heroics in Game 2, they are still rookies and they’re going to have off nights. Against the league’s best team, those will be amplified. The two shot just 2-of-12 from the floor on Thursday night and 1-of-6 from three-point range.

Patrick Beverley also failed to make much of an impact, though the strict officiating never gave him much of a chance to. He picked up several quick fouls — some of which seemed unwarranted — and only played 18 minutes.

The biggest disappointment though was Danilo Gallinari, whose performance left plenty to be desired. The All-NBA hopeful shot 2-of-13 from the floor, 0-of-8 from three and 5-of-5 from the free throw line for a grand total of nine points. It was the fourth time this season that Gallinari failed to score at least 10 points.

Gallinari was hounded on defense all night long, drawing double-teams on multiple possessions and being forced to be a passer for the majority of the game. But even when he had more open looks, nothing seemed to fall through the hoop.

Meanwhile, Golden State’s starters scored 87 of their 132 points. Talent differences aside, that’s still a sizable gap that the Clippers can’t allow to be so large as the series continues.