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Fansided

What we learned from the LA Clippers’ preseason loss to the Houston Rockets

By Garrett Chorpenning

HONOLULU, HI - OCTOBER 03: Maurice Harkless #8 of the Los Angeles Clippers and Ben McLemore #16 of the Houston Rockets battle for position under the basket doing a free throw at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 3, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. 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. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI - OCTOBER 03: Maurice Harkless #8 of the Los Angeles Clippers and Ben McLemore #16 of the Houston Rockets battle for position under the basket doing a free throw at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 3, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. 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. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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HONOLULU, HI – OCTOBER 03: Maurice Harkless #8 of the LA Clippers and Ben McLemore #16 of the Houston Rockets battle for position under the basket doing a free throw at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 3, 2019, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI – OCTOBER 03: Maurice Harkless #8 of the LA Clippers and Ben McLemore #16 of the Houston Rockets battle for position under the basket doing a free throw at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 3, 2019, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

The LA Clippers dropped their first preseason game of the year Thursday night, but several things happened that should give us some ideas about this team.

It’s always difficult to evaluate a preseason game, no less the first one. The roster the LA Clippers fielded during Thursday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets was very different from the one we’ll see during the regular season, as both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George sat the contest out. Because of that, we’re taking this loss with a grain of salt.

Houston spoiled LA’s preseason debut, winning 109-96 behind a 37-point performance from James Harden. Apart from him, the Clippers did a solid job on the defensive side of the floor, holding the Rockets to just 37.5 percent shooting from the field and 22.9 percent from three-point range.

But as is usually true with Harden-led teams, the Rockets obliterated the Clippers in free throw differential.

Houston converted 32 of 40 attempts at the stripe, with Harden making 17 of his own 20. The Clippers, on the other hand, made 21 of their 35 free throw attempts. Montrezl Harrell (7-10) and Lou Williams (5-5) did the most damage there for LA. No other Clipper shot above 50.0 percent from the line.

Despite losing, there are several things that we can glean from the Clippers’ first action of the 2019-2020 season. The starting rotation is one thing we can look at.

The Clippers started the game with Patrick Beverley, Landry Shamet, Jerome Robinson, Maurice Harkless and Ivica Zubac on the floor. Beverley and Robinson found themselves in foul trouble early on, and for a solid portion of the game, Zubac was the only starter that had scored. Eventually, this group combined for 25 points, with Beverley being the lone scoreless player. He did, however, have six rebounds in 12 minutes.

It’s hard to imagine this being the load management lineup that the Clippers will deploy when Leonard and George are both out. Most of it seems right, but depending on who LA is matched up against, JaMychal Green or Rodney McGruder would make plenty more sense than Robinson. If Green is the guy, I imagine Harkless slides over to the wing, but he would stay put if McGruder gets the nod.

We’ll get back to some of these guys later, but for now, let’s dive into our first major takeaway of the night.

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