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What we learned from the LA Clippers’ victory over the Shanghai Sharks

By Garrett Chorpenning

HONOLULU, HI - OCTOBER 06: Maurice Harkless #8 of the Los Angeles Clippers and Cai Liang #1 of the Shanghai Sharks joust for position during a free throw attempt during the first half of the game at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 6, 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 06: Maurice Harkless #8 of the Los Angeles Clippers and Cai Liang #1 of the Shanghai Sharks joust for position during a free throw attempt during the first half of the game at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 6, 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 06: Maurice Harkless #8 of the LA Clippers and Cai Liang #1 of the Shanghai Sharks joust for position during a free throw attempt during the first half of the game at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 6, 2019, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI – OCTOBER 06: Maurice Harkless #8 of the LA Clippers and Cai Liang #1 of the Shanghai Sharks joust for position during a free throw attempt during the first half of the game at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 6, 2019, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

The level of competition wasn’t high, but the LA Clippers still came away with their first victory of the 2019-2020 preseason.

After getting their first taste of defeat Thursday against the Houston Rockets, the LA Clippers earned their first win of the 2019-2020 preseason Sunday with a 127-87 victory over the Shanghai Sharks.

The game was never close — the Clippers never trailed and were up by as many as 45 points late in the fourth quarter. No Clippers player logged more than 21 minutes of action, and the three highest minute-getters were all among LA’s youngest rotation players. Terance Mann, Landry Shamet and Jerome Robinson each got 21.

The level of competition here wasn’t too stiff. Two Sharks players — Donatas Motiejunas and James Nunnally, both of whom have played NBA basketball at one point in their respective careers — scored 60 of the team’s 87 total points and combined for 85 minutes of action. Outside of those two, LA wasn’t exactly challenged.

The defense, in particular, wasn’t up to NBA standard, and that’s to be expected. LA got up 100 shots and made exactly half of them, and while their accuracy from three-point range was lower than some might hope for, plenty of those shots will fall once the regular season begins. Typically, Shamet won’t shoot 1-8 from range and Patrick Beverley won’t go 0-4. For now, it’s nothing to worry about.

That being said, there are a few things we can take away from this performance. All 16 of LA’s players scored at least once in Sunday’s game, including Exhibit 10 player Terry Larrier, who scored 11 points in just over seven minutes of action.

Johnathan Motley looked solid as well, going for 11 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes. He’s back on another two-way contract for the Clippers this season, and he should do great things for the G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers in 2019-2020.

With the minor things out of the way, let’s dive into some of the more important takeaways from LA’s second preseason outing.

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