Over their past three games, the LA Clippers have pulled off three spectacular comebacks thanks to some incredibly clutch plays. Here is how they did it.
Over their previous three games, the LA Clippers have made some incredibly astounding late plays to pull in some miraculous victories, but just how miraculous were all those wins? Let’s look at the stats and how they came back to answer that question.
In order to analyze those late heroic plays that completed these comebacks, we will have to start with how they got knocked down in the first place. All of these situations were very different with one commonality, and that commonality was the LA Clippers falling back to lose important leads.
The Why Part
Starting off with the OKC game, the Clippers weren’t playing with any lack of gusto. Paul George was putting up nice numbers, but the multiple quick Clippers’ turnovers piled on top of other players not being able to get crucial blocks killed the Clips all game. The Thunder ended the first half on a 15-6 run, so things looked just a tad bit messy. Luckily, JaMychal Green and Patrick Patterson had some real clutch shots that led the Clippers into the fourth up two. A late 7-0 run eventually saw the Thunder up by two with a little over twenty-seven seconds to go in the fourth.
Onto the Boston game, the Clips started off hot but really had a sloppy second quarter that wasn’t helped by a cold end to the first quarter. Despite their woes yet again on turnovers and defense, the game was close relatively all the way through. Back and forth field-goals for both teams kept the game a ferocious battle to the finish. The three-ball killed the Clippers in the third quarter, but they managed to come back from plenty of bad deficits in the fourth. They just needed to tie the game with about thirty-four seconds left to give themselves a chance to win.
Lastly, the Rockets game was just a bad one in general after the first half. The Clippers built some nice leads in the first half but just squandered them later in the game. James Harden was going off as usual even though they did a better job of guarding him, and in general, the three-ball burned LA again even though they were wise not to foul the Rockets. The fourth quarter was as close as it could get up until about the 1:25 mark when Houston extended their lead to 115-109. The Clippers really had their work cut out for them there.
Whether it was Chris Paul with twenty-two points and four steals, Jayson Tatum with thirty points and five three-pointers, or Harden with thirty-seven points and fourteen free-throws made, someone was coming up big against the Clippers on the opposing team. Free-throw after three-pointer after crucial block, it was incredible what all three did for their teams, but it just wasn’t enough for what the Clippers had in store.
The How Part
Down by two against OKC with less than thirty seconds left in the game, Doc Rivers decided to let the team hand the ball off to Paul George. He ended the night with three of seven three-pointers made, and that last three-pointer was the crucial one that he got in with 25.4 seconds left. After that, the Clippers played some solid defense and only allowed Danilo Gallinari to attempt one last field-goal that was way off. Montrezl Harrell was right alongside George that night making some stunning plays that kept LA in it. He had twenty-eight points, five assists, and twelve rebounds that sealed the deal for a sweet late victory. George himself had eighteen points, four assists, and seven rebounds.
With thirty-six seconds left ticking on the clock, Kawhi Leonard lobbed a pass to a wide-open Lou Williams who then proceeded to bang home a three-pointer that gave the Clippers a three-point lead against Boston in that second comeback game. Unlike the previous game, the Celtics managed to get a very lucky three-pointer to send the game into an overtime period. That OT period belonged to Paul George and Patrick Beverley, both of whom made crucial three-point shots. A last-second dunk and a turn over gave the Celtics a chance to tie the game again with a three, and it all came down to one second left on the clock.
Boston inbounded only to be blocked by a leaping Kawhi on a three-point attempt and the game fell into the hands of LA. Lou was the main reason that the Clippers made it to OT, and it is an impressive fact considering that he struggled heavily to start the game. He ended with a stat line of twenty-seven points, two assists, and two rebounds. George and Kawhi also had incredibly solid nights with twenty-five and seventeen points each.
If you were paying attention to the last two games, it would not shock you to hear that Lou started off the rally against Houston with a late three-pointer. George followed that up with a corner three, it was looking familiar by this point. All it would take to get into a good position was a key block, and Green would get it. Then, it was Lou again with a three to take the lead, but it didn’t last long as Houston came right back with a two. With the Clippers down by one and less than twenty seconds left on the clock, Kawhi would have the last laugh after putting in a step-back two. Russell Westbrook had a wide-open three-point shot, but it missed and the Rockets took a foul that sent George to the line for the game-winning free-throws. Lou again saved this game late by getting twenty-six points, eight assists, and three rebounds. Kawhi and George followed closely with twenty-four and nineteen points each.
It is easy to say that the LA Clippers are the most clutch team in the league now that they have both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard out on the court together, and that combination with Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell is a guaranteed recipe for some fun basketball. I have to admit that I was a big skeptic of just how well this team could play together before George and Leonard came back, but it is really a situation that you have to see to believe.
In three games, the Clips had fifty-nine turnovers and seventy-five fouls and they still managed to win all of those games with less than two minutes in the fourth/overtime periods. The offense can cool down and actually get back up while the defense makes critical blocks, it is a beautiful situation that leads to the chance to win every game in which they play hard enough to keep it close. Thanks to that bend but don’t break mentality, the LA Clippers are now 10-1 at home for the first time in franchise history and they sit in fourth place of the Western Conference tied with the Rockets team that they just defeated. Stick around Clippers fans, this season is one that you won’t want to miss with these comeback kids going at it every night.