The LA Clippers won a tough one against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, and it should not have been nearly as close as the 110-99 score showed thanks to a strange team performance.
Before the big game tonight against Toronto, this Clippers victory is an important one to look back at to see what the team can improve on. In essence, that Clippers’ victory was a very strange one from the start. On one hand, Paul George absolutely went off on his former team with thirty-six points and Montrezl Harrell dropped twenty-six on the side, but then Lou Williams also went 2-19 in field goals and allowed the Pacers to stay in the game for a bit longer than they should have.
It was one of those very strange games in which the Clippers looked fantastic on an individual level but also very poor on a team level. The one upside to it all was the defense that played a very solid game up until the fourth quarter. In the first quarter, the defense only allowed nineteen points and outscored the Pacers offense by five points. It felt like that could have been a larger lead, however. Especially at the end when they started to collapse on the defensive end.
Looking at the defensive scope of the game, the Clippers held the Pacers to a 35.4 field goal range and a 28.6 three-pointer percentage. The league statistics show that this is a Pacers team that is tenth overall in the league for the three-point percentage and seventh overall in field goal percentage, so those numbers are stunning to look at.
Derrick Walton Jr. made some big noise in the smaller plays that he made throughout the game. The example that comes to mind is Walton Jr. diving to grab a loose ball that had no one in the vicinity of it, that took the cake for the effort of the game. Walton also had a three-pointer and two rebounds, so the love that Clipper nation is showing out for DWJ hasn’t seen any type of shortage yet.
Maurice Harkless and Patrick Beverley combined for twenty-six rebounds, Ivica Zubac had thirteen points, and Lou Williams still came out with six assists despite the horrible game that he had. The roster shelled out a good effort and looked solid for the first three-quarters, but the offense really left a lot to be desired. Paul George and Montrezl Harrell carried the team with a combined sixty-two points out of the team’s 110 points while a usual key in Lou Williams went 2-19 in field goals and 0-5 in three-pointers. With the absence of Kawhi Leonard, it was crucial that George stepped up big for the team, and he answered the call quite nicely.
The pieces of Paul George hitting back-to-back threes in mere seconds make up the greater puzzle of what helped the Clippers overcome some offensive struggles. It also further cements George as the type of player that can pick up a heavily struggling offense, and that is key for games where Kawhi sits out. He already had twenty-one through halftime, there isn’t anything that could prove his presence useful more than that.
As for what the LA Clippers could improve upon heading into their matchup against Toronto, just pushing the pace and keeping offensive momentum would be huge for the team. With Landry Shamet and JaMychal Green missing games, it is a tough situation for the offense in finding the right person to pass off to in order to get a bucket, but considering that both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are playing today, they will have two solid options.
The Raptors are thirteenth in the league in points per game while the Clippers are sixth overall, so hopefully, the addition of Kawhi will spark an offensive explosion alongside another strong performance from the defense like last game against Indiana. We will find out today at 4:00 pm PST on ESPN and Fox Sports Prime Ticket.