In their second match of the season, the LA Clippers take down the Golden State Warriors 109-100. There was some good, some bad, and definitely some ugly in the Clippers 27th win of the season.
The LA Clippers came out for their third game in a row and played a surprisingly close game against a sub .500 team. The Warriors, a team that is bottom of the Western Conference, outscored the Clippers for two quarters. In the fourth, however, a sense of urgency and energy hit the LA team and they put on an incredible performance to secure the win.
Coach Doc Rivers expressed some frustration before the game with the teams continued to struggle to stay healthy, and ultimately searching for some consistency. With Paul George missing the team rolled out the seventeenth starting lineup of the year, a league leader by a mile.
The Clippers entered the game after four days off since their last contest. In that timeframe, they were able to get two practices. The team has already canceled practice for the following day prior to a road game in Denver.
JaMychal Green and Patrick Beverley
In the true gritty fashion of this team though, they didn’t let the shooting struggles keep them down. The continued effort and grind paid off for two role players in general- Patrick Beverley and JaMychal Green.
Patrick Beverley ended the evening with a near triple-double putting up 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. He also added 3 blocks to his line and did all with committing a single foul. The starting point guard continues to make a case for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s also showing what Doc said recently is true- he’s been working on his playmaking and becoming more of a traditional point guard.
JaMychal Green had a scary fall at the end of the game and appeared to be limping in the last couple of possessions of the game. No word as to how serious his fall was, but Doc appeared to be optimistic about it post-game.
Before the fall though JaMyke had himself a game. After struggling to get his jump shot to drop, he became aggressive in other areas of the court. Green ended the game with 7 rebounds off the bench and added 1 block in 24 minutes of play. His aggression in the fourth quarter helped turn the momentum of the game around in the fourth quarter.