Despite losing by two, the LA Clippers looked good for the most part.
It’s very rare that a loss happens, especially to the Los Angeles Lakers, and all of Clipper Nation collectively thinks, “Okay, that’s not bad.” Thursday night was one of those rare occasions for the LA Clippers.
The Clippers could not pull off a victory, losing by two points to the rival Lakers. Despite this loss, we all felt pretty good. Paul George proved he was actually healthy as he led the team in scoring. Kawhi proved that any doubts about him during the three scrimmages were unwarranted. Zubac looked okay at times despite not playing two out of the three scrimmages.
Let’s start with PG. He had a team-high 30 points, shooting 64.7% from the field which included six of his eleven three-point attempts going in. If he is going to be the 1b to Kawhi’s 1a, this is one heck of a start.
Kawhi Leonard didn’t look too bad either, dropping 28 points on 43.8% shooting. 11 of those 28 points came from the free-throw line, which is always a positive sign. He also hit three of his four attempts from deep.
Patrick Beverley (who came off the bench) also looked solid, especially after leaving the bubble for personal issues. When he’s back in the starting lineup, this team will have a solid spot-up shooter to supplement Kawhi and PG.
I only wish there were two. Marcus Morris continued to struggle against the Lakers. As a member of the Clippers, he has yet to score a basket when facing the Lakers. Yeah, it’s bad. His defense didn’t look great and even though it was on LeBron often, it’s still not excusable. Giving up the value of a first-round pick for Morris when the team was hoping to get more shooting makes sense. However, if he keeps playing like this, that trade will look horrible.
Landry Shamet was another player who had issues shooting but given he just entered the bubble after recovering from COVID-19, I am willing to give him a pass. Most of his attempts were good looks and will eventually fall.
Despite the poor play from those two, the Clippers hung in the game. This was without the best bench tandem in the league present. Lou Williams is still in quarantine after getting wings when he was out of the bubble and Montrezl Harrell is still out dealing with personal business. When the two of them come back, the Clippers will have a trove of bucket getters at their disposal.
The Clippers face the Pelicans on Saturday as they look to bounce back. It seems unlikely that either Lou Williams or Montrezl Harrell will play again.