LOS ANGELES – It’s still early, but which Los Angeles Clippers team will prove dominant in the long run? Will it be the Clippers team that hounded the Dallas Mavericks into a bad shooting night with relentless defense? Or will it be the squad that floundered its way to home defeats to the New Orleans Pelicans and a star-less Denver Nuggets team?
Will this season’s Clippers be contenders or pretenders? The Clippers look like world-beaters against the Mavericks but played less than enthusiastic in losing to the Pelicans and Nuggets. The Clippers’ 113-104 loss to the Nuggets is a head-scratcher considering Denver was playing without Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic.
Instead of Murray, Gordon, and Jokic doing work on them, it took the play of two former Clippers to hand Los Angeles another loss. Reggie Jackson busted up the Clippers’ defense for 35 points. Meanwhile, center DeAndre Jordan added 21 points and 13 rebounds for Denver.
“Early on Reggie [Jackson] getting downhill, getting to his spots, he put a lot of pressure on the defense. Deandre [Jordan’s] rolls down the middle of the floor, low man was late all night, we weren’t able to get there in time and once he takes off, it’s too late,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said after the Denver loss. “Defensively, we didn’t do a really good job of just understanding what we are trying to do, who we are trying to take away.”
It was a much different Clippers team that played the Mavericks. A night after being handed a tough defeat to the Pelicans, the Clippers rebounded with a convincing win against the Dallas Mavericks. In the first of back-to-back games at Crypto.com Arena, the Clippers gave up more than 100 points and basically couldn’t stop water in a 116-106 loss.
It was a much different tale against the Mavericks. The Clippers held Dallas to just 37 percent shooting (34 of 91) from the floor and did not allow the Mavericks to score more than 27 points in a quarter on their way to a dominant 107-88 win.
The Clippers also clamped down on the 3-point shooting by Dallas, holding the Mavericks to 23 percent shooting from behind the arc. In their first meeting of the season, an NBA In-Season Tournament game, the Mavericks dropped 144 points on the Clippers.
“Defense. Defensively we were really good tonight,” Lue said after his team’s win against Dallas. “I know Luka [Doncic] had 22 [points] in the first half and only had eight [points] in the second half, but I thought we did a really good job game plan wise and showing Luka the blitz, sometimes switching, sometimes firing, just trying to keep him off balance, because like I said, he always plays great against us.
“So just defensively, when you struggle to shoot the basketball like Kawhi [Leonard] and James [Harden] didn’t have a great night, and to beat a good team like this, says a lot. Our bench was really good tonight as well, so defensively that’s how you’re going to win games, you’re not going to make shots every single night and tonight we showed that.”
Paul George who led the Clippers with a team-high 25 points against the Mavericks, continued his hot play. George dropped in 34 points in a losing cause against New Orleans. Following the Clippers’ win against the Mavericks, George talked about being aggressive in going to the basket.
“I mean we just look for opportunities to be aggressive, stay in attack mode, and understand where this team is, what they need me to do, and how to do it to be one of the leaders on this team,” George said. “And that’s just applying pressure and that’s what gets me going and keeps me going. When I get aggressive and get to the rim, that’s when I am playing my best as opposed to relaxing out there. The approach has been how can I be the best version of myself and try to go dominate every night.”
George was dominant against the Pelicans. The rest of the Clippers couldn’t quite catch up with the versatile star. As a result, the Clippers suffered their first loss in their last five games on Black Friday. The New Orleans duo of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram proved to be too much for Los Angeles.
Through the first 10 games the Clippers have played with James Harden in the lineup, the Clippers have produced a 4-6 record. After the 10-point loss, Clippers fans need to remain patient as Lue continues to work on building the team’s chemistry.
Integrating a high-usage rate player such as Harden into an offensive system is no easy task. There will be growing pains, but Lue is used to dealing with players who need the ball in their hands to be successful.
“Offensively, we didn’t get into a good rhythm. We kind of had a nasty flow all night. I thought their pressure bothered us and speeded us up, and made us slow at the same time, if you understand what I am saying. They just kind of took us out of everything that we wanted to do, so we never really got to our second side action. Once we initiated, the clock was already going down, so I take responsibility for that. We have to be better offensively. Teams are pressuring James. He is new, and we have not been able to implement everything,” Lue said during his postgame press conference remarks.
New Orleans’ young ascending one-two punch of Williamson and Ingram will be a force to be reckoned with as the season goes on. Both players reached the 30-point mark on over 50% shooting.
If Williamson stays healthy, the Pelicans have the talent to be a playoff team in the Western Conference.
“They are great players. They are gonna have nights like this. They got it going early, and once you make a few shots and you are that great of a basketball player, it is open range,” said Kawhi Leonard following the loss.
Making shots is essential in the NBA. The Clippers could not make enough of them against New Orleans. The Clippers got open looks but were simply unable to knock them down.
“I wanna see more makes. Wherever you make it from, I don’t care. 3s, 2s, free throws, layups, just make it. I don’t care where you shot it from. It doesn’t really matter to me. Just make it,” said Lue.
The Clippers have the talent to turn their season around, and it will not be surprising to see them hit their stride and go on a run once everyone has settled into their role. Having too many playmakers can provide challenges, but over the course of the entire season, it should pay dividends for an aging team.
Reporter Dennis J. Freeman contributed to this report
Benjamin Verbrugge is a reporter for News4usonline who studied journalism at CSU Dominguez Hills. “Sports have brought me much joy throughout my life, and I want to give a little back to something that has meant so much to me.” Email Benjamin at benverbrugge8@gmail.com.