Clippers surge in fourth-quarter comeback over Spurs for first win at Intuit Dome
The film session examined how the Clippers had blown double-digits leads in all of their games this season, highlighting how carelessness with the basketball played a role in four losses.
Maintain your leverage, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue implored his players during the session; stop turning the ball over at such a high frequency.
To Lue’s dismay, the Clippers started poorly against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, falling behind by 26 points in the first quarter, their defense getting torched amid seven turnovers.
But the Clippers didn’t relent. They picked up their defensive pressure in the second quarter, holding the Spurs to 16 points. They didn’t have a turnover in the second quarter, and they scored 34 points in the period to pull within eight of the lead at the half. Another strong quarter got the Clippers to within eight at the end of the third.
The Clippers struggle in the second half and drop their third consecutive game in a 105-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, falling 0-4 at the Intuit Dome.
Behind Norman Powell’s 23 points and Amir Coffey’s 21 points off the bench, the Clippers surged in the fourth quarter to a 113-104 win over the Spurs on Monday to snap a three-game losing streak and give the team its first win at the Intuit Dome.
So, Lue was asked, do the Clippers have a new plan in place?
“What, be down and come back?” Lue asked incredulously. “Man, that’s crazy.
“We got down, hung our heads early. But I just told the guys to chip away at it. Just continue to keep fighting.”
It was the sixth game Powell has scored 20-plus points this season, the longest such streak of his career.
There also was the sizzling shooting by Coffey, who was five for six from three-point range for the Clippers (3-4).
“Tonight, he was a big reason why we won that game,” Lue said.
Ivica Zubac (17 points, 13 rebounds) had one of the game’s biggest moments when he grabbed an offensive rebound and threw a left-handed dunk over Victor Wembanyama late in the second quarter. The Clippers center dunked over Wembanyama again in the fourth quarter while being fouled.
“I learned today that’s the only way you can, when he’s in the paint, that’s the only thing you can do against him. You got to hit body and try to go dunk everything,” Zubac said of Wembanyama. “He’s just so tall and he’s got the longest wingspan I’ve ever seen. He’s going to block everything if you try to go float [over] him, or hook him. So, you just got to try to go through his chest.”
The 7-foot-3 Wembanyana had 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks for the Spurs, who played the game without legendary coach Gregg Popovich, 75, who out indefinitely while dealing with an unspecified health issue.
But for the Clippers, the deficit they overcame was tied for the third-biggest regular-season comeback in franchise history.
They did it by not giving in and by surrendering just 11 turnovers.
And finally, as Lue said, the Clippers got the “gorilla off our backs” by winning their first game at home after losing the first four at their new arena.
The win in the $2-billion building owner Steve Ballmer built even had Ballmer cracking jokes with his players in the locker room after the game.
“He said basically the same thing I said, like, he was going to have to tear it down and build a new one,” James Harden said, laughing. “That tells you how much money he got.”
Etc.
When asked if Kawhi Leonard, who has missed all seven regular-season games, was playing this week, Lue said, “No.” The Clippers have three more games this week: at home Wednesday night against the 76ers and Paul George; at Sacramento on Friday and back at home against Toronto.
The Clippers start strong before the Phoenix Suns rally back from a 21-point deficit behind Devin Booker’s 40-point effort to defeat the Clippers 125-119.
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