The good, the bad, and the ugly from LA Clippers' loss to Warriors
The LA Clippers showed us a lot in their 115-98 loss to the Golden State Warriors. There were some positives, but many ugly problems let them down.
Nov 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) guards LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) in the first quarter of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
The first game between the LA Clippers and the Golden State Warriors showed the Clippers’ good, bad, and ugly sides. The good was the ability to crash the offensive glass, the bad was the turnovers, and the ugly was the poor transition defense. The most worrying thing of all was the lack of energy the Clippers exhibited in what was the biggest game of the season so far for them. This was a litmus test and the Clippers failed miserably.
The Good
There were a few positives for the Clippers in this first game that they can build on for the next time they match up with the Warriors. The most obvious positive thing the Clippers have going for them was their ability to crash inside for offensive boards with some emphatic results.
This iteration of the Warriors is smaller than they were the last two seasons, so it’s extremely important for teams to be able to make them pay for their lack of size. The Clippers did just that on Wednesday, recording 17 offensive boards for 18 second chance points.
In the examples below, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, and Marreese Speights were all over the offensive glass last night. Jordan and Griffin came flying in with thunderous tip dunks against the Warriors when boxouts were missed or when teammates didn’t help out.
Another part of the game the Clippers can build on is that after their disastrous first quarter (losing the period 37-19), they outscored the Warriors 79-78 in the next three quarters. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get them back into the game.
A lot of this was due to the heroics of Jamal Crawford, who scored a team-high 21 points. Including a 36-foot prayer that started a small Clipper run that cut the Warriors lead down to seven points. They never got closer to than that for the rest of the game.
Next, the bad. Turnovers were awfully costly:
Dec 7, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) controls the ball against Golden State Warriors center JaVale McGee (1) and center JaVale McGee (1) in the third quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
The Bad
The Clippers finished the game with 14 turnovers, which is normally a solid stat, but the Clippers had nine first quarter turnovers, including five from Griffin alone.
He was indecisive all night, constantly leaving his feet to make a pass, which led to several of his turnovers. Below are examples of not just Griffin, but even J.J. Reddick committing the same sin. The Warriors scored eight points on the nine first quarter turnovers and had 16 points overall.
It’s a small bright spot for the Clippers that they only had five turnovers after the first quarter. It’s also highly unlikely the Clippers will have another quarter of basketball like the first quarter.
Besides the nine turnovers, the Clippers shot 33.3 percent in the opening period and 16.7 percent from three while the Warriors were shooting 53.8 percent from the floor.
What was really ugly, though? The lacking effort and transition defense:
Dec 7, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) shoots against the LA Clippers in the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
The Ugly
There were several ugly sides of the game and one of the most damaging was the poor transition defense the LA Clippers played all night long.
It started in the first quarter with the Warriors getting 12 of their first 27 fast break points. The play below is a great example of the Clippers not getting back on defense. On a fast break, Griffin left his feet again to try to make a pass and turned the ball over. As the Warriors recover the ball and start the break, Reddick, Griffin, and Luc Mbah a Moute are way behind the ball and did not sprint back to get back into the play. They gave up a dunk to Green while the Warriors had a four-on-two break.
The transition defense was ugly, but there were two aspects of the game that were even uglier.
The Clippers exhibited a severe lack of energy in this game, which was one of the biggest games of the year for them so far. There is no excuse, the Clippers had two days off, their first since October. Their effort was terrible, just as the clip above showed. The Warriors came into this game with the proper amount of energy and the Clippers never matched it.
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The ugliest part of the game was the technical fouls the Clippers received. Doc Rivers’ team over the years have a history of badgering referees all game. This has led to a poor reputation amongst officials and leads to the team giving away points. Less than two minutes into the game, Chris Paul picked up a technical for making contact with an official while arguing a call, before Doc and Griffin also picked up a tech in the fourth quarter.
Whenever things start to go the wrong way, the Clippers tend to turn their ire onto the officials. The team as a whole is fourth in the NBA with 21 technical fouls and Jordan is second in the NBA with five. It is a problem that is noticeable by everyone; Speights was quoted after the game saying “first we need to start really just (leaving) the refs alone”.
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Everyone has to be careful to not read too much into this game. Because, well, it’s only a single game. The LA Clippers started the season on fire; everyone believed that they were capable of threatening the Warriors for supremacy in the Western Conference. That does not change with this loss. There are a few positives for the Clippers to build on that they can take advantage of the next time they play the Warriors, but it won’t matter if they cannot fix their ugly problems.
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