Clippers coach Doc Rivers' gamble paid off during Monday night's 102-98 comeback win over the Denver Nuggets.
Instead of sticking with his starters -- a lineup that has played over 250 more minutes than any other lineup in the NBA, and to great success -- down the stretch, Rivers decided to keep Jamal Crawford in for J.J. Redick.
On the surface, that's not an atypical move. Crawford is one of the top scorers in the fourth quarter, and Rivers tends to rotate among two of the trio of Redick, Crawford and Matt Barnes in crunchtime. Redick was simply the odd man out.
But Crawford was just 1-for-6 heading into the fourth, and had been struggling all of January, shooting just 34.6 percent heading into tonight's game. He was in a three-week slump, and then when factoring in his notorious defensive struggles, it seemed as if Redick was clearly the better option.
"You get lucky sometimes as a coach," Rivers said of his late-game decision-making.
Crawford doesn't have a conscious when it comes to shooting, and nights like Monday -- the Clips' fifth win in a row -- prove why that mindset can be so valuable.
The ice-cold Crawford got hot and dropped 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the fourth -- as many as the entire Nuggets team -- including several clutch shots, and an impressive behind-the-back save-pass to Barnes, who promptly laid the ball in and clinched the lead.
Crawford scores 21 of his 23 points in fourth quarter to lift Clippers to fifth straight
"I am very confident," Crawford said. "I have been scoring my whole life. You go through [tough] stretches as a professional. It really is about the mental toughness and how you bounce back."
Rivers added: "I didn't know he had that in him -- that sprinter speed. ... He needed it. We needed it."
Here are five takeaways from Monday's game:
DeAndre ... the All-Star?
DeAndre Jordan has virtually no shot at making the All-Star team, but that won't stop Rivers and the rest of the team from loudly campaigning for their defensive stalwart to make the trip to New York. Jordan hosted his very own block party against the Nuggets, finishing with four overall, which included three consecutive rejections over a 28-second span late in the second, and a emphatic reverse alley-oop dunk to top things off. "When the ball goes in, we talk about it more," Rivers said, while comparing Jordan to the likes of former defensive-first All-Stars Dennis Rodman and Ben Wallace. "I hope he makes it." Jordan also claimed 12 boards and 3 steals.
Auditioning for a trade?
The Nuggets are rumored to be shopping forward Wilson Chandler, and the Clippers -- with a glaring hole at small forward -- have always stood out as a natural landing spot. Perhaps that is why Chandler played so well tonight -- he was auditioning for a deal before the Feb. 19 trade deadline. Chandler fits the mold of the long, rangy wing L.A. covets: he can play either forward spot, defend multiple positions, and is a credible threat offensively. The only holdup has been the structure of the trade -- particularly the assets, which the Clips have few of.
Clippers' Barnes has abdominal strain; unclear if he'll miss time
The Grammy road trip
Eight games, 14 days. The dreaded Grammy road trip awaits, and this year's schedule is particularly daunting. The Clips have three sets of back-to-backs -- at New Orleans and San Antonio, at Cleveland and Toronto, and at Oklahoma City and Dallas -- against elite competition. The Clippers will be fortunate to split this trip, let alone finish above .500, which could temporarily drop them a couple spots in the West standings. If they somehow come out of this trip above .500, though, that will speak volumes about their current play.
Going streaking
Don't look now, but the Clippers have won five games in a row and are beginning to resemble the contender most pundits expected them to be at the start of the season. The road trip will halt some of their momentum -- it's very unlikely they go 8-0 and extend their streak to 14 games -- but their style of play is far more important than their results at this juncture. "It was a vital stretch whether we were playing well or not," Rivers said. "So [the road trip is] going to be a hard stretch: a lot of good teams, a lot of travel, a lot of fatigue involved. It's vital as far as playoff positioning, but that's about it, really."
Something about a sausage-pepper sandwich
Glen "Big Baby" Davis is a Staples Center crowd favorite. Outside of Griffin, Paul, Jordan and Crawford, he receives the loudest ovations for his energy, hustle and celebrations. "There are some games where his energy is so high like that that sometimes I don't know what he's talking about," Griffin said. "I don't think it matters. It's just his spirit." In a timeout during tonight's game, Griffin said Davis was talking about a "sausage-pepper sandwich," and claimed Davis said "'I don't want mayonnaise. I just want meat and bread.'" Never change, Baby.
