When everything is working well for the Clippers, when all of their parts are in sync, they’re capable of playing as they did Thursday night in Indianapolis.
They jump out to an early lead, force turnovers, move the ball on offense and score inside. They aren’t a finished product by any means, but with 22 games remaining in the regular season, they still have time to get there.
Their 99-91 victory over the Pacers was an example of how formidable the Clippers can be when they’re running smoothly. They beat the best defensive team in the NBA, although Indiana played without center Roy Hibbert, who was suspended one game for an altercation with Golden State’s David Lee on Tuesday.
Despite shooting poorly from long distance — they missed their first 10 3-point attempts and finished just 4 of 23 — the Clippers played with confidence. They led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter and seemed well in control before the Pacers scored 13 unanswered points.
Ultimately, it took Chris Paul scoring the final eight points — on a jumper, two drives to the basket and two free throws — to give the Clippers their seventh win in eight games.
“We relaxed when we shouldn’t have,” said Paul, who had 29 points and eight assists.
Jamal Crawford, who missed one game to attend the birth of his daughter in Seattle, scored 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Blake Griffin had 18 points and 14 rebounds. On their two-point attempts, the Clippers shot 61 percent (35 of 57) against a Pacers team that was allowing opponents a league-worst 41 percent shooting.
Indiana, in fact, had won its five previous games by an average margin of 23.8 points, but it never led by more than two at any stage of Thursday’s game.
The Clippers are in Cleveland for the second game of a back-to-back trip on Friday, so there is little time to enjoy the win. Even more important, they’re focused on righting their wrongs.
And there are plenty, coach Vinny Del Negro said this week.
“Our turnovers have to come down for sure,” he said. “Our 3-point defense has to get better. Our overall rebounding has to get better. Our overall execution on offense has to get better. And all the little things — controlling the technical fouls, not giving up rebounds on free throws, time and score, finishing end of quarters and end of half. All those things.”
In other words, the Clippers know time is getting short. They have a chance to improve their seeding in the Western Conference, but that’s less important than being prepared when the playoffs begin.
“I’m more concerned with us playing the best basketball as the season winds down, us being prepared and healthy,” Del Negro said. “You want the highest seed possible, but I’d rather make sure we’re playing at a high level at the right time and that we’re healthy.”
And that’s the point. Good teams know they can always get better. Even wins like Thursday’s can be played at a higher level.
“We’re staying the course,” forward Caron Butler said. “It’s going to be bumpy at times. You’re not going to win every game, you’re not going to sit the starters in the fourth quarter every game, but we’re getting better night in and night out. We’re getting better in practices, we’re getting better in games. We’re building.”
