How will the Clippers do in the game against the Trail Blazers? What must the Clippers do earn a victory? Which Blazers player should LA focus the D on? Will the game be bombs away by both teams or first to 100 gets the W? Are there any injury/player availability updates?
Not a good start- turnovers and bricks, but Lopez with the timely bingo to make it 6-3.
Now Lopez the corner bingo- he has all 8 of Clippers' points. All FG attempts so far by LA are 3's.
Clips have done well avoiding live ball turnovers the last two games, but not very good at all so far in that department.
How about Lopez diving for the ball there
Interesting that Jim Jackson is commentating for the Blazers
This game could be another example of live by the 3, die by the 3. Clippers shot the 3 exceptionally vs PHX, but not very good this game thus far.
After 1, Clips down 35-25 as the Blazers are outgunning the Clips from deep.
Lopez keeping the Clips in it as he drills another bingo- his 4th, cuts it to 7
Awful call by the refs as Clingon hits Lopez on the drive FIRST, but Lopez gets call for the offensive. That would've been an and 1
Lopez, again from deep!
Now Kawhi the drive and kick to Collins in the corner- bingo! 2 point game!
And... Blazers go on a 9-0 run as turnovers (including 2 offensive fouls on screens by Collins) bite
Lol Harden just pinballed his way into the paint for the bank and 1
Good challenge there as that should be an offensive on Camara as he yanked Lopez's arm down on the dunk attempt
Wow call stands- what a bunch of crock
Big corner bingo by Kobe Sanders, and the Clippers are down only 6 at the half. Gotta cut down on the turnovers in the second half if the Clips want to get this W. Need to do a better job boxing out as well.
Lol Lopez made it look easy there- drills the bingo after Harden passed out of the double
Just too many offensive rebounds by the Blazers- my goodness gracious
Lopez doing a good job being the last line of defense too- swats away another.
That's the 7th bingo by Lopez, this time from the corner. Cuts it to 5
What hustle by Dunn! The poke-away, the diving save, enabling the Beard to notch it at 72 with the driving layup!
LMAO another double of Harden and he just passes it to Brook again, bingo! Now Leonard the drive and dish to Lopez in the corner- bingooooooo!!!
With Lopez now camped in the corner and they're not wanting to leave him, Dunn now drives down main street for the easy deuce! Another timeout by the Blazers!
Clips continue their recent trend of good 3rd quarters, up 85-78 on Portland after outscoring them 29-16.
Good hustle by Kawhi there coming back with the block, now draws another shooting foul
That's another BS missed call by the refs. Kawhi strips Avila who forearms him in the side on the dunk attempt, no call.
The Klaw now posterizes Clingon! That should've been a foul too!
Konan the big time block on Avila, and Miller drills the corner bingo on the break!
Kawhi's patented layup J's have been too strong today- keep hitting the back of the rim
Harden & Lopez in for final 7 minutes
Harden + 4 3 point shooters = Harden layup
Clipper D has clamped the Blazers so hard in the second half to the tune of 24% shooting
That was unfortunate. Ty Lue calls timeout a split second before Kawhi, wide open, shoots and drains a bingo
Harden drills the bingo dagger, but Camara says not yet as he hits another
And that should do it as Kawhi hits the corner 3. What an amazing job by the Clippers in the second half- moving their feet on D and only turning the ball over a couple times.
Game ball has to go to Brook Lopez who hit NINE 3's, a new career high, ended up with 31 points. He was gigantic in keeping the Clippers afloat in the first half because they were on the ropes here and there. Then drilled several more huge bingos in the 3rd to allow the Clips to take a comfy lead- one they never relinquished. Brook also was terrific on defense- his size really bothered the Blazers who love to take it to the hoop.
Also gotta say Kawhi was moving great on both ends. Despite him not as sharp shooting the midrange, he had an excellent game. Played 41 minutes too.
Harden was superb in the second half- don't think he had a turnover after halftime.
Young guys Sanders & Miller played well too- they didn't force anything and played solid defense just like Dunn & Batum.
Good thing is that we are just 2 games behind the final spot of play in tournament but the bad thing is that 4 teams will vie for that spot.
So, it would be interesting to see if we are sellers or buyers at the trade deadline with so many games still left.
Video highlights:
I haven't been able to watch the latest games, only the highlights, but I'm happy with every team victory. Brook Lopez has been sublime from three-point range, and I saw Kawhi being more decisive than on other occasions; this time he didn't just settle for the mid-range. Something he hadn't been doing lately was breaking down the defense by driving to the rim.
