Griffin’s Stellar Night Not Enough To Save Clippers

By Connor Aylward
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Updated: February 6, 2017

Much like rebounding, defense is a hustle game. The Clippers showed none in this contest on that end of the floor.

To be fair the Toronto Raptors are no slouches on the offensive side of the ball. Demar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are right up there with the best guard combos in the league.

But that should be all the more reason to step out on those shooters and make their lives as difficult as possible. The Clippers didn’t seem at all interested in doing that Monday night. Floaters, open jumpers and three balls rained all game at the Air Canada Centre in a game that saw three Raptors finish with over 20 points. DeRozan, Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas wreaked havoc on a waining Clipper defense scoring 34, 24 and 21 respectively.

Not everything was a struggle for Los Angeles against this Raptors team however. Blake Griffin again was a bright spot recording his first triple-double since April 2014 with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. No matter how strong Griffin played offensively the effort seemed lost on the other end.

The Clippers were able to keep the game close throughout but it would be Toronto who came out on top 118-109. That’s the Clippers second straight loss and sixth our of their last eight.

Seemingly things are going as bad as fans could’ve imagine for the team since the injury to Star Guard Chris Paul.

But is the absence of Paul really to blame for the team’s recent skid? With opposing guards running rampant on the offensive end it would seem so. But some stats like opposing teams offensive rebounds continuing to outnumber Los Angeles’ are showing other growing problems with this Clippers team.

As I said defense and rebounding are all about hustle. And the Clippers have lacked that as of late.

With the struggling New York Knicks up next the Clippers will try to break their skid Wednesday night on ESPN. Thanks for reading along Clipper Nation. Here’s to turning this ship around and sailing back towards home-court in the playoffs.

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