Clippers Struggle In 113-102 Loss To Celtics
- Updated: January 24, 2018
Coming off of two straight losses the Los Angeles Clippers searched for greener pastures against the Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics.
Los Angeles was given some positive injury news entering the contest as DeAndre Jordan would return from the longest injury break of his career after suffering an ankle injury five games ago. In his return Jordan entered the Clippers’ record books, tying Randy Smith for most games played in the franchise’s history.
.@DeAndre has tied with Randy Smith (715) for the most games played in Clippers franchise history.#LACMilestonespic.twitter.com/jd1Dkn8Dx3
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 25, 2018
Unfortunately for Jordan and the Clippers, there wouldn’t be much else to celebrate. The team got off to an ice cold start from beyond the arc going 0-6 from three point range in the first half. Finishing the game shooting a miserable 24% from long distance. Lou Williams appeared to hit a wall shooting tonight as he went just 1-7 from three. The crafty Williams still managed to finish with 20 points but it certainly wasn’t one of his prettier performances.
While the team struggled to get the ball to drop from the field, they managed to find other ways to stay in the game. Drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line seemed to be the main point of attack and it was a successful venture for Los Angeles. They ended the night with a season-high 39 free throws, knocking home 27 of them.
Those continuous trips to the line got some Clippers players rolling offensively on what was a difficult scoring night. One of those guys was Blake Griffin who went 6-7 from the line and was able to parlay the confidence he got shooting at the line to a team-high 23 point performance. Griffin also managed to put up 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in what was a solid performance even though he also struggled shooting from the field going 1-7 from beyond the arc.
Defensively Los Angeles didn’t play poorly at all against a Celtics team that can be tough to slow down. However it can be difficult to beat one of the best teams in the league when little is going right on the other end of the floor. The Celtics pulled away in the second half and were able to come away with a win at Staples Center 113-102.
This gives the Clippers their third straight loss since the team’s six game winning streak ended on Saturday. Los Angeles will get a chance turn momentum back into their favor Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. This loss drops the Clippers back below .500% dropping to 23-24 on the season.
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