LOS ANGELES – This was the type of game Coach Tyronn Lue had waited a month to see, where the players attacked the paint then looked to the perimeter for a long-range shot.
He said it would make the Clippers a “much different team” if they could successfully score from beyond the arc rather than settling for jump shots. So, he has pressed them to get to the paint more and make the right play. On Saturday, they listened.
The Clippers shot a season-high 21 3-pointers and cruised to a 119-97 victory against a short-handed San Antonio Spurs team at Crytpo.com Arena.
Just when all seemed to be working as hoped, Paul George experienced soreness in his right knee and did not play the second half. He had been instrumental in the Clippers easing past the Spurs with 21-first half points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including 5 of 8 3-pointers.
The Clippers luckily didn’t need George’s hot hand to beat the Spurs, who have lost four in a row and nine of their past 10. Several others continued to push the ball in the second half and kept San Antonio from mounting any type of a serious run after the first 24 minutes.
Norman Powell picked up where George left off, scoring a game-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Reggie Jackson contributed 20 points and four assists and Marcus Morris Sr. had 11 points. Kawhi Leonard had a quiet night in his second game back since knee stiffness sidelined him for nearly a month, adding 11 points and four assists in 22 minutes.
John Wall, who has been coming off the bench, looked like the John Wall of old, setting the pace and contributing to the Clippers’ uptick in 3s. He dished out 15 assists, nine in the first quarter – tying his career-high for most assists in a single quarter. He last accomplished the feat March 21, 2014, against the Lakers.
With his assists, Wall became the first Clippers player since Chris Paul to have at least 15 assists in a single game.
Lue said Wall’s high-energy pace is welcomed, especially since they rate last in the NBA in scoring at 104.4 points a game.
“(The other players) well, they need to catch up because we have to get easy baskets,” Lue said. “When you average 104 points a game, we have to get easy baskets and he allows us to do that.”
He also said Jackson needs to be more efficient on a nightly basis, something he has shown over the past four games, for the Clippers to succeed.
“He’s also running stuff with PG and Kawhi and then also picking and choosing his spots as well,” Lue said. “So, he’s been doing a better job with that by trying to find his flow and rhythm.”
The Spurs missed guard Devin Vassell, a late scratch because of left ankle soreness. The team’s second-leading scorer at 20.4 points a game, posted 24 points in the Spurs’ loss to Sacramento on Thursday.
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The Spurs currently are a mix of young talent and injuries. Before the game, five players were listed either to be out, probable or questionable, including Johnson, who sat out the Sacramento game because of a sore ankle.
With Vassell on the bench, Johnson, who leads the team with 22.7 points a game, moved into the starting lineup that plays one rookie and two second-year players. Johnson finished with just 11 points. Jakob Poelti had a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds.
The Clippers exploited the Spurs’ youth quickly in one of their most aggressive quarters this season to lead, 40-22, after one quarter. It was the most points they scored in the opening quarter this season. George had 18 points in 12 minutes and Wall had nine of his assists.