The Los Angeles Clippers were facing a surprising home defeat against the Brooklyn Nets. But then they demonstrate comeback qualities.
By Chris Lugert
Led by James Harden, the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers averted a home defeat against the Brooklyn Nets with a magical final quarter. The team from California won against the visitors from New York City with 125:114, even though the Nets had been in the lead for almost the entire game.
In the last quarter alone, the Clippers scored an outstanding 41 points, turning an 84:99 deficit into the final twelve minutes. The Nets, on the other hand, collapsed completely in the final phase and scored their last points with 5:33 minutes left.
Harden was the outstanding man for the Clippers with 24 points and ten assists, and Russell Westbrook also had a strong evening coming off the bench (23 points, nine rebounds).
He made up for a poor performance from Paul George, who only hit five of his 17 shots from the field and had to settle for twelve points. World champion Daniel Theis played 17 minutes and contributed eight points, three rebounds and two blocks.
On the Nets side, Mikal Bridges stood out with 26 points, but only six of them came in the second half. Los Angeles consolidated fourth place in the Western Conference with their 27th win of the season, while the Nets remain eleventh in the East.
The Nets started the game outstandingly and went on a furious 9-0 run with three three-pointers. Bridges sank the first three-point shot after just five seconds. The Clippers responded with their first timeout after three minutes.
The most important thing about the NBA
But nothing changed at first, the Nets moved ahead to 16-0. Only now did Terance Mann score the first points for the Clippers with a successful attempt from outside, followed shortly afterwards by the next three-pointer.
The Clippers now had much better access. Substitute Westbrook immediately put his stamp on the game, with 3:46 minutes left on the clock in the first quarter, the Clippers equalized to 18:18. Daniel Theis was now also on the field.
George caught used evening
The Nets went into the second quarter with a three-point lead, and once again the guests got off to a much better start. Within five minutes, Brooklyn extended the lead back to 14 points.
The Clippers continued to miss the quality of their top stars for long stretches. George and Kawhi Leonard in particular were disappointing over long stretches and barely scored an attempt. The Nets were completely different, as they were much more accurate from every position.
The Nets consequently went into halftime with a 61:49 lead. At this point, the outstanding Bridges already had 20 points – as many as Harden (9), Leonard (7) and George (4) for the Clippers combined. George hit just two of his 10 attempts from the field in the first half.
This content comes from external providers such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Please enable personalized ads and content as well as providers outside of the CMP standard to display this content.Privacy settingsNBA Rumors: Who is moving where?
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The second half started evenly; unlike in the first two quarters, the Nets were unable to make a run to significantly extend their own lead. The Clippers, however, didn’t really come close.
Both teams hit each other with threes in this phase. Harden in particular now took the initiative more and more and looked for the finish himself much more often than in previous games.
Clippers set off fireworks
But there was no success; towards the end of the quarter the Nets even extended their lead to 18 points for the first time. A three-pointer from Westbrook with the clock running out reduced the deficit to 15 points at the end of the third quarter.
And the Clippers actually worked their way up little by little, but the Nets held on. An open exchange of blows developed, the momentum changed almost every minute.
But then the Clippers got going, with 3:44 minutes remaining, Norman Powell brought his team within one point with a three-pointer. The Clippers took the lead for the first time in the game with 2:49 minutes left. The Nets couldn’t find any answers and the Clippers ended up setting off fireworks.
2024-01-22 00:01:47
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