5 talking points of the Clippers-Wizards matchup
The LA Clippers eked out a close win over the Washington Wizards in the return of Chris Paul. The Clippers won this one 94-87. The Wizards started the season 4-28 but came into this one on a 3 game winning streak and the Clippers were riding a 4 game streak which they extended to 5 at the Wizard’s expense. The Clippers improved their record to 32-9 with this win.
For any young point guard to go up against the Clippers, its akin to them meeting their childhood hero. That’s what it feels like when they get to go up against Chris Paul. That makes them go harder than usual. John Wall was the top scorer in this match, he finished with 24 points on 7-16 shooting. He added 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. But no other Wizard scored more than 13 points. Three other players finished in double figures for the Wizards – Bradley Beal scored 13, Nene had 12, and Trevor Ariza had 11. Although Wall played well, he couldn’t contain Paul.
Chris Paul missed the last three games with a knee injury. He didn’t show any traces of it as he buried the Wizards with a dagger in the last minute after shaking John Wall out of his shoes with a hesitation crossover followed by a pullback jumper. Paul finished with 22 points and 11 assists. He wasn’t playing tentatively either, he got to the line nine times and converted in eight of those.
Big men are supposed to shoot a high percentage. But both teams had problems from their star big men’s field goal percentage. Blake Griffin shot 5-18 for 17 points and 11 rebounds and Nene gave the Wizards 12 points on 6-14 shooting, but he only attempted one free throw. Griffin got to the line ten times and converted seven of those.
“Guys have been hurt and out, and other guys have stepped up. I think that’s a credit to our coaching staff keeping us prepared and a credit to our team for being professionals and staying ready.”- Jamal Crawford
In the absence of Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford scored 16, 30 and 22 points vs the Grizzlies, Rockets and Timberwolves. Today he didn’t have his touch as he shot a paltry 3-13 for 7 points. He did have two assists but negated them with two turnovers. Crawford was leading the Clippers in scoring this season, now he’s third with 16.7 points per game in 29.2 minutes of play and is making a strong case for his All-Star selection. There hasn’t been a bench player being selected to the All-Star team since Kobe Bryant in 1998 while playing as a reserve for the Lakers behind Eddie Jones. This season there is a chance that coaches will choose Crawford and JR Smith, both backup players, to the All-Star team. Although Manu Ginobili has played as a backup for the Spurs for most of his career, he made the All-Star team twice with the Spurs in 2004 and 2011, but he was a starter for them at those times.
The Los Angles Clippers had a huge advantage on the boards. They corralled 58 rebounds to 43 of the Wizards. When you get outrebounded by 15, its difficult to eke out a win. The Clippers had double the number of offensive rebounds to that of the Wizards, 22 to 11. Both Blake Griffin and Lamar Odom gave the Clippers double digit rebounds, Griffin had 11 and Odom had 10. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 8. Okafor got 12 for the Wizards and Nene and Trevor Booker had 7 each. Of course, the Clippers have Mini LeBron in Eric Bledsoe who is only 6″1 but he grabbed 7 rebounds by himself.
Here are the Clippers’ highlights from this game-