It was as if the Clippers – well, the Clippers not named Paul George – woke up Friday before their alarm even went off, and promptly went back to sleep. And then they hit the snooze button, and hit it again. And then again.
When they finally looked at the clock, they realized – oh no! – there were only 18-some minutes left to play, they were down 20 and, already short-handed, really had to get going.
They tried, trimming a 20-point deficit to just four with 7:26 left. But Damian Lillard’s 10-points-in-five-minutes fourth-quarter spurt, which had his teammates on the Portland Trail Blazers’ bench looking at their wrists, signaling that it finally was “Dame Time,” doused the Clippers’ comeback hopes.
And Portland held court, beating L.A., 111-92, before 16,510 fans at the Moda Center.
For much of the game, George – the Clippers’ solo star – all but single-handedly kept his team in it. After reverting to the between-game regimen that kept him fresh for so long during the Clippers’ recent postseason run, he powered through Friday with a determined 42 points in 34 minutes, shooting 15 for 24 from the field and 6 for 9 from 3-point range.
Luke Kennard was the only other Clippers player to score in double figures, finishing with 16 points. He shot 6 for 15 and made 4 of his 11 attempts from behind the arc – five of his baskets and 13 of his points coming after halftime.
The rest of the Clippers (1-4) combined to score 34 points and shot 13 for 48 (27.0%).
“We just got to do a better job of being able to help him out,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of George, whose burden is heavier because of injuries to his co-star Kawhi Leonard (anterior cruciate ligament), as well as veterans Serge Ibaka (back) and Marcus Morris Sr. (knee).
“I mean, I thought our guys made the right plays (but) we’re not making shots,” Lue added. “Gotta continue to just keep taking good shots.”
Lillard – who came into Friday’s game having hit only six of his 35 3-point attempts this season – did, in fact, keep taking good shots.
The six-time All-Star went 5 for 7 from deep and scored 25 points as the Blazers (3-2) exacted revenge for Monday’s 116-86 loss at Staples Center – the Clippers’ only win thus far.
CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic each added 14 points for Portland, and Norman Powell had 12.
In a replay of Wednesday’s 92-79 loss to Cleveland, for much of Friday’s contest scoring again proved a chore for the Clippers not wearing No. 13.
George contributed 22 points in 17 minutes before halftime. He shot 9 for 14 and 4 for 5 from long range to start – keeping the rest of the bricklayers onboard afloat. His teammates combined to go 6 for 31 in the first half – and 1 for 15 in the second quarter, when George scored 13 of the Clippers’ 16 points.
The Clippers actually led 20-9 and were 6 for 6 from 3-point range to start, but then they went ice cold, finishing the half 3 for 18 from behind the arc and sleepwalking through a 5:24 scoring drought, during which Portland turned a five-point deficit into a 30-26 lead.
Despite all the offensive turbulence, the Clippers trailed only 48-40 at halftime, helped out by the fact the Blazers shot just 17 for 48 (35.4%) from the field before the intermission.
“I like our defense, I thought we were really aggressive,” Lue said. “Thought we were active until Dame got hot in the last six minutes of the fourth, but overall we did some good things.”
Rebounding wasn’t one of those things: The Clippers lost that battle, 63-43. They’ve been outrebounded 268-205 so far this season.
But their defense did remain alert Friday, including recording three blocked shots in one defensive stand (before fouling) and keeping on the pressure until they were able to shake the cobwebs off their shots halfway through the third quarter.
They had scored just a single third-quarter point (on a free throw from George) before his 3-pointer with 6:36 to play, which launched them on a 26-15 run – to which Kennard contributed 10 points – to close out the period.
“I thought our energy changed, that’s what got us back into the game,” George said. “But we gotta start the games like that. That’s where we’re gonna have to be with a lot of guys down … we gotta maximize what we have. And just energy, our energy and effort needs to be a little better.”
Kennard concurred.
“I just don’t think we kind of flipped that switch until later,” he said. “So we just got to start in the first half and just kind of carry it on.”Lue didn’t pin the blame on the Clippers’ lack of pop, however, pointing the finger elsewhere – at himself.
“Guys have been playing hard and competing, so I can’t fault that,” the coach said. “I gotta do a better job just to make sure that we’re putting our guys in position to be successful, and so just gotta keep plugging away until I do that.”
They kept plugging away Friday and trailed 76-67 entering the final quarter, at which point George had 37 points on 13-of-20 shooting and 6-of-8 from 3-point range.
Lue called it a night for George with 3:19 left and the Clippers trailing 99-83.
A scoring barrage from @Yg_Trece!
Paul George drops 42 PTS with 6 3PM for the @LAClippers 👀 pic.twitter.com/A5y1diWAu3
— NBA (@NBA) October 30, 2021
25 PTS and 5 3PM, @Dame_Lillard leads the scoring charge for the @trailblazers in their home win 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KfXT0240tA
— NBA (@NBA) October 30, 2021
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Paul George can’t do it alone as Clippers lose to Blazers - OCRegister
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