Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 115-106 win over the Grizzlies
The Clippers used a 36-point third quarter to erase a 10-point halftime deficit and went on to win their second straight game of the new year after closing 2016 with six straight losses. Here are five things we learned from their 115-106 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
1. A Los Angeles-based mental health program will benefit from the Clippers’ hostility toward NBA referees, outbursts that have resulted in 32 technicals being called on them this season, third-most in the league behind the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks.
“I had a long talk with the team [Wednesday] and … after watching every tech we’ve gotten this year, including me, I told them, that doesn’t represent us,” said Coach Doc Rivers, who has incurred six technical fouls, second-most in the league, and been ejected three times.
“I have to be the leader of this team, so my actions have to come first. … We’re reversing this. I’m getting no more, and I’m holding everyone accountable, including me, if anyone gets a tech.
Rivers said he will donate the amounts he is fined by the NBA to the Violence Intervention Program, which helps more than 18,000 victims of physical and sexual abuse and neglect each year.
“I told them from now on, every tech I get, that’s where my money goes, and it’s retroactive,” said Rivers, who was fined $15,000 for verbally abusing a referee and not leaving the court in a timely manner after he was ejected from a Dec. 1 game against the Brooklyn Nets. “And any tech the players get, I want them to find their group and give it to them, because we have to be better.”
2. A slight adjustment in DeAndre Jordan’s positioning has helped the Clippers center open 2017 with 20-rebound games against Phoenix on Monday night and Memphis on Wednesday night.
Jordan’s fifth 20-plus rebound effort is the most in the NBA this season, and his 35 career games with 20 or more rebounds are tied with Shaquille O’Neal for 10th-most among all players since 1983-84. He also scored 18 points against Memphis.
“What it says is he’s under the basket more,” Rivers said. “One of the things we thought after coming back from the trip is we had him setting picks and catching the ball at the top of the key too much, especially in transition.
“So if you noticed, Luc [Mbah a Moute] was setting a lot of the picks tonight and D.J. was setting up under the basket. DeAndre is like Shaq in some ways. If our guards get to the basket, if you help off DeAndre, we throw it up to the rim, and he is going to get a dunk. If you don’t help, we get the layup.”
3. It’s better to be lucky than good. The Clippers had a 104-99 lead with about a minute left when Austin Rivers found himself about 30 feet away from the basket on the right side with the shot clock winding down.
Rivers passed to J.J. Redick at the top of the key. Rivers thought Redick would shoot, but instead, Redick passed back to Rivers, who heaved a desperation three-pointer just before the shot clock went off.
Rivers missed but drew a foul from Mike Conley and made all three fouls for a 107-99 lead with 51.3 seconds left.
“We were fortunate,” Doc Rivers said. “I probably outsmarted the play. Right when it happened, I literally turned to my coaches and said, ‘What a dumb play that was.’ We had just scored on a double pick-and-roll, let’s try a triple pick-and-roll, and it was just an awful play. We got lucky and got the foul.”
4. Austin Rivers, whose playing time has increased with starting point guard Chris Paul missing seven of eight games because of a hamstring injury, was an Iron Man on Wednesday night. He logged a season-high 44 minutes while scoring a season-high 28 points on 10 of 16 shooting and passing out seven assists.
“We couldn’t take him out,” Doc Rivers said. “The second half, usually I bring Jamal [Crawford] in for Austin to give him a break, but he was rolling, and we needed points. I didn’t notice it was 44 minutes until after the game. But we needed him. As Raymond [Felton] said, he’s the 24-year-old out here, let him play, he’ll be fine.”
5. Reserve center/forward Marreese Speights leads the NBA with 20 charging fouls drawn this season, somewhat surprising considering he is averaging only 16½ minutes a game.
“It’s because he can’t jump,” Doc Rivers said with a chuckle. “He does a great job. It’s funny, when we signed him, that was one of the first things I said, and people actually laughed at that. I said Mo takes charges at center, and that’s a gift. A lot of guys, either you can block the shot with athleticism, or you get your body in the way. Mo has decided he can get his body in the way, and he’s good at it.
“Mo is one of the rare bigs who can draw [charging fouls] off the ball; he draws them off of passers. If you run through the lane and Mo’s around, he’s gonna put his body in the way, and it’s a smart move. It’s similar to blocked shots. When you drive and you run over somebody, it makes you not want to drive anymore, so it’s been good for us.”
Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna
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