Clippers let the shots fly, they just don’t fall
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They kept launching three-point shots all game and they kept missing them all game, putting the Clippers in a bind they were unable to get out of against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon at Staples Center.
Of the 26 three-point shots the Clippers tried, they missed 22.
In making only those four three-point shots, they shot 15.4% from long distance.
“I’m OK with a lot of them,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We missed a lot of wide open threes. We also took some bad ones as well. Listen, I don’t mind the threes, especially if they’re coming off dribble penetration and post-ups. But I thought we had several where we could have put the ball back on the floor and drove it back in the paint.”
The Clippers entered the game making 39.1% of their three-point shots, seventh-best in the NBA.
But the Grizzlies game was a contest in which all the Clippers’ top outside shooters missed too many threes.
Patrick Beverley had entered the game making 51.4% of his three-pointers, 11th-best in the league. But he was just one for eight from three-point range against the Grizzlies.
Austin Rivers had been making 45.2% of his threes before the game, but he was one for four.
Lou Williams, who had been making 37% of his three-pointers, was one for five.
Danilo Gallinari, who has struggled from the three-point arch on the season, making just 29.5%, was even worse against the Grizzlies, missing on all four attempts.
Blake Griffin had made at least two three-pointers in each of the first seven games and was shooting 43.2% from there. He was one for three from three-point range against the Grizzlies.
Wesley Johnson missed both of his three-pointers.
“They did a good job of really converging and their help defense was really good,” Austin Rivers said. “We got terrible looks.”
Etc.
The Clippers recalled rookie point guard Jawun Evans from the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario. Evans had four points, four rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes 53 seconds in the AC Clippers’ loss to Santa Cruz on Friday. He didn’t play against Memphis on Saturday.
CLIPPERS TODAY
VS. MIAMI
When: 12:30 p.m.
On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 570, 1330.
Update: This is the last game in a five-game homestand for the Clippers before they hit the road Monday. This will be the second game in a six-game trip for the Heat, five of the games against Western Conference foes.
Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner
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