SACRAMENTO – The Clippers outscored the Kings 30-13 in the second quarter and used that strong finish to the first half to propel them to a 92-89 win in their sixth and final preseason game.
Here are five takeaways from the matchup:
1) First unit crisp – In the final tune-up before the regular season begins Oct. 27 in Portland, and the players the Clippers are going to be counting on most this season looked sharp. While the Kings jumped out to a 30-26 lead, it might be a little misleading, as it was 22-15 by the time Chris Paul and J.J. Redick checked out of the first quarter, and Paul and Redick both finished plus-15 or better on the night, while Blake Griffin looked in total control as he constantly found the open man. The Clippers constantly made the Kings pay for their 13 first-half turnovers, often finishing with authority at the other end on the break. The Clippers shot 45.5 percent and the Paul-Jordan pick-and-roll was in full effect.
2) Redick gets rolling – Before the game, head coach Doc Rivers said he wasn’t worried about Redick’s shot being off early in the preseason. Redick then proceeded to put together his strongest outing of the preseason, going 7-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-6 from deep on his way to 18 points and three assists. It was a strong finish for Redick, who was coming off a 2-for-10 performance in Utah the previous night, as the shooting guard coming off a career year from deep got back on track.
3) Blake strong – There are few things prettier than a Paul to Griffin to Jordan alley-oop finish. The big three looked strong as they consistently found good looks, many of them created by Griffin himself. The power forward attacked the rim, which opened things up for the four players around him, and he found them all night. Griffin finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes and could’ve added a few more assists if not for a couple missed shots.
4) Winning from deep – The Clippers had struggled from long distance their previous few preseason games, but they won the battle on the perimeter Tuesday, shooting 36.4 percent from behind the arc and holding the Kings to 22.7 from 3-point range.
5) Feeling healthy – More important than anything is how the Clippers are doing physically with the preseason now wrapped up, and they head into the week-long break before the regular season relatively healthy. Paul, Griffin, Jordan and Alan Anderson sat out in Utah, but all four were fine for Tuesday’s preseason finale. The only player who missed Tuesday’s game in Sacramento was Paul Pierce, who sprained his right ankle during pregame warmups.