Rowan Kavner
Score: LAC 91 - IND 89
INDIANAPOLIS – Head coach Doc Rivers knew the challenge.
Somehow, with distractions enveloping the Clippers (29-16) and Rivers, who in pregame wasn’t presented a single question about the actual basketball game happening that night, he had to find a way to keep his players focused solely on what was about to happen at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the Pacers (23-22).
Escaping with a 91-89 victory, he accomplished that mission.
Next Game: 1/27
Tipoff: 5:00pm PDT
“I think all the stuff in the last 48 hours, you always say it’s the game that brings your team back,” Rivers said. “You could kind of feel that tonight. That was a good win for our team.”
To get it done, the Clippers continued many of the same strategies they had from their 11 prior victories without Blake Griffin.
They hit from deep, knocking down 15 3-pointers.
They watched Chris Paul take over for stretches, finishing with 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
And they played stout defense, holding the Pacers scoreless for eight and a half minutes from the three-minute mark in the third quarter until halfway through the fourth, outscoring the Pacers by double digits during that stretch to take a nine-point lead.
The Pacers made a late run to cut the Clippers’ lead to two points with the ball and two seconds left, when Luc Mbah a Moute tipped Indiana’s inbounds pass. That left less than a second on the clock for another inbounds pass, which didn’t find its target, as the Clippers left with the victory.
Then they tried something new.
With Paul Pierce dealing with early foul trouble, Doc Rivers used Austin Rivers with the starters toward the end of the third quarter and gave Paul a chance to rest. That allowed Doc Rivers in the fourth quarter to go extra small, using Paul, Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford, Pablo Prigioni all on the floor at the same time with DeAndre Jordan, who finished with nine points, 19 rebounds and three blocks.
The strategy worked, setting the scene for Prigioni to do what he does best, coming up with a steal, a layup, and drawing an offensive foul to put the Clippers in control in the fourth.
Paul, who was injured the last time the Clippers played the Pacers, and J.J. Redick, who was injured not even a minute into the Clippers’ last game against the Pacers, combined to score 45 of the Clippers’ 91 points.
The game started out a complete reversal from Toronto game, with the reserves leading the way for the Clippers, who trailed by as many as eight in the third quarter before picking up steam and defending their way to a late lead.
Key Moment: The Pacers, despite trailing by five points with 30 seconds left, had the chance to tie or take the lead inbounding the ball near half court with two seconds remaining. Mbah a Moute’s deflection on the pass intended for Paul George, which went out of bounds, basically ended the Pacers’ chances.
Clippers Star: Chris Paul – Paul knows he has to lead, now more than ever. He did just that, scoring seven points in the final four minutes, finishing with 26 points and working well with a guard-heavy lineup the Clippers tried late. Paul said even with everything that had gone on, he enters every night expecting to win, and once again he was a major part of why it happened.
Pacers Star: Paul George – He had 31 points the first time he played the Clippers this year. On Tuesday, he did it again, also adding 11 rebounds. George hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to make it a two-point game. Indiana tried to go to him again for the win, but couldn’t get him the ball.
X-Factor: Wesley Johnson – There’s no hesitation when Johnson decides he’s shooting, and when he’s on, he’s difficult to turn off. Johnson went 5-for-6 from 3-point range, scoring 15 points. Two games prior, he was 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-for-4 from deep.
Quotes:
Doc Rivers – “It just tells us about our team. Adversity is the true indicator sometimes. You go through it and you find out who your team really is sometimes. Today, that’s a great indication of who we can be.”
Chris Paul – “One thing about our team, we’re resilient. We’ve been through a lot of stuff around here. Not many people that like us, anybody, and we always say, ‘Who cares?’ We’ve got to be there for each other. That’s what we’re going to do.”
J.J. Redick – “We had taken a step back as a team, really since that Sacramento game, and specifically defensively. So, tonight was great on that end of the ball. Any time you face adversity, whether it’s wins and losses or guys being hurt, it can galvanize you. It can bring you together. Tonight was definitely a good feeling to walk off the court and gut that one out.”
NOTES: The Clippers (15) hit 10 more 3-pointers than the Pacers (5) … Redick scored 13 points in the first half. The Clippers improved to 9-1 when he scores at least than many points in either half of a game this season … Doc Rivers said he felt the bench saved the game for the Clippers on a night all the starters were on the negative side of the plus-minus … Doc Rivers said the small lineup late in the game was an on-the-fly decision … The Clippers departed immediately after the game for Atlanta, where they’ll be playing Wednesday on the second game of a back-to-back …