LOS ANGELES — The Clippers (42-36) completed their second largest comeback of the season, overcoming a 19 point deficit to beat the Spurs (45-33), 113-110 at Home on Tuesday night.
Here are five quick takeaways from the Clippers win.
Quote of the night: “Lou Williams made a game winning pass and there are so many lessons there. So many guys will shoot it anyways because they think they have to and Lou saw the open guy, hit Austin, makes the shot. That’s complete trusts and that’s how you win in basketball.” - Doc Rivers
1) Williams saves Clippers—
This season, nobody has been better in the fourth quarter than Lou Williams, and tonight, he possibly saved the Clippers’ season. With 50 seconds remaining in the game, Williams dribbled to his left then pulled up, hitting his patented leaning left fadeaway to give the Clippers a one-point lead. After a Spurs made three, the Clippers were down two with 37 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Williams dribbled off a screen and the Spurs defense collapsed around the guard. Williams, the Clippers’ assists leader on the season, kicked to Austin Rivers on the wing, who confidently made the three-pointer, giving the Clippers the lead for good.
Williams scored 15 points in the fourth on 6-of-8 shooting. He finished the game with 22 points. Rivers had 8 of his own in fourth quarter, ending the night with 18 points total. As a team, the Clippers scored 41 points in the fourth, tying a season-high for the final quarter, shooting 63 percent from the field on 12-of-19 shooting.
2) Marjanovic and Clippers live at line—
Boban Marjanovic’s size has been a headache against nearly every opponent when he subs in. Standing at exactly 7 feet, Pau Gasol appeared tiny when guarding the Clippers 7-foot-3 center. Marjanovic repeatedly wedged himself open underneath the basket against his former team, and his teammates rewarded him with the ball, forcing the Spurs to either allow an easy layup or foul him. They opted to foul. Marjanovic shot 10 free throws on the night, making eight. In fact, Marjanovic scored 8 points without officially attempting a field goal, tied for the most points scored without a shot attempt since at least 1984-85.
Beyond Marjanovic, the Clippers drew a lot of fouls tonight, shooting 43 free throws, making 34 of them, both season-highs. The Spurs shot 24-of-28 at the line.
3) Spurs start fast —
The Clippers’ offense sputtered to start the game, while the Spurs opened with an efficient offense, matching their reputation. By the 6:21 mark in the first quarter, the Spurs led 17-3. And even with San Antonio’s early success, Gregg Popovich called a timeout to harp on his team when the Clippers scored their sixth point. By the end of the quarter, the Spurs were on top 31-17, outshooting the Clippers 52 percent to 33 percent from the field.
All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 35 points. Patty Mills added 17, while Rudy Gay had 13 off the bench.
4) Harris rallies Clippers in first half —
Facing a deficit as large as 19 in the second quarter, the Clippers compiled a 13-0 run, and outscoring the Spurs 19-7 to finish the half only down six, 56-49. Tobias Harris led all scorers at the midway mark with 17 points, with Montrezl Harrell being the only other Clipper to be in double figures at the time, adding 10 of his own.
Harris finished the game with 31 points, his sixth 30-point game of the season, and second with the Clippers. So far this season, when Harris scores 30+, his team’s are 6-0.
With the win, the Clippers put together their second largest comeback of the season, behind only a 21-point comeback against the Pelicans earlier in the season.
5) Another starting combination —
For the 34th time this season, the Clippers began the game with a different starting lineup. Danilo Gallinari aggravated his hand injury, forcing him to sit out after playing the previous two games. The Clippers began the game with Austin Rivers, Tyrone Wallace, C.J. Williams, Tobias Harris and DeAndre Jordan. With the Clippers down six at the half, Doc Rivers turned to Sindarius Thornwell in place of Williams with the starters. With the change, the Clippers continued the momentum they had gained at the end of the second half, taking their first lead of the game six minutes into the third quarter.
What’s Next? — The Clippers travel to Utah, playing the Jazz at 6:00 PDT.