Five takeaways from the Clippers’ victory over the Charlotte Hornets
Clippers forward Blake Griffin blocks a shot by Hornets guard Jeremy Lamb during the second half of a game on Feb. 11.
The Clippers defeated the Hornets, 107-102, on Saturday night in Charlotte. Here are five takeaways from the game:
1) The Clippers were able to get by the Charlotte Hornets, 107-102, on Saturday because of strong bench play.
The reserve unit of the Clippers accounted for 47 points.
As usual, Jamal Crawford led the Clippers’ substitutes with 22 points on six-for-11 shooting, five for eight on three-pointers.
Raymond Felton had nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes, 35 seconds.
Marreese Speights scored all eight of his points in the first quarter. Alan Anderson provided the Clippers with a spark with his six points, and Wesley Johnson had two points.
As a group, the reserves had a plus-34 rating.
2) At times, the Clippers were really good on defense.
At times, the Clippers weren’t so good on defense.
They held the Hornets to 30.4% shooting in the third quarter, but in the fourth quarter, the Clippers allowed the Hornets to make 55% of their shots.
For the game, the Clippers held the Hornets to 43% shooting.
The Clippers were at their best on defense against Charlotte All-Star point guard Kemba Walker, holding him to a four-for-18 shooting night and 10 points.
3) The Clippers shot the three-pointer well against the Hornets, making 41.2% of their shots.
Crawford led the way by going five-for-eight from three-point range.
Austin Rivers was four for six, J.J. Redick two-for-eight, Speights two for four and Felton one for three.
4) With DeAndre Jordan collecting 16 rebounds and Blake Griffin 12, the Clippers out-rebounded the Hornets 50-40.
Felton, the 6-foot point guard, had seven of the rebounds.
5) The Clippers were OK taking care of the basketball, turning it over 14 times, although Jordan had five of those turnovers.
Point guard Austin Rivers also turned the ball over five times. His turnover with 1:31 left almost proved costly, but the Clippers survived that late-game blunder.
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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