Last night in the NBA: Clippers, devoid of a big-name player, beat a Warriors team with stars to spare
Here’s what happened on a night where the Clippers kept rolling at home:
Everything they’re not makes the Clippers everything they are.
The Clippers are devoid of a true star, a prerequisite for winning in the NBA playoffs, and they’ve got players on their roster with pasts full of injuries. But those are tomorrow’s problems. The present is pretty fun.
The Clippers won their second-straight game over elite NBA teams, beating the best of the best, the Golden State Warriors, Monday night at Staples.
Sure, the Warriors didn’t have Steph Curry, but the Warriors still had the three best players in the game wearing their latest alternate jersey. And the Clippers weathered a Klay Thompson flurry late in the fourth quarter, keeping their composure until they put the game away in overtime.
Woike | Clippers have plenty to celebrate after beating Warriors »
The Times’ Andrew Greif had the details in his game story.
After the game, Doc Rivers said the Clippers want a superstar — to get to a championship level they’ll need one. In the meantime, they built a roster full of toughness. Monday, for the first time in years, that paid off in a win against the Warriors.
Anthony Davis and New Orleans’ guards go off
If it hadn’t been for the Clippers, the game of the night was in Toronto, where the Raptors lost at home for the first time to a short-handed Pelicans team.
While New Orleans was missing Nikola Mirotic, when you’ve got Anthony Davis, you’re never that short-handed. Davis grabbed 20 rebounds to go with 25 points while the Pelicans’ backcourt dominated Toronto’s guards, with E’Twaun Moore and Jrue Holiday outscoring Danny Green and Kyle Lowry 59-7.
The basketball gods are unfair
Brooklyn’s Caris LeVert suffered a gruesome leg injury Monday night, putting an end to a promising season. LeVert was averaging 19 points per game in his third year, looking like a key piece in the Brooklyn rebuild.
In college, LeVert had three foot surgeries in 22 months, a problem that cost him the early part of his pro career. Since working himself back, he looked like one of the better young scoring guards in the East.
Sadly, any continued growth will now have to wait.
Twitter: @DanWoikeSports
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