Clippers’ Jamal Crawford provides huge boost off bench vs. Hornets
Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan tries to keep the ball away from Hornets teammates Frank Kaminsky III and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist during a game on Feb. 11.
He started to dance with the basketball again, the joy of playing returning to the face of Clippers supersub Jamal Crawford.
He led the Clippers in scoring with 22 points off the bench against Charlotte, but it was the way Crawford performed that was most telling.
It was like he was a magician with the basketball, his ball-handling skills keeping every Hornets defender off balance.
“I’m not playing in thought at all,” Crawford said. “Like when you play in thought, I think you’re your best defender. And I was in thought for two-and-a-half, three weeks. Once I got out of that, it was hoop. Ain’t no more thinking. Just hoop.”
Crawford had nine points in the decisive fourth quarter.
He made two of three shots in the fourth, both of them three-pointers.
His free throw with 27.4 seconds left gave the Clippers a seven-point lead.
His two free throws with 10.1 seconds left gave the Clippers a five-point lead.
“Since I’ve been here for five years, there are times and moments in the game where sometimes you have to be a little more aggressive to weather whatever storm it might be,” said Crawford, who was six of 11 from the field. “Somebody could be out. We may be playing four games in five nights. We all have a good pulse for that and my coaches and teammates always put me in position to do that.”
Crawford even banked in a three-pointer in the fourth.
“I had to make up for four missed free throws,” Crawford, who was five-for-nine from the line, said as he smiled.
Well-rested Clippers
The Clippers have had just one back-to-back encounter in their five-game, 11-day trip, and it has helped keep the team fresher.
The back-to-back games were at Boston on Feb. 5 with a 5 p.m. (EST) start, and at Toronto the next day with a 7:30 p.m. (EST) start.
The Clippers have been able to practice twice on this trip, which is something that’s hard to do when they play multiple sets of consecutive games.
“I think it’s nice,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said about just one back-to-back set on this trip. “I think it helps even with travel planning, like you don’t have to leave after a game. Our thing is to try to get in before midnight. So that’s nice. And we’ve had a practice, which is good. We’ve had a couple of shootarounds.”
The Clippers were able to practice in Boston and in Charlotte.
So there have been benefits to having days off.
“We’ve had more rest,” Rivers said. “So I think that’s helped, for sure. I don’t know if you see benefits right away. I think the long-term benefits are good, though.”
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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