Clippers collapse as Damian Lillard scores 41 in Bucks victory

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard tries to block a shot by Bucks guard Damian Lillard during the first half Monday night.

Staff Writer

March 4, 2024 Updated 9:10 PM PT

MILWAUKEE —

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue gave his players a stern warning before Monday’s game.

They couldn’t afford any letdowns against the Milwaukee Bucks simply because they were playing their second game in two days.

The Clippers did not heed Lue’s words, blowing a 15-point lead in a 113-106 loss to a Bucks team that was playing without All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“Us. It’s not about Giannis,” Clippers guard James Harden said. “It’s not about no other teams. It’s about us.”

The Clippers could not contain Damian Lillard, who torched them for 41 points on 12-for-22 shooting, including four for nine on three-pointers.

They couldn’t deal with Bobby Portis, who inspired the Bucks with 28 points and 16 rebounds off the bench.

“It’s definitely a game that we let get away,” forward Paul George said. “Just one of those games you can’t allow, especially given that Giannis didn’t play tonight and we had the game secured for the majority of it. Just, the fourth quarter got away from us.”

George and Harden each scored 29 points, combining for 11 threes, but it wasn’t enough to stop a Milwaukee team that trailed by 15 points with less than five minutes left in the third quarter.

The Clippers shot just 64% from the free-throw line, with Harden missing three of his nine free throws and George missing four of seven. Lillard made all 13 of his free throws.

“Obviously Dame can win a game, like he did tonight,” said Kawhi Leonard, who had 16 points on six-for-19 shooting, including two for eight from three-point range. “Bobby Portis stepped up and played big and they made big shots down the stretch.”

The Clippers collapsed in the fourth quarter, plagued by poor ballhandling and turnovers. They held a 96-93 lead when George missed a technical free throw. Former Clippers guard Patrick Beverley tied the score on a 24-foot three-pointer and the Bucks took the lead on a Lillard two-pointer with 4:10 left. They went from being up three to down nine in a matter of minutes, getting outscored 12-0.

“That’s basketball,” Harden said. “If you don’t execute, if you don’t get quality shots, turn the basketball over and give a team opportunities, things like that happen.”

The Clippers’ defense was nonexistent in the fourth, giving up 40 points as the Bucks made 61.9% of their shots (13 for 21), including 54.5% of their three-point attempts (six for 11).

Conversely, the Clippers scored just 25 points, shot 35% from the field and turned the ball over three times, one of them on a shot-clock violation after a timeout.

And the Clippers looked confused playing against Milwaukee’s zone defense, especially in the fourth quarter.

“They went into a zone, which they did for a lot of parts of that second half, but I thought that zone kind of threw us out of sync,” George said. “It created us playing a lot slower, it created turnovers, it created, I think, just indecisiveness, which at that point they had momentum and once they got stops they were getting out and running.”

Antetokounmpo sat out his third game of the season because of left Achilles tendinitis.

Russell Westbrook undergoes surgery

Clippers guard Russell Westbrook had surgery Monday to repair a fractured left hand and the hope is he’ll return before the playoffs start in April, a person not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Times.

Westbrook will be reevaluated weekly to determine his status.

Westbrook was injured during the first half of the Clippers’ game against the Washington Wizards on Friday at Crypto.com Arena. He reached in from behind to try for a steal against Wizards guard Jordan Poole.

Westbrook, 35, was averaging 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists.