Clippers, ‘connected’ in win over Heat, face Magic next

January 25, 2020 LawsonRealtyGroup Real Estate News 0


The “work-in-progress” Clippers have done what they could recently to allay concerns over their togetherness, including winning Friday for the fifth time in six games and for the third in four games on the road.

With a victory Sunday in Orlando (3 p.m., Fox Sports Prime Ticket), Doc Rivers’ squad would roll back into L.A. – where they’ll complete their Grammy trip with a “road” game against the Lakers on Tuesday at Staples Center – with a 4-1 record on their swing through the southeast United States.

Take away the team’s only recent on-court blemish (a 21-point blown lead in a loss to the bottom-dwelling Atlanta Hawks, who were without All-Star Trae Young). Subtract the Athletic’s headline-making critique of team chemistry in a report that prominently featured Montrezl Harell’s comments after an ugly loss to Memphis on Jan. 4. Try to forget that Paul George is expected to miss his ninth consecutive game Sunday with a hamstring strain.

The Clippers had a good week.

All of Lou Williams’ teammates attended his court dedication ceremony at South Gwinnett High School in Snellville, Georgia, which Rivers considered “really cool.”

“That was optional,” Rivers told reporters in Miami. “That was not mandatory. We had two team buses; one for guys to go to Lou’s thing and the other to go to the airport. And everyone got on the first bus.”

That included Kawhi Leonard, who’s been on a tear, earning recognition as the Western Conference player of the week for the seventh time in his career and first as a Clipper and being named an All-Star starter for the fourth time.

On Friday in the Clippers’ 122-117 victory vs. the Miami Heat, he set a personal record by eclipsing 30 points in his seventh consecutive game while also notching the first triple-double (33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) of his nine-year career.

In a postgame interview on ESPN, Leonard said he was unfazed by reports analyzing the Clippers’ chemistry: “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “They don’t know what’s going on in the huddle.”

They do know what happened in the locker room postgame Friday, when the Moreno Valley product shared credit for his latest milestone. On the team’s Twitter account, the Clippers posted a video of Leonard accepting the game ball from Rivers, lofting it over his head for a moment and flashing a grin before telling his teammates: “It’s because of y’all. Y’all made shots. That’s all a triple-double is.”

Williams called the All-Star forward “selfless” and Rivers termed the team “unselfish” after Leonard’s 10 assists contributed to the Clippers’ season-high-tying total of 33, to go with only nine turnovers.

“We were all connected,” said guard Landry Shamet, who’s come alive lately, averaging 14.8 points on 47% shooting (including 42.9% from 3-point range) in the past six games. “We were all moving on a string.”

CLIPPERS AT MAGIC

When: 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida

TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket



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