Three quick observations from Monday night’s 103-101 the Los Angeles Clippers…
SLAM DUNK – When they met last month, the Pistons were done in by Jamal Crawford’s wire-to-wire brilliance with both Chris Paul and J.J. Redick sidelined by injury. This time Crawford, who had 37 points in November at Staples Center against the Pistons, was back in his customary role coming off the Clippers bench, but on the floor when it mattered most. His triple with 12.5 seconds to play in overtime was the dagger as the Pistons lost their second heartbreaker in the last five days at The Palace. The Pistons had three chances to force a second overtime or win it after Reggie Jackson – brilliant with 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists – missed a free throw with nine seconds left and the Pistons behind by two points. Andre Drummond nearly tipped the ball, then Jackson got a hand on it around the rim and finally missed a tough baseline shot and the buzzer sounded with both teams fighting for the rebound. The Pistons trailed for the entire game, and by as many as 13 points, until 6:42 of the fourth quarter when a Jackson triple put them ahead by two. They led by six before the Clippers hit a number of tough shots in the closing minutes, finally tying the game on a J.J. Redick triple with 19 seconds to play. They got to that possession after they intentionally fouled Andre Drummond (20 points, 15 rebounds) – on a “rebound” that never was when Crawford made the second of two free throws. That loophole in the rule allowed the Clippers to avoid ceding two shots and the possession. Jackson missed a 20-footer at the buzzer to force overtime. Blake Griffin was magnificent for the Clippers with 34 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Chris Paul added 13 points and 12 assists.
FREE THROW – The Pistons and Clippers came into the game tied for the second-best mark in the league at the percentage of a team’s possessions ending in turnovers at 12.5 percent apiece. The Clippers were third in the NBA in turnovers per game at 13.6, the Pistons sixth at 14.2. But the Pistons met their average – well, if you round down to whole numbers – in the first half. That’s why they trailed by nine points at the break, scoring only two points off of four Los Angeles turnovers while the Pistons paid with 11 points off of their 14. The Pistons got their turnover issue well under control in the second half, though, committing only two in the third quarter and five for the half plus overtime. Better still for their cause, they wound up with 13 points off of the Clippers’ 10 turnovers while Los Angeles only cashed in the 19 Detroit turnovers for 11 points.
3-POINTER – Stan Van Gundy looks for opportunities to stick Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, his best perimeter defender, on elite opposing point guards. Caldwell-Pope has done admirable work against the likes of Steph Curry, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook this season. But he’s leery of employing the tactic when it puts Reggie Jackson in an unfavorable matchup and that was the case against the Clippers and one of the elite 3-point shooters, J.J. Redick. Redick moves so well without the ball and gets his shot off so quickly that it required Caldwell-Pope’s quickness, length and defensive tenacity to guard him. Van Gundy played it straight against the Clippers and Redick used screens to slip Caldwell-Pope to knock down four of five shots in the first seven minutes to get the Clippers out to a double-digits lead. Redick finished with 24 points. Caldwell-Pope played the whole second half and 45 minutes for the game, guarding Jamal Crawford when Redick went to the bench. Crawford’s game winner gave him 14 points.
