Clippers don’t need Kawhi Leonard, or Tyronn Lue, to rally and beat Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — The momentum the Clippers built from an impressive trip had started to fizzle as they headed toward the break.
And they were trying to find their groove again while playing their last game before Sunday’s All-Star Game without star Kawhi Leonard, who sat out Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors because of a strained left adductor.
Leonard has missed just five games, his 24.1 points per game and 6.1 rebounds sorely missed against another worthy Western Conference foe in the Warriors.
But he had to be happy to see the Clippers overcome coach Tyronn Lue getting ejected in the fourth quarter and Paul George fouling out and rally for a 130-125 win over the Warriors at Chase Center.
“Yeah, great vibe,” said George, who had 24 points. “You want to be on vacation and feeling good about it. It’s definitely momentum going into the second half of the season. So, it’s great. We know we got our work cut out for the second half. But I thought we ended the first half on a good note.”
Kawhi Leonard has been saying that the Clippers have been winning on sheer talent and still falling short of their maximum potential in many areas.
The Clippers can credit Norman Powell for helping the cause with his sizzling three-point shooting. He made all four of his three-point attempts in the fourth in scoring 12 of his 21 points, which helped the Clippers come from 14 down in the final 12 minutes.
His second three of the fourth gave the Clippers a 116-115 lead they never lost.
“To me, the fourth quarter is all about winning,” said Powell, who was 8-for-13 from the field, 5-for-7 from three-point range. “I think if you put your mindset to that and take all the distractions and whatever is going on in the game out of your mind, you just focus on making winning plays and the moment in front of you, things like that happen because you’re just playing off instincts and the things you work on. Today was a similar situation.”
The win made the Clippers 2-2 in their last four games. This was after they had a 6-1 record on the road trip at the end of January and the early part of February, which allowed them at one point to post the top record in the West.
The Clippers (36-17) are third in the uber-competitive Western Conference, 1½ games behind first-place Minnesota.
Before the Clippers play their next game at second-place Oklahoma City on Feb. 22, Leonard is scheduled to play for the West in the All-Star Game. Lue was “not sure if he’ll play” because of his injury.
“I don’t think it’s serious,” Lue said. “He played through it last game and was experiencing some soreness in the hip and so when the game got out of reach we didn’t bring him back in the fourth quarter, just being smart about it. But he did play through it last game.”
The Clippers also were without guard Bones Hyland and forward P.J. Tucker because they needed an “extra day for some head space,” said a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.
Clippers struggle with their shooting and have no answer for Rudy Gobert’s defense in a loss to the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves.
Lue, who did not talk to the media after the game, was not happy with the officiating, picking up two technical fouls in the fourth quarter, the last with 9:36 left that meant he was ejected from the game with his team down nine points.
He had watched Mason Plumlee get called for a flagrant foul on Brandin Podziemski in the fourth.
Before Lue left the court, he walked back to the officials and had some words. It was just his second ejection as a coach, his first as a Clipper.
“Again, there was a lot of emotion and some frustrations,” said Clippers assistant coach Dan Craig, who took over for Lue. “But we had T’s back. I don’t think he’s ever been thrown out of a game with the Clippers. Again, it was a collective effort, I think just team-wise, and I thought the guys really rallied around each other and really just wanted to get this win.”
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