LOS ANGELES – The Clippers blew a 17 point lead and the Atlanta Hawks came back to defeat Los Angeles 107-97 on Saturday Night at Staples Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a tale of two halves for the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. The team was fantastic in the first half, exploding out to a 17-point lead, but was lackluster at best in the second half as Atlanta rallied to sweep both the Lakers and Clippers on back-to-back nights.
Los Angeles looked great early on. Paul Pierce was aggressive, J.J. Redick was on fire, and Chris Paul was orchestrating some of the best ball movement we've seen all season. The Clippers led by 12 after the first quarter, and by 17 midway through the second quarter before it fall apart.
"We knew we just had to keep doing what we do, and we changed the game plan a little bit and got more aggressive on Chris Paul and made it tougher for him to make passes," said Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague. "Our guys just picked it up."
The Clippers are familiar with the feeling that was running through Atlanta locker room after the game. Just a few nights earlier, Los Angeles overcame a 22-point deficit to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately, this time they were on the losing end.
"That was an emotional game because of the way it ended," Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said about the OKC game. "I thought we were going to be really good today. That is what we saw in the first 12 minutes and then it got away from us."
Jeff Teague scored 22 points, Paul Millsap had 20 points and 18 rebounds, and Kent Bazemore scored 17 off the bench.
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DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul led Los Angeles with 17 points apiece as six players scored in double figures for the Clippers, ordinarily a recipe for success, but not on this night.
TURNING POINT
The final three minutes of the first half. With the Clippers up 15, the Hawks went on a 12-2 run to close out the half and cut the lead to just five points going into the break.
MVP OF THE GAME
Paul Millsap. The Hawks power forward had 20 points and a season-high 18 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Atlanta Hawks have won six games when trailing by double digits this season.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
@ATLHawks Hawks made the Clippers tap out #UFC196 — Cole Counts (@ColeCounts3) March 6, 2016
It was clearly, that kind of night.
PHOTO OF THE NIGHT
19 turnovers tonight. pic.twitter.com/2Hg1MPJTkP — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 6, 2016
Kanye's look says it all.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"Low energy. A lot of credit goes to Atlanta for fighting to get back in the game, but we let this one go." LA Clippers point guard Chris Paul on the loss.
NOTES
Chris Paul has averaged the third-most assists and steals among all players who have faced the Hawks in NBA history. DeAndre Jordan has averaged more rebounds against the Hawks than other team he's faced.
RECORD
Atlanta Hawks (35-28, 16-16 on the road) 2nd in the Southeast Division
Los Angeles Clippers (40-21, 21-11 at home) 2nd in the Pacific Division
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Hawks will continue their five-game road trip when they square off in Salt Lake City with the Utah Jazz on Tuesday at 6:00 PM PST.
The Clippers will travel to dreaded Dallas where the fans will have plenty of words for DeAndre Jordan when they play the Mavericks on Monday at 5:30PM PST.
