Paul Pierce and the Los Angeles Clippers started at 4-0 before facing a murderers’ row of Western Conference playoff contenders. But after returning home Saturday night, the Clips got back on track with a much needed victory.
L.A. beat the Kings twice and the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns each once to start the season before facing five of the West’s top teams all in a row with three games coming on the road. They came out just 1-4, first suffering a pair of four-point losses to last year’s West finals participants, the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. They rebounded to beat the Memphis Grizzlies at home before hitting the road again, where they sustained a pair of revenge defeats to the Suns and Mavericks.
But on Saturday night, The Truth made his first start as a Clipper with Chris Paul and J.J. Redick out of commission, and Los Angeles dropped the Detroit Pistons 101-96. It was a relatively quite night for Paul, who had three points, three assists and three rebounds. But while Paul didn’t stuff the stat sheet, Doc Rivers explained that his presence on the floor made a big difference.
“With CP and JJ out, I wanted as much spacing as we could get,” Rivers said. “It allowed Jamal (Crawford) and Austin to get downhill. It allowed Blake (Griffin) to post. Nobody really wanted to trap, they had to pick their poison.”
Crawford and Griffin certainly did poison the Pistons at the Staples Center. Crawford went off for 37 points and added eight assists, while Griffin turned in 34 and neared a triple-double with nine dimes and eight rebounds. Whenever he could, Paul made Detroit pay as well. One his three dimes was a beautiful dish through the lane to DeAndre Jordan, who caught it and threw down a behind-the-head slam.
However, the Los Angeles defense struggled in the first half, and the Clips trailed by 13 even after that alley-oop. The Clippers allowed the Pistons to shoot 54.3 percent and amass 14 second-chance points to take a 60-51 lead at the break—much to the chagrin of Rivers.
But at the break, the Clippers made some adjustments, came out and executed their new gameplan. L.A. forced Detroit to shoot just 5-of-14 in the third quarter, while Griffin and Crawford combined for 27 points to take an 81-80 lead into the final frame. Defense then delivered the win in the fourth.
Paul played eight minutes in the final frame while the Pistons went just 3-for-14 from the field. They shot just 28.6 percent in the second half, and the Clips closed out the comeback with what Rivers called their best defensive effort of the season thus far.
“It was a different defense. We needed it,” Doc said. “We made a couple of adjustments. We tweaked our pick-and-roll. We were far better in the second half. The defensive switching and execution and talking was as good as we’ve had this year.”
NEXT UP
The Clippers (6-4) will now have a much-needed five days of rest and preparation before their second meeting with the Golden State Warriors (11-0).
Los Angeles has had just eight days of rest between its 10 games to open the season. The Clips have had two back-to-backs already, but this first extended period of time off could be just what The Truth needs to get acclimated on his new team—and for L.A. to find its way after making numerous roster changes in the offseason.
“I’ve never seen a team that needs to practice as much as this team,” Rivers said after the win over Detroit. “We have all these new guys, we’re playing on the fly, and our execution game by game has kept dropping. It’s nice to squeeze this game out, and now we can get back to work.”
L.A. and Golden State are set for a 7:30 p.m. PT tipoff from the Staples Center and will be broadcast on TNT.
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