Finally something for Clipper Nation to get excited about. Today's victory was unlike the rest we've seen this season. Instead of a 4th quarter collapse, the Clippers played the 4th quarter almost as well as any team could possibly play. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the first 3 quarters considering that the Grizzlies dominated the game completely and utilized Marc Gasol to near perfection. So what was different about the 4th quarter that had been missing from so many 4th quarters?
- Defense: The Clippers played extremely tough defense. Eric Gordon played the perimeter extremely well, forcing OJ Mayo to take difficult shots. Al Thornton was denying the ball from getting to Rudy Gay and the big men Kaman and Camby worked well together to stop points in the paint from the Grizzlies dangerous scorers Randolph and Gasol. The defense in the 4th is broken down in great detail by Kevin Arnovitz of Clipper Blog:
2. Hustle: The Clippers were diving for loose balls and were able to grab offensive and defensive rebounds. Their desire to win the game was reflected by their hustle. It's an aspect that has been lacking for most of the season and something that we can expect to see improve when Blake Griffin returns to the lineup.
3. Transition: The Clippers usually look to score early baskets in the first half through pushing the tempo and scoring in transition. As a result they usually have a great first half but the tempo is slowed for the 4th quarter resulting in some stagnant offense. The Clippers defense and hustle created opportunities to score points in transition, mainly by Eric Gordon and Al Thornton.
4. Coach John Lucas: We generally see Coach Dunleavy clapping when the team does something good but today assistant coach John Lucas was the first person off the bench to cheer and high five the players. It's also worth noting that he only has one good foot since he has a cast on the other. His energy was infectious and he definitely played a major role in the 4th quarter comeback.
The Clippers outscored the Grizzlies 33-7 in the 4th quarter and ended the game on a 22-0 run. They definitely played with a sense of urgency and they should continue to do so night in and night out if they want to make the playoffs. They can ill afford to lose games against opponents under .500. They now have a 2 game winning streak at the start of their 6 game home stand and it will only get tougher from there when they play the next 20 of 30 games on the road.
Regardless, it was an incredible and memorable victory and thanks to TheCalmInsanity we can relive it over and over again through this compilation:
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