Early fans at the Intuit Dome got their money's worth. The new Los Angeles Clippers venue was treated to a thriller and a playoff match. Unfortunately for the noisy local supporters, their superb brand new setting was not an impregnable fortress, conquered not without difficulty by the Suns in overtime (116-113).
Phoenix didn't necessarily make it easy for himself. However, the visitors led by 14 points shortly before the break, magnificently limiting James Harden and blocking the Clippers below 40 points, a rarity in the NBA. The star of the California franchise believed that he was going to almost single-handedly turn the situation around, carrying his team at arm's length in the second period (24 points, including 16 in the third quarter alone). Two award-winning shotsAmir Coffey and a lot of defensive activity in the fourth quarter had put Los Angeles in an ideal position to make a successful home debut, even without Paul George and Russell Westbrook gone and with Kawhi Leonard in civilian clothes.
Durant snatches extension
But at 99-90 and less than four minutes to play, the scoring difficulties completely changed sides. A good passage of Devin Booker at the heart of an abnormally discreet evening (only nine shots attempted, and one exit for six fouls in money time) and the Suns returned to the game, before Kevin Durant snatches overtime with an incredible fadeaway 21 seconds from the buzzer.
Relaunched, Mike Budenholzer's players went for their victory with forceps, causing fouls in spades with a perfect 10/10 on free throws. James Harden, for his part, failed, exhausted, with two lost balls and especially the free throw for the equalizer missed five seconds from time. The Clippers will have to wait until at least next Wednesday against the Blazers to hope for a first party in their new home.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– This time, the Suns finished the job. Everything was not perfect for the first match of the season for this Phoenix version of Mike Budenholzer, who struggled for a long time to find Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and suffered near the circle. But the former Milwaukee coach succeeded where Frank Vogel struggled so much last year, at the end of the match with a five “small ball” O'Neale – Durant to come back in the last minutes, before winning with a Good Bradley Beal in overtime and the passage of KD in defense on Harden.
– False airs of 2019 for the Clippers. A squad with many good players but few stars, Los Angeles has already experienced this, in 2018/19, for surprisingly good results. Ty Lue may have been partly inspired by Doc Rivers with distributed playing time, pace (much more than last season) and intensity on both sides of the floor. With this time, a real star in addition in the person of James Harden.
– James Harden with two faces. The sole boss of the ship, the leader of the Clippers blew hot and cold on Wednesday. There was the aggressive Harden, perfectly exploiting his physical advantage over Tyus Jones in the second period, and scoring as he pleased. And then, there was the somewhat caricatured Harden of the first period, at 2/11 shooting and 4 lost balls, forcing his choices. And it was as a muzzled and exhausted leader that he ended the game in overtime, costing his team dearly in the loss.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
