It had been eight years since the Clippers had finished a game with so many assists: 41 (out of 48 baskets)! The Clippers signed a great collective performance against the Bulls back-to-back, and the novelty of the evening was the tenure of Nicholas Batum in position 4, in place of Marcus Morris, who has been in difficulty for several weeks. It was not just for the evening since Tyronn Lue announced that he was going to end the season like this, and that Robert Covington would be his understudy.
The French did more than justify this confidence with his best game of the season: 24 points at 8 of 10 from 3-pointers, to go with his 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. All of his award-winning shots are set in stone. Catch-and-shoot, from anywhere around the circle, against clearly tired defenders. But what he remembers are the 41 assists and the 7 players with 10 points and more.
The search for the extra pass
“That’s how we have to play, especially without Paul (George). We have to find a way to involve everyone so that it gives good basketball. reacts the Frenchman. “We have to get into good habits because the playoffs are in six games”.
For Batum, it all starts with the playmakers, and their aggressiveness. Russell Westbrook, Terance Mann and Bones Hyland have been driving-and-kick all night, and the rotations can then follow. ” It’s huge for us because it’s the type of basketball that Kawhi (Leonard) appreciates with rhythm, the search for the next player… For me, it’s great and it starts with defense, and it benefits Eric (Gordon) and me. There’s nothing crazy about it, and I found myself wide open on every shot I took. »
The captain of the French team insists, everything starts from the defense. “We are working a lot on collective defense because that will be key in the next two weeks, especially since we are traveling with important away matches. It was really important that we find our defense. »
| Nicholas Batum | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2008-09 | ORP | 79 | 18 | 44.6 | 36.9 | 80.8 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 5.4 |
| 2009-10 | ORP | 37 | 25 | 51.9 | 40.9 | 84.3 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 10.1 |
| 2010-11 | ORP | 80 | 32 | 45.5 | 34.5 | 84.1 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 12.4 |
| 2011-12 | ORP | 59 | 30 | 45.1 | 39.1 | 83.6 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 13.9 |
| 2012-13 | ORP | 73 | 38 | 42.3 | 37.2 | 84.8 | 1.3 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 4.9 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 14.3 |
| 2013-14 | ORP | 82 | 36 | 46.5 | 36.1 | 80.3 | 1.4 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 5.1 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 13.1 |
| 2014-15 | ORP | 71 | 34 | 40.0 | 32.4 | 85.7 | 0.9 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 9.4 |
| 2015-16 | CHA | 70 | 35 | 42.6 | 34.8 | 84.9 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 14.9 |
| 2016-17 | CHA | 77 | 34 | 40.3 | 33.3 | 85.6 | 0.6 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 15.1 |
| 2017-18 | CHA | 64 | 31 | 41.5 | 33.6 | 83.1 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 11.6 |
| 2018-19 | CHA | 75 | 31 | 45.0 | 38.9 | 86.5 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 9.3 |
| 2019-20 | CHA | 22 | 23 | 34.6 | 28.6 | 90.0 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 3.6 |
| 2020-21 | LAKE | 67 | 27 | 46.4 | 40.4 | 82.8 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 8.1 |
| 2021-22 | LAKE | 59 | 25 | 46.3 | 40.0 | 65.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 8.3 |
| 2022-23 | LAKE | 71 | 22 | 42.2 | 39.1 | 68.9 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 6.1 |
| Total | 986 | 30 | 43.7 | 36.5 | 83.3 | 1.0 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 10.7 | |
