Two-thirds of the season, the “battle of Los Angeles” is currently turning to the advantage of the Clippers, 8th in the Western Conference with a balanced record (27-27), while the Lakers are out of the Top 8 and in the negative (25-28). A scenario that few people would have predicted last fall.
And yet.
Even orphaned by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Tyronn Lue’s men remain collectively superior to these “Purple & Gold” which continue to disappoint in 2021/22. They have just won this night, and for the second time this season, this famous derby angelenothanks to a “game winner” from Reggie Jackson in the final seconds.
Precisely, author of 25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in the success of the Clippers against their Californian neighbor, after a mano-a-manothe 31-year-old leader is perhaps the one who best embodies the state of mind of his group.
Reggie Jackson, the silent assassin
A group where no one doubts, where everyone fights and which advances above all far from the spotlight.
” We have confidence in ourselves, in our way of playing and in our approach to the game“, delivered the hero of the meeting, who took malicious pleasure in torturing poor Austin Reaves all evening, on the advice of his coach. ” We were never really shaken. […] This group is confident and shows resilience. […] Even in the middle of a storm, no one lost their footing.“
Accustomed to improbable turnarounds this season, Tyronn Lue’s players almost found themselves on the wrong side last night. In front of 17 points in the third quarter (84-67), they thus saw the Lakers gradually nibble their delay and squarely take control in the “money-time”!
Except that the “killer” Reggie Jackson was watching the grain and, taking advantage of the defensive approximations of the pair Russell Westbrook – Austin Reaves, he was able to deliver his own 4.1 seconds from the end.
” The pleasure I get from this team is that our players never stop fighting, every night “, rejoiced after the fact his trainer.
Results, but no recognition
Too rarely highlighted so far, the Clippers disappoint, however, very little. Certainly limited by the injuries of their two superstarthe Angelenos are not the type to make excuses and, every night, they are ready to leave their life on the floor. Exactly like in the last playoffs when they eliminated the Jazz without Kawhi Leonard, hit in the knee.
A real group of tough guys and blue-collar workers, of which Marcus Morris is proud to be a part. Although he would like to have more recognition from the media. Especially when he sees all the attention given to the disappointing Lakers or Sixers, beaten in less than a month by his team…
” These two teams are really average from what I’ve seen, I don’t consider them great teams“, declaredhe at a press conference. ” This is the NBA, we are all NBA players [et tout peut se passer] nightly.“
For his part, if he hardly seems to care about media attention, Reggie Jackson is more than ever driven by a will: ” We just want fans to get their money’s worth “, concluded the one who pursues his resurrection in the City of Angels.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Paul George | 26 | 35.5 | 42.1 | 32.3 | 88.0 | 0.4 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 24.7 |
| Reggie Jackson | 49 | 30.7 | 39.4 | 32.7 | 85.1 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 16.5 |
| Marcus Morris | 28 | 30.0 | 41.5 | 35.6 | 86.4 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 15.3 |
| Luke Kennard | 43 | 28.5 | 43.7 | 43.3 | 90.0 | 0.2 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 12.1 |
| Terance Mann | 52 | 28.9 | 47.5 | 36.4 | 75.8 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 10.1 |
| James Ennis | 2 | 14.0 | 63.6 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Eric Bledsoe | 53 | 25.3 | 42.2 | 31.7 | 75.9 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 9.9 |
| Ivica Zubac | 48 | 24.3 | 65.2 | 0.0 | 73.5 | 2.6 | 5.4 | 8.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 9.6 |
| Nicholas Batum | 32 | 25.2 | 49.5 | 41.9 | 66.7 | 0.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 9.2 |
| Amir Coffey | 40 | 21.9 | 46.4 | 38.9 | 88.7 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 8.5 |
| Isaiah Hartenstein | 39 | 16.0 | 63.4 | 50.0 | 66.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 7.5 |
| Bj Boston, Jr. | 36 | 16.1 | 36.5 | 30.6 | 85.5 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 7.0 |
| Serge Ibaka | 33 | 14.7 | 47.7 | 39.0 | 69.2 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 6.2 |
| Xavier Moon | 6 | 13.9 | 41.2 | 30.0 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 5.5 |
| Justise Winslow | 37 | 13.0 | 44.7 | 17.2 | 61.0 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 4.2 |
| Keon Johnson | 15 | 9.0 | 33.3 | 27.3 | 76.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 3.5 |
| Jayden Scrubb | 18 | 6.7 | 39.1 | 28.6 | 70.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.7 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | 6 | 7.7 | 38.5 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.3 |
| Moses Wright | 1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
