Although they did not start the year in the best possible way, the Los Angeles Clippers seem to be little by little tuning up. The Californians achieved their fifth consecutive victory this morning by beating the Blazers by 117-109, consolidating in the upper-middle zone of the West despite initial doubts. Lue’s side had won just one of their first five games, raising some uncertainty about their ability to get through this season without Kawhi Leonard, but they certainly seem determined to address those doubts.
Paul George, with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists was one of those responsible for this triumph, as he has also been of the last ones. On this occasion, the forward saw his minutes in the second half limited due to his foul problems (he committed the fourth halfway through the third quarter and was substituted), but once he returned to action he was essential with several baskets and decisive actions in the last period, in which theirs certified the triumph.
Reggie Jackson, with 23 points and 6 assists, was his best squire, closely followed by Nicolas Batum and his 22 points, his best mark of the season. The Frenchman constantly punished the Blazers defense from the triple, from where he scored 6 of his 8 attempts, including one with 52 seconds to go that put the 114-102 on the scoreboard and finished sentencing the crash. In addition, Isaiah Hartenstein was quite effective starting from the bench and managed to add 14 points in 17 minutes, missing a single field goal.
For Portland, this loss is a brake on the last two wins, which seemed to help them take off after a somewhat hesitant start. The Oregonians are having trouble winning away from home, having lost their five games played away from the Moda Center, which so far is preventing them from having greater regularity.
On this occasion, Damian Lillard tried to lead the team with 27 points and 6 assists, but it was not enough to break the Billups’ away drought. Norman Powell, with 23 points and 5/6 in triples, and Jusuf Nurkic, who scored 15 and grabbed 13 rebounds, tried to help the point guard, while CJ McCollum was somewhat more off and could not pass 13 points.
In this way, the Los Angeles team has a 2-1 advantage in direct duels against the Blazers. Despite the fact that only a few weeks of competition have passed, the two teams have already met three times, and will do so again in early December to finish all their direct crosses in this regular season.
(Cover photo: Ronald Martínez / Getty Images)
