Clippers knock off Short-Handed Sixers despite Shake Milton's career day
One of the great things about a team comprised mostly of two-way players is that it can win by any means necessary. Defense has been the name of the game lately for the L.A. Clippers, but this afternoon, it was clear that L.A. would need to focus on outscoring its opponent.
Fortunately, the Clippers answered the call and took down the Philadelphia 76ers, 136-130. Philly was without All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, but that didn't keep them from making things interesting.
Philadelphia's Shake Milton was the story this afternoon. The 23-year-old guard went off for a career-high 39 points, crushing his previous record of 27 just a few minutes into the third quarter. His efficiency from three-point range was what kept the Sixers in the game for so long — Milton shot 7-of-9 from range, accounting for a third of Philly's total makes from beyond the arc.
Offensively, the Clippers had one of its best games of the season so far. Four players — Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams — scored 20+ points. Leonard led the way with 30, while George, Harrell and Williams each went for 24. For those of you keeping track at home, that's 102 of L.A.'s 136 total points.
Things weren't going the Clippers' way early. Philadelphia jumped out to a 25-11 lead a few minutes into the first quarter, and L.A. looked stunned. After stifling the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets in the last three games, the Clippers simply did not look prepared defensively.
L.A. stepped up a bit on that end in the second, but Philly still managed to score 33 in the quarter to bring their first-half total to 72 points. It wasn't until the third quarter that the Clippers began to look like the team we've seen lately.
The Clippers outscored the Sixers 38-24 in the third, getting 19 points from Leonard and George.
"They're giving each other room to be good," Doc Rivers said after the game. "They're not in each other's way right now. You can see that."
The Sixers were able to trim into the Clippers' lead in the fourth quarter, making it a four-point game with 3:46 to play. But Leonard and Williams carried the team from there, scoring L.A.'s next six points to put Philadelphia away for good.
With the win, the Clippers moved to 41-19 on the season and into second place in the Western Conference. The Clippers also improved to 8-0 in games with a fully healthy roster this season, which says a lot about how good this team can be at full strength.
L.A. will get Monday off before traveling to Oklahoma City for a meeting with the Thunder. The Clippers are 1-1 against OKC this se
