Whit Krejci plays the game of his life to beat the Clippers

After theirs sudden victory against the LakersHawks, still without Trae Youngwent to Los Angeles to challenge a weakened Clippers team, without Kawhi Leonard in Bradley Beal. However, the home team was the first to take control of this match with 12-2 after five minutes of play. In this first quarter, Tyronn Lue’s men were valuable in attack with 52% shooting success, which allowed them to still lead after twelve minutes (29-19).

The Clippers start the second act on a 7-0 run early Keaton Wallace does not come to calm the fire on 3 points (36-22). Whit Krejci (28 points, 9/13 shooting and 8/10 from distance) starts. He connects two long-range arrows to put the Hawks back within six points and force Tyronn Lue to take a timeout. After this, the Clippers were unable to stop Atlanta’s attack and saw the visitors take their first advantage of the game after another long-range shot by Vito Krejci (42-41).

By the end of this first half, the two teams will remain deadlocked and return to the locker room with a parity score (52-52).

If the Clippers let the Hawks lead to start the second half, they responded with a 10-0 run to regain control (66-62), but Dyson Daniels quickly favors Atlanta. For his part, Wit Krejci hit another 3-point shot and then was fouled on one of his attempts from beyond the arc. He made two of his three free throws at the line to give the Hawks a three-point lead (77-74).

Wit Krejci is closing up shop

At the start of the final act, Atlanta accelerates and leads by ten points (89-79), but Quin Snyder’s players increase turnovers and see the Clippers get back to within three points. To give some fresh air to your loved ones, Zachary Risacher (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) made his second long shot of the night, but James Harden (35 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) responds with two consecutive three-point shots (89-89). However, the Los Angeles franchise can’t regain the lead due to the inevitable Vito Krejci, still unstoppable from 3 points.

Czech made the eighth winning shot of the night in the last minute, but already in the next possession he allowed James Harden to make a 3+1 and bring the Clippers to three points with only twenty seconds left. Immediately after, Derrick Jones Jr. steals the ball out of Zachary Rizacher’s hands, but James Harden rushes in with a layup with more than ten seconds left and misses his target. The Clippers are then forced to send Zachary Rizacher to the line, but the Frenchman misses his two attempts. However, James Harden’s long pass on Nicholas Batum (2 points, 4 rebounds) does not win the Olympic runner-up.

Consequently, the Clippers lost 102-105 and conceded their fifth straight loss before hosting the Nuggets on Wednesday.

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– The Clippers are sinking again. While they started the game well and were ahead by 17 points, the Clippers sank in the second half. As is often the case with Tyronn Lue’s men early in the season, the third quarter didn’t go their way and they let the Hawks run the proceedings. Then in the fourth quarter they let Atlanta take a ten-point lead. If thanks to James Harden they were able to get back into the game, it wasn’t enough to get back in front and win.

– Triple-double in the gap for James Harden. More precisely, when it comes to James Harden, the leader gave everything, without success. He finished the game with 35 points, including 19 in the final act, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his seventh triple-double with the Clippers. In doing so, he tied the franchise record set by, before him, only Lamar Odom, Blake Griffin etc Bob Kauffman have achieved so many triple-doubles for the Clippers.

– Wit Krejci has the match of his life. If James Harden failed to bring victory to Los Angeles, it is because Whit Krejci caught fire in contrast. Already at halftime he had 17 points on 5/7 from beyond the arc. If he was more discreet at the start of the second half, he sealed the fate of this match. With 36 seconds left in the game, he hit his eighth long shot of the night to give Atlanta a seven-point lead. Fortunately for his team, a foul on James Harden immediately afterward prevented the Clippers from making a comeback. Thus, the Czech finished the game with 28 points on 9/13 shooting and 8/10 from distance in 30 minutes of play.

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How to read statistics? Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive jump; T = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Difference of points when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Rating: player rating calculated based on positive actions – negative actions.