Scoring 175 points was entertaining certainly, great theater and even “crazy” as Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
But to lose Friday night’s high-scoring game exposed a flawed defense that cost the Clippers a chance to gain ground in the Western Conference standings. And with just 20 regular-season games left to integrate four new players, that’s a heavy expense.
The Clippers squandered numerous chances to close out the double-overtime game, first in regulation and again in both overtime periods and lost 176-175 to the Sacramento Kings because they couldn’t come up with timely stops.
The Kings, who are playing some of their best basketball in a decade, used a 22-8 run to close out regulation, overcoming a 14-point deficit in the final 4:25. Confusion on defense by the Clippers allowed Malik Monk to score a 3-pointer off an assist from De’Aaron Fox on the final play of the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.
“I think it was just a little miscommunication,” Paul George said. “He (Monk) got a great look for a great 3-point shooter and a guy that was hot all night, and you can’t give that up.”
Monk scored a career-high 45 points, while Fox added 42 points and 12 assists.
In the first overtime, the Clippers held a 162-156 lead with three minutes left, but the Kings didn’t stop finding open spots and went on an 8-2 run to force another overtime period.
The Clippers again led by six points in the second overtime as Russell Westbrook found his new teammates with timely passes and Norman Powell’s free throws gave them a 175-169 lead with 1:57 left to play.
In those two minutes, though, the Clippers turned the ball over two more times, commit two more fouls and allowed the Kings to score the final seven points to clinch the second-highest scoring game in NBA history.
In total, the Clippers allowed 42 points off 25 turnovers, gave up 88 points in the paint and stood around as the Kings scored 41 fast-break points.
“They just kept…
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