Aided by a loss by the Minnesota Timberwolves late Friday, the Clippers remain among the top three in the Western Conference. But if they hope to stay, the Clippers need to break their habit of pulling games out in the final minutes.
The Clippers (38-18) concluded a brief two-game trip with another come-from-behind 101-95 victory Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. It followed a pattern in which the team used a late-game push to beat the Detroit Pistons and the Golden State Warriors.
Against the Grizzlies, the Clippers received big moments from Paul George and James Harden down the stretch and Terance Mann’s offensive display in the early going to clinch the victory and move within a half-game of conference leaders Minnesota (39-17) and Oklahoma City (39-17).
Mann scored a season-high 23 points, his first time surpassing 20 points this season and first double-digit performance in the past six games.
“It’s been a while,” Mann said in an on-court interview Friday.
The Clippers, meanwhile, are going to require more from players not named Kawhi Leonard. The six-time All-Star did the bulk of the work against the Grizzlies, scoring 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting with eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and one blocked shot.
Harden scored only once Friday on a 27-footer to put the Clippers ahead by four with 46 seconds left. He was 1 for 8 with eight assists.
George scored just six points through three quarters before finishing with 14 that included two 3-pointers in the final seven minutes that seemed to deflate the Grizzlies down the stretch.
And I thought our guys did a good job of executing that down that stretch,” Coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. “The one time with Luke (Kennard) and (Jaren Jackson Jr.) pick-and-roll, PG went for the steal, made him pick it up early, which they scored twice on early in the first half. And then two double teams, Kawhi got a steal. I think James got a steal.
“Just executing the game plan down the…
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