No Batman in Gotham City, and it’s Patrick Patterson who takes the Frenchman’s place in the starting five, in a completely different role. It is clear that the Clippers are not at all in the game, and no doubt that the unusual schedule has something to do with it.
Opposite, the Knicks play liberally, defend hard, and after starting with a 4-0, they sign an 8 of 10 on shots to lead 18-15. Julius Randle is still option number 1, and Elfrid Payton is steering the maneuver well behind one or two screens in the middle. It’s clean, and opposite, it is curiously Patterson who is doing the best with already 7 points, while Kawhi Leonard has already missed three shots.
Quickley, the king of the “floater”
It is then around RJ Barrett to show himself as on this ball stolen in the middle of the field to go dunker. At his side, Randle is already blackening the sheet, and after twelve good minutes, we say that the Clippers avoided the worst with only two points behind (31-29).
Then place the duel of the “twins”, with Lou Williams on one side, and Immanuel Quickley on the other. They each bring madness, and the Knicks rookie appreciates his quality of “floater” (35-33). And what is Lou Williams doing? He answers her with a… “floater”! The substitutes for the Knicks are in the tough, and there is less alternation in attack. As soon as Randle comes out, it’s clearly not the same team anymore. But Quickley and his “floaters” make it possible to regain the advantage (50-46).
What we note on the Clippers side is that it hardens in defense, and that in attack, the ball circulates less. Result: we begin to see isolation, and Leonard cuts the defense on his first step. He receives the support of the amazing Patterson who plants two 3-points in a row to give the hand to the Clippers. The former interior of the Raptors and Thunder is the top scorer in LA with 13 points! After a dunk from Mitchell Robinson, well found by Randle, the Knicks return to the locker room with a small point behind (66-65). One stat impresses: four stray balls accumulated only for the two teams, including a small one for the Knicks!
The road roller starts up
Back from the locker room, the Clippers have seriously hardened their defense, and they sign a 7-0 to force Tom Thibodeau to take a time-out (73-65). Randle, yet very close, hurts the Clippers a lot, from afar as well as under the basket. It’s still great Randle, who is already at 20 points. But opposite, the steamroller is launched. Physically, it’s impressive, and Kawhi Leonard starts to take the game on his own. He receives the support of a 3-point boiling Reggie Jackson, who then goes to the drive to give an eight-point lead (90-82).
The Knicks are not giving up, and yet it is very strong in the face. They could be -15 or -20, without the left legs of the Randle-Barrett tandem, but at the end of the 3rd quarter, there is “only” 10 points (101-91). We tell ourselves that the Clippers are going to drive the point home, but it’s the devil of Quickley who puts the Knicks back in the game. The kid is cheeky, and he’s complete. He still sneaks into the racket, but he also crashes at 3-pointers to bring New York down to -2 (105-103). Who answers him? Lou Williams of course, but this time with a superb pass for Zubac who dunkes, then for the 3-point from Marcus Morris. And this is how the Clippers find air (112-103). Ty Lue adds an area that bothers the Knicks, and Leonard sanctions on the other side to give 11 points (114-103).
Serge Ibaka finishes the job
New York relies again and again on Randle, but there is now waste with a missed shoot near the circle, or that stray bullet. But the interior has the merit of insisting and it provokes a “challenge” from the Clippers after a fault by Paul George, and not by Serge Ibaka. After a very long break, Randle puts his throws. Behind, Barrett steals a ball to return to -5 or -4, but the Canadian forgets his teammates and misses his lay up. Leonard took the opportunity to reduce the gap to + 9 (116-107).
And he drives home the point with a pass in the back for Serge Ibaka who sanctions at 3-points. The interior will then score with the fault on an offensive rebound (122-109). In three possessions, the Clippers killed the game, and the efforts of RJ Barrett, a bit personal at the end, were not enough, the Knicks losing 129-115. A slightly heavy gap in view of the balanced match for more than 40 minutes.
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