The Clippers came close to corrections on Saturday in New York, after leading by 17 points during this NBA meeting. Fortunately for the Los Angeles team, Nicolas Batum, aka “Batman”, was there. Coming off the bench, the 34-year-old French winger first scored the award-winning basket at the buzzer which offered extra time to his team, trailing by three points. Then he played a decisive role in overtime, until the Clippers’ victory over the Knicks (134-128).
“I thought PG [Paul George] was going to shoot, so I was surprised to inherit the ball, commented Batum, about that saving three points. I didn’t have time to think about the action, I sent it and it became a lucky shot. »
“If it was fun? Yes, but hard too because we still made life difficult, ”added the author of 10 points, embellished with 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and an interception. “We have to learn from that, even if tonight we found a way to win this match. We must strive not to let the opponent come back to the score. We just have to be more serious, more focused,” he said.
Evan Fournier remained on the Knicks bench
In the overtime, Batum was very solid in defense, like this against the excellent Jalen Brunson (37 points) by slamming the ball on the board. A gesture of which he has made a specialty, recalling that inflicted in extremis on the Slovenian Klemen Prepelic who qualified the Blues in the Olympic final in Tokyo in 2021.
He continued to be a deterrent during those five extra minutes, also causing Julius Randle, another Knicks offensive weapon, to miss attempts near the circle, while Kawhi Leonard provided the essentials on the other side of the field (35 points). All under the helpless eyes of his compatriot Evan Fournier, who remained on the New York bench throughout the game…
The Clippers, with this victory, take the opportunity to climb to 4th position of the western conference.
Another Frenchie in the running, Killian Hayes played 18 minutes (4 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound) during Detroit’s home loss against Phoenix (116-100). Ousmane Dieng (9 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds) was a little more festive during Oklahoma City’s landslide victory against Houston (153-121).
