Clippers take business-like approach into game vs. Utah Jazz – OCRegister
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LOS ANGELES — The Clippers had just convincingly taken down the team that not only came into play Monday with the NBA’s best record and had won 20 of its previous 21 games – but which also ended their playoff run last season in Western Conference finals.
Even so, no Clipper was pumping his fist or pounding his chest after their 111-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns. The response in the makeshift interview room beneath the Staples Center stands was muted, all business.
Coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged that the Clippers succeeded at attacking the paint and sharing the ball, but first he bemoaned their 17 turnovers and ongoing issues in transition.
After playing his best game yet this season, Marcus Morris Sr. poo-pooed the idea that the game packed a playoff-like punch.
“Regular season; it was regular season,” Morris said after posting season-highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds. “I mean, it is what it is, we got the win, but it definitely didn’t feel like that.”
Perhaps that was because neither team was able to engage with its full contingent, the diminished star-power sapping some of the sizzle from the game?
The Clippers (16-12) were without their two best players Paul George (elbow sprain) and Kawhi Leonard (ACL) and perhaps their most integral beside them in forward Nicolas Batum (ankle sprain). And the Suns (now 21-5) were down two of their top players, in Devin Booker (hamstring) and Deandre Ayton (non-COVID illness), as well as talented young forward Jalen Smith (non-COVID illness).
Maybe it also was a case of the Mondays? Or, specifically, of the Dec. 13s – and of it being game No. 28 … with 54 to go in the regular season?
Also, it might have had something to do with the notion that there was so obviously more pressing work to do?
Yes, the Clippers dispatched Phoenix for their fourth consecutive victory, but they have another matchup with another playoff foe of a season ago looming Wednesday. And the Utah Jazz – who have won seven consecutive games and have been off since their 123-98 victory over Washington on Saturday – demand attention.
“Utah’s a great team, a veteran team,” Morris said. “Been around each other for a long time, so it’s gonna be another dogfight. Should be fun.”
It certainly could be, especially if George and Batum (who turned 33 on Tuesday) can play; they both were listed as questionable on Tuesday evening’s injury report, which also indicates that veteran center Serge Ibaka is out for personal reasons, staying away out of an abundance of caution, according to a league source, after he came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 outside of the Clippers’ organization before Monday’s game against Phoenix. Ibaka was able to join his teammates on the bench for that game, presumably having tested negative, although he didn’t play.
In the past three games, Ibaka has been out of the rotation. Lue, who experimented with lineups mixing his three bigs, elected to play only starting center Ivica Zubac and, off the bench, Isaiah Hartenstein.
So the Clippers were short-handed against the Suns, too, and they leaned on Morris to fill the void, as he continued an impressive stretch of production.
In the past six games, the tough-playing veteran forward is averaging 17.5 points and shooting 50% from the field and 48.6% from 3-point range – even better than the career-best 47.3% clip he finished last season with.
Morris, 32, also is averaging 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in this stretch, when the Clippers are 5-1.
📊 24 PTS / 10-16 FG / 11 REB
A season-high 22 points for @MookMorris2. pic.twitter.com/5Xqzq6ke13
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 14, 2021
📊 24 PTS / 10-16 FG / 11 REB
A season-high 22 points for @MookMorris2. pic.twitter.com/5Xqzq6ke13
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 14, 2021
It’s the type of high-level play the Clippers hoped they’d see from Morris after he returned from a 15-game absence early this season, time spent strengthening an ailing right knee.
“When Marcus is moving well, it just opens up the game for everybody else and allows everybody to play their game even more,” said guard Reggie Jackson, who is averaging 33 minutes per game, a career-high that’s also a team-high this season.
“He spaces it, you can drop him in the post. When things get a little hectic in the half-court offense, you can trust what he can do on that end. And honestly, more so, he really holds us down defensively when that knee is feeling good.
“So I am happy to see him getting healthy, happy to see him doing well, happy to see him getting back to the Marcus that I know.”
Morris was more succinct about how he’s feeling: “I’m good,” he said, noting also that, for him, “it’s just about how the game is going, the looks I’m getting, and just staying consistent never really getting too high or too low.”
Even, it turns out, after contributing mightily to a dominant victory over a streaking former employer like the Suns.
CLIPPERS (16-12) at JAZZ (19-7)
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: Bally Sports SoCal, ESPN
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