Advertisement

Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 105-96 victory over Orlando

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan wrestles for position against Magic center Bismack Biyombo on Wednesday night.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Share via

The Clippers extended their win streak to five behind starting guards J.J. Redick (22 points) and Chris Paul (18 points), but it was the bench that fueled a fourth-quarter surge, with reserve forward Marreese Speights scoring all 13 of his points in the final quarter. Here are five things we learned from their 105-96 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night:

1. DeAndre Jordan is, as Orlando Coach Frank Vogel described him after the game, “a beast.” The 6-foot-11, 265-pound center grabbed 20 rebounds, eight on the offensive end, and blocked three shots, sending Elfrid Payton’s attempt into the second row behind the basket in the third quarter. He also had two monster dunks off alley-oop passes.

Jordan has six 20-plus rebound games this season, most in the NBA, and 36 such games in his career, tying him with Kevin Garnett for ninth place for the most 20-plus rebound games since 1983-84. Jordan passed Shaquille O’Neal on that list Wednesday night.

Advertisement

“It’s humbling, for sure, an honor to be in the same category as those guys in something,” Jordan said. “I want to be able to be in the same category with them with the [championship] ring, but that’s cool. It’s a great accomplishment.”

2. The only way streaky guard Jamal Crawford will snap his mini-shooting slump is to keep shooting. Coach Doc Rivers hopes Crawford’s three free throws to start the fourth quarter Wednesday night was a step in the right direction. Crawford made three of six shots, one from three-point range, while scoring nine points.

“He’s been struggling of late,” Rivers said. “You know it’s not going to last with Jamal, but the ball going in for him was really good. The foul where he made the three free throws, that was big, because that’s how you get your shot going.

Advertisement

“Jamal is so talented that he’ll start being a passer. He’ll start setting people up just because he doesn’t feel it. And we need him to shoot. So we were calling plays for him.… You force-feed them because you have confidence in them.”

3. The Clippers are getting their mojo back. Yes, four of their five wins during this streak came against teams with losing records and mediocre offenses, but Paul said the team is “playing with the right spirit, playing with a lot of energy,” a stark contrast to their listless play in a 2016-ending six-game losing streak.

“We’re playing harder, we’re playing better,” Rivers said. “We got back … whatever that was, we have that back. You can see it in our step, offensively and defensively. You lose it at times during the year, and we did, but I like the way we’re playing now.”

Advertisement

4. Paul does not appear to be feeling any lingering effects from the left-hamstring injury that sidelined him for seven of eight games in late December and early January, an encouraging sign for the Clippers. Paul had 19 points and 18 assists in Sunday’s win over Miami and 18 points in 32 minutes Wednesday night.

“I feel great,” Paul said. “I’m getting treatment, strengthening it. I don’t think about it at all. That was part of me waiting to come back. I didn’t want to come back and be on restriction or be thinking about it when I was playing. I wanted to come back and help the team.”

5. The Clippers committed 21 turnovers, many of them unforced errors, that led to 24 points and allowed the Magic to stay in the game. Four of them were committed by Paul, who closed the first half by throwing a pass out of bounds on the Clippers’ final possession and was charged with an offensive foul.

“It sucks being human,” Paul said. “I can’t stand turnovers. I had a couple bad passes … Like I always say, that’s [four] opportunities we didn’t get a chance to score, and it could have hurt us down the stretch.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

@MikeDiGiovanna

Advertisement

Advertisement