Phoenix Suns – Los Angeles Clippers 96:104

Die Los Angeles Clippers (42-20) can join the Phoenix Suns (35-25) take revenge for the bitter home bankruptcy in December and win with 104:96 (BOXSCORE). After a weak first half it was above all Matt Barneswhich put the Clippers back in the game and eventually to their fifth straight win.

The 33-year-old hit 12 of his 17 shots from the field (4/7 3FG) and scored a new season best with 28 points. Especially at the beginning of the second half, he made sure with 16 points that the Clippers came back after a weak first half.

Watch Phoenix’ fight for the playoffs live – with the NBA League Pass!

Barnes received support from Blake Griffin (22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists), DeAndre Jordan (10 points and 17 rebounds) and Darren Collison (18 points, 5 assists). Chris Paul got on the other hand a bad evening and only got 12 points (4/14 FG) and 5 turnovers, but still gave 9 assists. Danny Granger made a very unremarkable debut and only managed 4 minutes of action.

The Suns, on the other hand, collapsed completely in the third quarter after a strong first half (37:18 for Los Angeles) and could not really recover from it. The best performances still showed P.J. Tucker (18 points and 10 rebounds) and especially the bench players.

They were able to win the duel against the Clippers with 37:12 and were defeated by Marcus Morris with 12 points (5/9 FG). The good Leandro Barbosa had to leave the game at half-time suspected of a broken hand.

The reactions:

Matt Barnes (L.A. Clippers): “Blake and Chris aren’t going to be able to pull it together every night. We’re a very deep team and we’ve shown that lately.”

Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns): “In the third quarter they played a bit more physical, especially on defense. We didn’t get any open shots. They just played hard defense, so that’s what we should have done.”

Follow NBA.de on Twitter and get all the news – Dirk Nowitzki is there too!

The SPOX feature film:

Before tip off:

Without J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford The Clippers line up with Chris Paul, Darren Collison, Matt Barnes, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Suns coach Jeff Hornacek has to be on the other side Miles Plumlee waive. stands for that Alex Lenaccompanied by Goran Dragic, Gerald GreenPJ Tucker and Channing Fryefor the first time in his career in the starting lineup.

5.: The Suns have now put their 8th throw in a row to the ring. Things are not going well for one of the best attacking teams in the league – 10:5 Clippers.

9.: Things are still not going much better for Phoenix. Not only do they miss their throws, now they also give up the Spalding lightly – 5 turnovers and 20:14 for Los Angeles.

12.: Now the Suns are rolling. With an 11:2 run, Phoenix, led by Marus Morris (6 points, 2/3 FG), fights back into the game and even takes the lead – 25:24 Suns.

18.: Both teams have meanwhile leveled off at around 40 percent. So far, however, the game has not offered any real highlights. At least it’s balanced and exciting – 34:31 Phoenix.

21.: Gerald Green finally hits his first three of the game. After the Suns scored 15 more goals from downtown against Atlanta, the team is at 2/7 today. But Lob City hasn’t gotten a chance either – 37:42 Suns.

24.: At the end of the first half, Phoenix starts another run and extends the lead to 11 points. Shortly before the end, Chris Paul discards a relatively open threesome. Significant for his performance today: Only 7 points at 3/9 from the field and 4 turnovers – 55:44 Suns.

29.: Matt Barnes is on fire! The 33-year-old already has 16 points – in the second half alone! He now has a total of 26 points (season high) and single-handedly brings the Clippers back up – only 66:64 Suns!

34.: We now see more fouls on both sides, the game is getting rougher and more physical. That’s an advantage for the Clippers, who already scored 29 points and conceded only 14 in the third quarter – 72:69 Clippers.

39.: The Clippers hit 75 percent in the second half from the field! Willie Green does not want to be the exception and sinks the wide open threesome. The Clippers are slowly pulling away from the Suns – 88:75.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.