Clippers Mauled by Grizzlies 140-114 in Vile Saturday Hangover Game

I don’t have much to say about this one, y’all. The Grizzlies were sharper than the Clippers from start to finish, and had complete control of this game throughout. Ja Morant got wherever he wanted to on offense, while Jae Crowder and Dillon Brooks couldn’t miss from deep, combining to go 12-20 from three. Even if the Clippers were playing well offensively it would have been difficult to withstand such an onslaught, but they were not, shooting just 23.3% from three and turning the ball over in numerous silly ways. The offense never looked comfortable, even when Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell were cooking in the pick and roll. Those two were really the only bright spots for the Clippers offensively, scoring 24 and 28 points respectively on strong efficiency. Kawhi Leonard was brutal, going 8-24 from the field and turning the ball over 5 times compared to 3 assists. The rest of the Paul George-less Clippers were not enough to make up the difference.

But really, the biggest issue was defensively - the Grizzlies picked apart the Clippers zone, while Jaren Jackson Jr. dominated the painted area. The Clippers almost never got consecutive stops, and even when they did force a miss, the Grizzlies frequently picked up offensive rebounds. It was just a disastrous performance, with the Clippers looking sleepy and disorganized from the jump. Saturday afternoon games, especially in Los Angeles, are notorious for such efforts, but it didn’t make the game any more pleasant to watch.

This type of effort is unacceptable, and hopefully the Clippers learn from it. The Grizzlies were also abnormally hot from deep, but the Clippers let Memphis impose their will on the game, and that can’t happen. This might well be the worst game of the season for the Clippers; it really could not have gotten much worse than this.