Los Angeles Clippers Dominate Indiana Pacers in 130-107 Blowout Win to Extend Win Streak
It wasn’t a particularly close game in Inglewood on Wednesday night, as the Los Angeles Clippers made short work of the Indiana Pacers behind another throwback performance from Kawhi Leonard to push the Clippers to their third straight win.
Clippers Offense Unstoppable in the Win
Much of the reason for the Clippers’ domination was due to their impeccable shooting from the field in the win, as they could do no wrong on offense tonight. Los Angeles would shoot a scorching 55% overall from the field and 38% from three-point range in the win. Almost all of the offensive scoring came from underneath the basket for the Clippers, as they scored 66 points in the paint, outscoring Indiana by 18 points from close range.
The two biggest stars on offense for the Clippers were from both Kawhi Leonard and Bennedict Mathurin, who shouldered much of the scoring load for Los Angeles tonight. Leonard would score a team-high 29 points and grab 8 rebounds, while Mathurin would have a field day against his former team as he scored 23 points on an efficient 8 for 11 shooting from the floor.
It would also be another solid outing for the recently acquired All-Star guard Darius Garland, who put together a nice stat line in just his second game with the Clippers. The former Cavalier would score 12 points and dish out 8 assists in just 24 minutes off the bench in the win. Los Angeles received plenty of scoring production from a variety of players tonight, as 6 players scored in double digits in a great display of team play on that end of the floor.
Pascal Siakam Stars in the Loss for Indiana
In what’s been an almost nightly occurrence this season for the Pacers, it was a struggle on offense when it came to any player other than All-Star Pascal Siakam. Indiana would shoot just 42% for the game from the field and 28% from beyond the arc in the loss. Siakam would be the leading scorer for the Pacers tonight, as he dropped 29 points in a valiant effort. Indiana would go down by as much as 17 by the end of the first quarter in a rather uninspired effort right from the jump in tonight’s loss.
The game was essentially over by the mid-way point of the third quarter, as Los Angeles would pile it on the Pacers to extend their lead to 37 points. When looking at the box score, the only two areas of the game in which the Pacers outplayed the Clippers were personal fouls and free-throw percentage. The Pacers would commit two fewer fouls in the game and shoot 0.6% higher from the line, while Los Angeles dominated every other statistic for the game.
Clippers on the Verge of Finally Getting Back to .500 This Season
It’s been a long climb out of the depths of the Western Conference standings, as the Clippers need just one more win to achieve a .500 record for the first time this season. While getting back to .500 is certainly an achievement given how the first quarter of the season went for Los Angeles, the Clippers have their sights set on something greater than a winning record.
Following the win, the Clippers now sit just one game back of the Golden State Warriors for the 8th-place spot, and only 5 games back of the Phoenix Suns for the 7th-place position. While it’s a stretch to say that the Clippers could avoid the play-in tournament heading into the final stretch of the regular season, a higher spot in the play-in could be the best thing for the Clippers.
The reason that would be the most beneficial is the fact that the Clippers would not only get a home game for both of their play-in games, but they would also only need to win one game to secure a spot in the playoffs in the West.
