7th Heaven: Defense helps Clippers stifle Kings in NBA Cup win
L.A. is 7-4 at Intuit Dome and 10-7 overall.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Tyronn Lue called Wednesday’s win over Orlando a “nasty” affair. No such thoughts on Friday night after the LA Clippers defeated the Sacramento Kings 104-88 to notch their first NBA Cup win of the year and seventh straight home win after they started things off by dropping their first four home games at Intuit Dome.
“I thought our offense was actually pretty good tonight. We got some really good shots that we didn’t make,” Lue told reporters after the win. “When we getting 40 or 42 3s, that means we playing basketball the right way. We didn’t make shots tonight, but our defense held us up and that’s who we got to be every night. We got to be the hardest playing team.”
The Clippers held the Kings to 38.6% shooting on the night and forced Sacramento into 15 turnovers which the Clippers converted to 14 points. The Kings connected on just 7 of their 35 long-range attempts.
While the Clippers did struggle themselves offensively, shooting 41.5% overall and 10-42 on 3s, they turned the ball over fewer than the Kings did, just 12 times on the night. Along with the offensive rebound advantage, it allowed the Clippers to get up 11 more field goal attempts than Sacramento. That proved to be a big difference.
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