Los Angeles Clippers Defeat the Tired Orlando Magic, 122-95

The Los Angeles Clippers used the fatigue of the Orlando Magic to defeat the rivals from Florida without any particular problems. The hosts recorded a 122-95 win, their 29th of the season.

“I feel like everybody got a great activity tonight. We all played like a team tonight, starting with the defensive end, everybody making the right plays,” JaMychal Green stated during the on-court interview.

The Clippers forward posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards and had a huge contribution on both sides of the field.

Kawhi Leonard was once again excellent with the Claw dropping 32 points shooting 12-for-20 and hitting 4 threes in 30 minutes of the game. The reigning NBA Finals MVP also added 5 boards and assists, playing pretty much his usual game.

He would need to turn up the volume without injured Paul George, and for now, it seems that the Clips are doing just fine without PG.

The team from LA continues its race with the Nuggets and the Jazz for the second seed, and tonight’s’ result in which Utah lost against the Pelicans suited them very well.

Midway through the first period, the Clippers began pounding the tired Magic, who had a clash with the Lakers on the previous night. Doc Rivers’ boys created an 8-point gap, which was increased in the second quarter.

A furious 16-0 run provided a 50-29 advantage to the home team, and since then, the Clippers were pretty much at the same distance, not allowing the guests to do anything noticeable on the floor of the Staples Center. LA scored 13 field goals in this period, while Magic had just seven.

“We got stops on the defensive end,” Green stated.

Orlando made some kind of a balance in the third period, but all that went away in the final frame, once LAC shifted into a higher gear to allow just 19 and score 31 points.

Besides Kawhi, Montrezl Harrell came in off the bench to score 21 buckets, Lou Williams had 11, while Landry Shamet 13. Pat Beverly and Patrick Patterson had 10 each.

“He means the world to our team,” Rivers said about Harrell and his role off the bench.

Among the guests, Nikola Vucevic had a team-high 22 points with 9 rebounds, Aaron Gordon added 20, but without a single board, which is more than odd. The two were shooting 16-of-24 combined, but without a positive result for the guests.

Evan Fournier added 15 buckets, while Markelle Fultz couldn’t repeat the performance from the previous night and he scored just 11 points. Terrence Ross had 16 off the bench.

“We won’t beat anybody playing at that intensity level,” Steve Clifford explained following the event.

Cookies with the jam.

Vote @kawhileonard 🗳 https://t.co/N7q0Chryms pic.twitter.com/Gg9A9hjl9E

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 17, 2020

The Clippers (29-13) are traveling to New Orleans immediately, as they have a clash with the Pelicans on Saturday. This game starts a five-game journey throughout the country, during which LAC faces, the Mavs, Hawks, Heat, Magic, and, in the end, comes back home to play with the Lakers.

“Just containing to be consistent,” Green explained the key for good results on the upcoming road trip. “We got to start on the defense, and just play together offense and we are going to win.”

As for the Magic (20-22), they have one more game to play on the West coast against the Warriors, who defeated the Nuggets tonight. Following that game, Vucevic and they guys stop in Charlotte and finally go back to Florida after that. With two wins and losses at the moment, the franchise from Orlando pretty much did their part of the job on this trip.