LOS ANGELES — Maybe it was a trade hangover. Or the fact that the Clippers were short-handed after trading away four players, leaving Coach Tyronn Lue with nine available players.
Or maybe they missed the defensive pressure that Nicolas Batum and Robert Covington provided on a nightly basis. Both Batum and Covington, along with Marcus Morris Sr. and K.J. Martin, were sent to the Philadelphia 76ers in a yet-to-become-official trade that brings former league MVP James Harden and veteran forward P.J. Tucker to Los Angeles.
“We got to be locked in for 48 minutes and it all starts the first five minutes of the game,” Lue said before their game against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. “Just having that defensive mindset.”
Just the opposite happened.
Whatever the distraction, the Clippers struggled early to play with the kind of focus that marked their first three games, falling behind by as many as nine points in the first half before rebounding for a convincing 118-102 victory over the Magic in the first game of a back-to-back set.
How bad was the first half? Paul George didn’t score his first basket until the 4:07 mark of the second quarter. Kawhi Leonard failed to connect on any of his six shots in the first half and Russell Westbrook made just one shot and had three assists in the first 24 minutes.
“We were nasty offensively,” Lue said of the first half.
George said the difference between the first and second halves was the team’s insistence on sticking with their game plan, which entailed getting out in transition and a focus on defense.
“We were getting great looks,” George said. “Shots just weren’t falling in the first half. We continued to be aggressive. I thought we didn’t panic.
“Our defense was holding us up, so it really wasn’t a need to panic at some point. We got great shot-makers and playmakers. You know, at some point we’ll find a rhythm.”
With future teammates Harden and Tucker watching from an arena suite upstairs (they can’t sit on the bench until the deal is official), the Clippers shot 33.3% from the field in the first half and made just 6 of 17 shots from 3-point range.
Lue said before the game that the team’s mindset was to win, not look ahead to the players who were there, the new players arriving or Wednesday’s rivalry game against the Lakers.
“We have to just take it one game at a time and understand that we got to have the right mindset offensively, making sure our spacing is good,” Lue said.
The Clippers did a better job in the second half locking down the Magic, who lost to the Lakers the night before, in the second half. The Clippers (3-1) took their first lead at 59-58 when Bones Hyland took a pass from Westbrook and drove the lane with 7:22 left in the third quarter. Hyland finished with 17 points and three assists in his first start of the season.
George took over from there, scoring on a 19-foot jumper, a 27-footer and another shot from the corner to give the Clippers a 10-point lead at 69-59 two minutes later. By the end of the third quarter, the Clippers led by 17 as George hit his fifth 3-pointer.
He scored a game-high 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists.
“I had a good flow at that point in the second half,” George said.
Westbrook scored 16 of his 18 points in the third and George scored 14 in the third as the Clippers outscored the Magic 41-21.
“Our defense is what saved us,” Lue said. “I would say in the third quarter Russ did a good job pushing the pace. We got some turnovers getting out in transition and then PG got hot as well.”
Westbrook, who added six rebounds, seven assists and five steals, said if George gets aggressive, the team will respond.
“Miss or make … our team is better,” Westbrook said. “Our job is to make sure we keep making it easy for him, keep him in attack mode, keep his mind focused on what he’s able to do and that’s score the basketball at a high level. You’ve seen when he’s able to do that, we’re a different team.”
That 10-1 run seemed to deflate the Magic, who struggled to match their early energy despite having five players score in double figures. Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 15 points, Franz Wagner added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Moritz Wagner had 13 points and Markelle Fultz had 12.
The rest of the game belonged to the Clippers, who expect to have Harden and Tucker in uniform when the team begins a road trip at the New York Knicks on Monday.
Norman Powell added 17 points for the Clippers.
PG-13 had him on skates 😳 SCARY HOURS🦂@LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/uNmSHTaUrF
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 1, 2023
PG stepback 3 and Russ is LOVING it!
ORL/LAC – Live on the NBA App pic.twitter.com/slx0nM0dAZ
— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2023
“It can be anyone’s night” – Coach Lue on tonight’s win vs Orlando.@LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/7WHL2mPlsx
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 1, 2023
🦴🗝 for 3! Bones has four 3’s to go with 17 points on Halloween night🎃 It’s only fitting right? pic.twitter.com/oZlDXk184h
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 1, 2023
.@Kristina_Pink checks in with Bones 🦴🗝 after his first Clippers start! @LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/mSOVSQEGf1
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 1, 2023
Kawhi isn’t surprised by Russ’s hot start to the season. “He’s been doing this his whole career”@LAClippers | #ClipperNation  pic.twitter.com/xBICcaQc8B
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 1, 2023
Brodie is heating up again 🔥 Russ has 16 midway through the 3rd🗣@LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/LG9qVAHn2q
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 1, 2023
