All the stars were out. So, naturally, an all-star game broke out.
The brightest star in the constellation: Robert Covington, who was a supernova Friday. He set a franchise record with 11 3-pointers en route to a career-high 43 points in a rollicking, high-scoring, ultimately lopsided 153-119 victory at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the Clippers also set a new franchise single-game scoring record.
Fans didn’t get to see two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo suit up for Milwaukee, and they didn’t get to see seven-time All-Star Paul George do his thing for the Clippers, but they did get to see a surplus of buckets.
A lot of them came courtesy of Covington, the 31-year-old wing from Hillside, Illinois, 80-some miles away from Milwaukee. He said his parents were among the 18,023 fans in the crowd to witness his 3-point barrage, which tied him with Malik Beasley and Bojan Bogdanovic for the most in a game this season.
Covington became just the ninth player in NBA history to have at least 43 points and 11 3-pointers in a single game – and the only player in history to have at least 40 points, 10 3-pointers, eight rebounds, two blocked shots (he had three) and two steals in a game.
As his big night played out, Covington said he wound up hearing support from just about every direction.
“My teammates, throughout the game, they were telling me out there they was trying to get me 50,” said a drenched Covington, the grinning victim of a celebratory ice water assault by those appreciative teammates.
Also, he noted: “Giannis told me, ‘Go for the record, I’m tryin’ to see something.’”
Amir Coffey had something brewing too, pouring in 32 points and adding seven assists and four steals – career-highs, all.
Their top-tier performances came in a game that went on without 14 players, including Antetokounmpo (right knee soreness) and teammates Khris Middleton (left wrist soreness), Jrue Holiday (left ankle sprain) and Brook Lopez (rest) for the Bucks (48-29), who won an overtime game in Brooklyn on Thursday.
The Clippers played without four starters: George (resting his elbow), Reggie Jackson (rest), Nicolas Batum (ankle) and Marcus Morris Sr. (knee) – as well, as usual, as Kawhi Leonard (ACL) and Norman Powell (foot).
“We have been in this position before, a lot unfortunately,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “The biggest thing for me is just playing the right way, enjoying, having fun, getting into our second and third actions. And don’t try to do too much because guys are out.
“I thought that message was well-received by the guys in the locker room. It started from the first quarter just playing the right way and moving the basketball and we don’t have Reggie and Marcus and PG to get the ball to and say create a shot for us. We had to do it by committee.”
In their last regular-season road game this season, six of the eight Clippers who participated scored in double figures and combined to make 23 3-pointers – a tally reached only three times now in franchise history.
The Clippers (38-40) also recorded assists on 34 of their 56 field goals – including eight of Covington’s 3-pointers, as they happily flipped the page after Thursday’s disappointing overtime loss in Chicago, where they let slip a 16-point lead and then a three-point advantage with seven seconds left.
Luke Kennard scored 23 points and a six-high-equaling six assists to the victory; Terance Mann had 18 points; Isaiah Hartenstein 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists; and Ivica Zubac finished with 11 points as the Clippers shot a season-high 60.9% from the field.
In so doing, they clinched no worse than a ninth-place finish in the Western Conference with four regular-season games remaining (all at home), including Sunday’s against ninth-place New Orleans.
“We’ve been doing it the whole year, playing with guys out,” said Coffey, who played more than 42 minutes Friday after having logged less than a minute total in the two games since George returned from injury this week.
“We had the same approach – trying to come in and get a win. We stressed that we needed this one, so just came in and competed from the beginning.”
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The Clippers rode a 24-8 run to close the first half to take a 73-62 lead into halftime – their total at the break their highest of the season, eclipsing the 71-point start in the Feb. 17th victory over Houston.
Their previous season-high was 71 points against the Rockets on Feb. 17.
The Clippers shot 61.4% in the first half and went into intermission with four players having scored in double figures, led by Kennard’s 17.
The Bucks’ offense wasn’t exactly flat, either. They shot 51.9% and scored 62 points to start the game. And although they shot 54.8% after the break, the Clippers held them to 57 points in the second half, too few against the Covington-led Clippers, who put up 80 in the closing half — including 17 in the third quarter alone by RoCo, the new dad.
“It’s a new light man,” Covington said. “Right before I came to the arena, I seen my baby girl and … that’s what it’s all about. That new dad energy is definitely different.”