LOS ANGELES – So, for something different.
An ESPN audience and a crowd of 17,422 saw the NBA’s hottest team lose and the league’s coldest team win Sunday night at Crytpo.com Arena, where the New York Knicks led wire-to-wire in a 116-93 smackdown against the confounded Clippers.
Tyronn Lue’s squad – now 34-32 – had won an NBA-high five consecutive with Thursday’s 132-111 rout of the Lakers on Thursday.
New York arrived in the midst of its worst stretch of the season, having lost a NBA-worst seven straight games and 14 of its past 16.
But though the Knicks are just 26-38 this season, they’ve had the Clippers’ number. In two games against New York, L.A. never led – including the Knicks’ wire-to-wire 110-102 win on Jan. 23.
RJ Barrett – who came in averaging 30 points per game over his four outings since he returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of four games – had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists … in the first half. The Knicks’ young star finished with 24, leading six New York players in double figures.
The Clippers had five players score in double figures – but none of them scored more than Amir Coffey, who tallied 16 points. Isaiah Hartenstein (14), Terance Mann (11), Luke Kennard (11) and Reggie Jackson (11) were the others as the Clippers shot just 33 for 88 (37.5%) from the floor.
A game after recording a plus-44 in the victory against the Lakers last week, the Clippers were outscored by 33 points in the 27 minutes Jackson played Sunday.
And the Knicks were competent enough – shooting 42 for 88 (47.7%) from the field and 13 for 29 (44.8%) from 3 – to capitalize.
The Clippers got pushed around in the first half, when the Knicks went to the free-throw line 21 times – though, fortunately for the Clippers, they made just 12 of those foul shots.
The Clippers, meanwhile, went just 2 for 5 from the stripe in the first half, struggling from the outset to find a rhythm. They shot 16 for 50 in the first half (including just 7 for 28 in the second quarter, when they missed their first 13 shots).
Fortunately for them, New York shot just 20-49 (40.8%), but still led 59-40 at intermission.
That Clippers’ deficit grew to as much as 26 points when Mitchell Robinson’s putback layup made it 74-48 with 7:47 left in the third quarter.
But when Robert Covington hit a 3-pointer – which became a four-point play following Kennard’s made technical foul shot (made possible by Barrett), the gap at the 4:20 mark was, well, just 20 – 78-58.
These Clippers, recall, are the only team in the past 25 seasons to overcome deficits of 24 points or more three times in a season.
As capable of comebacks as the Clippers can be, they’re also often beleaguered by offensive lulls like those that in both the second and fourth quarters Sunday.
The Clippers were down just 80-68, but then frigid fourth quarter started with seven consecutive misses, and by the time Brandon Boston Jr. checked in to score his first bucket with 7:10 to play, the Clippers trailed 95-73.
The Clippers will try again when they play Tuesday at Golden State in a game on TNT.
More to come on this story.