LOS ANGELES — The Clippers beat the Miami Heat on Jan. 28 without three starters.
For their next trick, they thought they’d try it Monday without four.
The four? Kawhi Leonard, out for the second consecutive game with a left lower leg contusion; Paul George, sidelined for the sixth straight game with swelling in a right toe; Patrick Beverley, the team’s emotional leader, who took off the second game of the back-to-back out of caution (he returned just three games ago after missing eight in a row with right knee soreness).
And, finally, Nicolas Batum, who missed Monday’s game with a concussion.
Late last month, the Clippers rallied from an 18-point deficit to defeat the Heat in Miami without Leonard, George and Beverley – but the degree of difficulty required to do it again went up without Batum on the floor. The savvy French forward – who initially was ruled out Monday with a migraine, Coach Tyronn Lue said – led the team in Miami with 18 points, going 6 for 9 from 3-point range.
The Clippers’ makeshift lineup: Lou Williams for the second time in a row and the second time this season; Marcus Morris Sr. for the first time this season and Terance Mann, Reggie Jackson and Serge Ibaka, who was the only true starter this season among the opening quintet.
Lue declined to give specifics about Leonard’s and George’s respective prognosis, although he struck an optimistic tone.
“PG’s getting better,” Lue said. “Kawhi, I guess he’s working his way towards getting better. So the guys are doing better and we just need to get all the guys on the court at the same time. That’s what we’re looking forward to.”
PATRICK BEVERLEY’S MILESTONE
“Cheers!” Patrick Beverley said as he greeted the media – hoisting a celebratory can of Bud Light – on a Zoom video conference after Sunday’s victory against Cleveland, in which he scored 16 points to push his career total to 4,000.
Beverley good-naturedly implored reporters to ask him about the milestone and also sent Lue a text message with a photo of his 4,000th point and a request: “Run slice home for me.”
That’s an iso the Clippers typically run for their stars, George and Leonard.
“It’s great for Pat,” said Williams – the “professional scorer” who had 14,802 points entering play Monday. “In high school, he was considered a scoring guard and he was able to re-brand, come into the league and find his niche and on top of that, still be able to score 4,000 points.”
Williams referenced Beverley’s history as a prolific scorer in the prep ranks, when he attended John Marshall Metropolitan High in Chicago and led the state of Illinois in scoring as a senior, averaging 37.3 points per game.
Beverley’s basketball journey after that included stops in Arkansas for college, and then, professionally, in Ukraine, Greece and Russia before he at last stuck in the NBA, at 24, with the Houston Rockets.
Since then the 32-year-old has come to be known as one of the NBA’s fiercest defenders, three times earning recognition as a member of the league’s All-Defensive team.
All that made those 4,000 points darn near priceless, Lue said.
“It definitely means a lot,” Lue said. “(He) got cut a few times, he had to go overseas, did it the hard way, and now to be in the league and to stay in and getting the contract that he got, it means a lot. Pat Beverley saw everybody in the NBA can score the basketball – what can I bring differently to get me on the floor?
“And he’s done that, and now he’s able to shoot the ball at a high clip – he’s shooting 40% from three the last three or four years – and he’s proven he can shoot the basketball. So it all comes back around, but he had to find a way to get on the floor, and now he’s here to stay.”
Added Williams: “Listen, any milestone in this business you can’t take it for granted. So I’m happy for him, kudos to him and hopefully we put another 4,000 on the board.”
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