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Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George (13) shoots against Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas (17) and guard Ja Morant (12)in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) shoots ahead of Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) handles the ball between Memphis Grizzlies forwards Brandon Clarke (15) and Justise Winslow in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball between Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley, top and center Serge Ibaka (9) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Clippers guard Paul George shoots between Grizzlies center Xavier Tillman, left, and forward Kyle Anderson (1) during the first half of Thursday’s game in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks (24) shoots against Los Angeles Clippers forward Nicolas Batum (33) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) goes up for a dunk in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) dunks the ball against Memphis Grizzlies center Xavier Tillman (2) as guard Dillon Brooks (24) looks on in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas (17) shoots against Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley (21) reacts to a referee’s call in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) shoots against Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and center Serge Ibaka (9) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) handles the ball in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks (24) handles the ball between Los Angeles Clippers forwards Kawhi Leonard (2) and Nicolas Batum (33) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives against Memphis Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen (3) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke (15) shoots against Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris Sr. in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams (23) plays in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball after a dunk in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers guard Reggie Jackson (1) brings the ball up court in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) jumps to shoot against Memphis Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson (1) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) handles the ball in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) reacts after his shot was blocked during the second half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) handles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen (3) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson (1) shoots against Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams (23) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks (24) greets teammates after scoring during the second half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Tyronn Lue said before Thursday’s game in Memphis that he hadn’t thought much at all about the second half of the regular-season schedule, which the NBA released Wednesday.
The Clippers’ coach was instead focused instead on the five games in front of his team to finish off the first half – a pivotal and potentially dangerous stretch before the All-Star break.
Lue’s goal, he said, was to “make sure our team is ready to play, because you know when you get close to the All-Star break, you tend to lose games you’re not supposed to.”
Credit the host Grizzlies, whose typical high-level effort wasn’t affected by the oncoming respite.
On the contrary, having not played since Monday, those couple of days off did the young squad good. They rested up and dedicated themselves to film study in preparation to pound the Clippers inside, their knack for scoring inside delivering a no-doubt-about-it 122-94 victory before a crowd of 1,896 at the FedExForum.
“A young team and they got days off?” George said. “They’re energetic and to give them some days off, it’s tough. So we gotta definitely match that tomorrow night.”
The Clippers (23-11) get another crack at Memphis (14-14) on Friday night at 5 p.m. in the second game of a rare back-to-back against the same opponent, the type of sequence spurred by the NBA’s compact 2020-21 schedule in the midst of a pandemic.
“If we do again (what we did) tonight, it won’t be a good thing,” Lue said. “We just gotta be better all the way around … but my biggest concern right now is we gotta be better defensively.
“I know we’ll be able to score the basketball, we’re gonna make shots, but defensively is where we gotta be better,” Lue added. “We gotta take the challenge, starting with myself first, and what we need to do better and do differently, as far as stopping these guys from getting in the paint so easy.
“So we’ll start with that tonight and hopefully we can carry it over to tomorrow.”
In the series opener Thursday, the Grizzlies plowed past the Clippers’ drowsy defense, pulling away midgame when they outscored L.A. by 17 points across the second and third quarters. In that 24-minute span of action, they outscored L.A. 40-2 in the paint.
Then the Grizzlies – for whom all five starters scored in double figures, as did Tyus Jones, who added a career-high 20 points in 15 minutes off the bench – continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter, winning that frame too, 33-19.
Memphis, which leads the league in points in the paint, demolished the Clippers there, 72-24, for the night.
“They got downhill in their pick-and-rolls all night,” Lue said. “(We) tried to blitz, tried to zone, we did a little of everything. They just constantly got into the paint … 72 points in the paint gotta be damn near a record.”
The Grizzlies do hold the NBA record for most consecutive games with at least 40 paint points, a streak that now stands at 76 consecutive games, the most since the league began tracking play-by-play data in 1996-96.
Memphis – which turned over the ball only seven times – also hurt the Clippers from long range. The Grizzlies shot 11 for 19 (57.9%) from behind the 3-point arc – easily their best single-game percentage this season.
The Clippers, meanwhile, had one of their worst shooting games of the season, hitting only 34 of 84 shots from the floor (40.5%), including 12 for 34 from 3-point range, where they started the game a telling 0 for 8. They scored fewer than 100 points for just the fourth time this season.
“They got stops, they shrunk the floor on defense,” said George, who had 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes. “It’s a young team, you can’t give a young team life to play in transition. And they got out, they ran the floor, and they just showed the athleticism.”
With another game so soon on the horizon, the Clippers’ All-Stars George and Kawhi Leonard (who had 17 points – equaling his second-to-lowest single-game scoring output this season – and seven assists and five rebounds) checked out of the game for the last time with 6:27 left.
Off the bench, Reggie Jackson had 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting in the loss.
Dillon Brooks had 19 points for Memphis and star guard Ja Morant added 16 points and seven assists.
Ty Lue spoke with the media following the @LAClippers loss to the Grizzlies tonight.#ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/G4e9pMLbWi
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) February 26, 2021
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