Kawhi Leonard was struggling. James Harden was off. And the rest of the Clippers weren’t achieving much in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against the Detroit Pistons’ swarming defense.
The Clippers had five baskets and eight turnovers in the first 12 minutes and trailed by 14 heading into the second quarter. Whether the Clippers got embarrassed or mad, it was evident that something sparked them.
Leonard and John Collins picked up the pace and by the time the final buzzer sounded, the two combined for 51 points and the Clippers rallied from 14 points down with seven minutes remaining to earn a 98-92 victory over the short-handed Pistons (28-10).
“When things get hard, we gotta get tougher,” Coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. “We talked about it all season long. I think tonight was a good showing of that.”
The Clippers (15-23) went on a 28-8 run to close out their ninth victory in their past 11 games against the Eastern Conference leaders, who were missing their top four players. They will be looking to add another victory when they face the Charlotte Hornets (14-25) on Monday at Intuit Dome.
“This group is tough. We need wins like this, dig deep, weather the storm and no matter what’s happening or who they have out there, we have to find ways to win games,” Collins said. “We needed this win tonight.”
Collins has been showing a more robust side of his all-around game lately, especially his shooting from the perimeter. He scored a season-high 25 points on 64.3% (9 of 14) shooting and 62.5% (5 of 8) from 3-point range, plus had seven rebounds, one assist, four steals, on four blocks.
The biggest improvement can be found in Collins’ 3-point shooting, which has jumped to 66.7% this month. By comparison, he was shooting 35.9% from the perimeter in December. Collins credited the coaching staff and his teammates for keeping him focused.
“I have a coaching staff that challenges me and great dudes on my team that support me and encourage me to keep my motor going and that’s all it really is,” Collins said Saturday. “Nights like tonight, they turned it on a little bit more.”
Lue said Collins has gotten comfortable both offensively and defensively since joining the team in a three-team offseason trade with Utah and Miami.
“He’s really been making some plays,” Lue said. “John’s been putting in the work to get to where he is now. He’s playing amazingly. We knew he was a good shooter, but as of late, with him shooting 64% from 3 and for the year 40% – all the work he’s put in, I’m really proud of him.”
Leonard also revved up his game after the first quarter, finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds, one assist and four steals in 31 minutes. Harden endured an uncharacteristic poor shooting night, finishing with 19 points on 20.0% (4 of 20) shooting from the field and 14.3% (1 of 7) from 3.