Despite some tension between the court and fans, the Los Angeles Clippers claimed their seventh straight win over the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday.
As the Spurs move to a 10-game loss streak, the Clippers advance to 6-7 with their most recent triumph.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s game:
Gregg Popovich grabs mic as fans boo Kawhi Leonard
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich got on the PA announcer’s mic and reprimanded the home fans late in the second quarter.
With 3:06 left in the half, the Hall of Fame coach addressed the crowd and asked them to stop booing former Spurs star Kawhi Leonard.
“Excuse me for a second,” Popovich said to the audience. “Can we stop all the booing and let these guys play? Have a little class. That’s not who we are. Knock off the booing.”
The boos only increased from there.
Following the game, Popovich stated he did not want the audience providing Leonard with extra motivation.
“Anybody that knows anything about sports knows you don’t poke the bear,” Popovich said.
Leonard went on to score 18 of his game-high 26 points after the debacle.
Norman Powell exits game early with soreness
During halftime, Andrew Grief of the Los Angeles Times broke the news that Norman Powell would not return for the second half due to right groin soreness. Powell most recently missed some time in the preseason due to groin strain, as well as 3 weeks last year due to groin-related issues.
Powell exited the game with five points and one rebound and block each in 14 minutes before being subbed for Amir Coffey.
Coffey collected four points with three rebounds and a steal in 10 minutes.
“As far as all the hard work he’s been putting in over the last couple years, he hasn’t had a really good opportunity, but I knew he was ready,” Lue stated about Coffey following the win. “He came in and he didn’t let us down.”
Clippers stars make statements on offense
Although Los Angeles’ defense jumped out the gates in the beginning of the game, Leonard, Paul George and James Harden continued to make league history on offense.
George opened the game by passing Chris Paul for sole possession of 4th place on the Clippers’ all-time 3-pointers made list. He also went on to score in double digits in the second quarter. It was 12th quarter this season in which George scored over 10 points which is the eighth most in the league, per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.
Kawhi Leonard also balled out from beyond the arc as he reached 1,000 career 3-pointers.
Finally, Harden continued to win over Clipper Nation with a performance that helped him pass Patrick Ewing for 24th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, per Clippers PR. The 34-year-old scored his 24,816th point in the fourth quarter.
Harden closed out Wednesday with 16 points on only seven field goal attempts.
Up next, the team will return to Los Angeles for a three-game homestand. The Clippers will first face off with the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday for some In-Season Tournament action. The Dallas Mavericks will visit the Crytpo.com Arena that following Saturday before the defending champions, the Denver Nuggets, roll in on Monday.
