After a good start early this season, Los Angeles Clippers showed a serious flaw in their play. They suffered three defeats in a row due to their poor defense. The latest defeat was from Brooklyn Nets in two overtimes.
Clippers blew out their 18-point lead with the 122-127 loss against the Nets on Thursday, Nov. 29 as reported by Los Angeles Times. The Nets forced two overtimes and five of their players scored double digit against the poor defense of the Clippers.
The Nets shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick wreaked havoc on the Clippers defense, he made his shot from anywhere and scored 38 points. He took turn with Andre Harris who scored 15 points off-the bench. While Brook Lopez and Trevor Booker annihilated Clippers' front court by scoring 27 points and 15 points consecutively, followed by Bojan Bogdanovic with 14 points.
This handed Clippers their third consecutive losses. Coach Doc Rivers who were frustrated with his team defense was ejected from the game after protested the official according to ESPN. Coach Rivers was really angry after a foul called by official Lauren Holtkamp, as the Clippers trailing 117-115 with 18.6 seconds in the first overtime.
Rivers walked past the midcourt to launch his protest to the officials. His action forced the lead official Ken Mauer to immediately give him a technical foul, followed by second technical foul and automatic ejection.
Three consecutive losses in the road game showed a serious flaws in the Clippers defense. The team need to work on their defense as the season will become more difficult. Their next two game on the road is to face the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans on Monday and Tuesday.
Both Cavaliers and Pelicans have much better offense than Brooklyn Nets. The game agaist those teams will possess the real challenge for coach Doc Rivers defensive strategy. The Clipppers need to strengthen their perimeter defense to prevent opponent to space, make play and score.
Watch the review of the game between Nets and the Clippers from the ESPN First Take below:
