Frontwave Arena-

On Thursday night, the San Diego Clippers looked to avenge their loss on Sunday.

The Clippers, sitting at 11-12 during the season, dropped a close one to the Motor City Cruise at Frontwave Arena.

San Diego was outrebounded Sunday night in the loss, and it was more of the same story tonight. The Clippers were -10 in rebounds.

Last time out for the Clippers, D.J. Carton and Cam Christie led the way, and tonight, they were led by Christie and Patrick Baldwin Jr. The Motor City Cruise, a G-League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, was led by Ron Harper Jr. and Daniss Jenkins. San Diego started the night in 11th place, one game out of a playoff spot, with the top six teams qualifying for the playoffs.

Tonight’s loss put them at 12th in the standings at 11-13.

The Clippers were without Jaelen House for the game tonight with a left shoulder injury. Coming off of four straight days off, San Diego showed improved energy on both ends of the floor. The Motor City Cruise managed to make shots to start the game, but the Clippers were ice-cold from the floor. San Diego gave the Cruise some easy baskets inside to start the game. It was either a mix of spectacular defense or none for the Clippers tonight. The Motor City Cruise jumped out to an 11-2 lead before San Diego head coach Paul Hewitt called his first timeout.

After the timeout, the Clippers seemed to try out a 2-3 zone to see if they could slow down Motor City.

The problem with the zone is that Motor City started hitting shots from distance. The Clippers would switch back to man shortly after. The game started very physical, and the referees let the teams play.“Definitely physical. We realized that in the first quarter… we had to adjust and turn up our physicality,” Izaiah Brockington told EVT Sports after the game.

The physical style of play favored the Cruise as they took a 29-16 lead into the break after a steal and layup.

The second quarter began with a technical foul shot after D.J. Carton complained to the referees about the steal/kickball at the end of the quarter.

The Clippers would go on a run after the technical shot to cut the lead down to nine. Back and forth the game would go, with the Clippers managing to shrink the lead. After a hard-fought quarter, the Clippers tied the game at 38 with a Patrick Baldwin Jr. bucket. The Cruise and Clippers would swap buckets, and the Cruise pulled out a four-point lead 47-43. By the end of the quarter, Motor City went up on San Diego 56-53 going into halftime.

Motor City came out of the half and punched San Diego right in the mouth.

Ron Harper Jr. hit a contested three, and the Cruise started to roll. Patrick Baldwin Jr. picked up his fourth foul on a layup, and in the blink of an eye, the Cruise stretched the lead to 11. Coach Hewitt took a timeout to try and get his team back in the game. The Clippers struggled to rebound the ball, and Motor City took advantage. The Clippers’ deficit was not due to a lack of defense. On three straight possessions, the Clippers forced the Cruise into late shot clock situations. The only problem was that the Cruise hit three straight heavily contested three-pointers. The lead at the end of the third quarter ballooned to 15, with Motor City leading 90-75.

To start the fourth, the Clippers were the team that came out swinging. “Jalen Adaway came in and he was turning the tide on the defensive end… we started to pressure their main guys… and made them speed up their offense,” Brockington recalled about the start of the fourth.

Hewitt must have said something to his team at the intermission because the Clippers came out like a rabid junkyard dog. The Clippers forced three straight turnovers and converted them into buckets. The lead shrunk to eight, forcing Motor City to take a time-out. While the Clippers defense was keeping them in the game, their rebounding was not helping them. The Cruise got plenty of second-chance points in the fourth to keep the lead. The Clippers found a way to keep the defensive intensity until the bitter end.

A couple of big shots towards the end of the quarter saw the lead almost vanish. Cam Christie and the Motor City Cruise found a way to make baskets at the end of the game, and they deflated the Clippers’ comeback. “We tried to rally, in the end, but it was the little things… we’ve got to have timely stops,” Brockington admitted post-game. The Cruise held on for the 118-114 win.

The San Diego Clippers head to Stockton to take on the Stockton Kings in a back-to-back this Saturday and Sunday.

Max Montoya

A Southern California kid from San Clemente, he attended Gonzaga University and obtained a degree in sports management with minors in digital marketing and public relations. Max has been a San Diego sports fan for life.