On military appreciation night, the San Diego Clippers lost 120-105 to the South Bay Lakers.

The San Diego Clippers were riding a four-game win streak coming into tonight’s game. In their last four games, the Clippers had outrebounded their opponents in each of the four games. Tonight, the Lakers grabbed the rebound margin and the win. The last four wins brought the Clippers’ record to an even .500. This loss drops the Clippers to 11-12 overall.

In the last game against the Indiana Mad Ants, the Clippers were led by Cam Christie, out of the University of Minnesota, with 26 points. Tonight, D.J. Carton led the Clippers with 20 points, six assists, and three steals. Cam Christie had 20 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Braxton Key recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaelen House contributed 17 points and four assists off the bench.

The Lakers controlled the opening tip and the first quarter.

South Bay got off to a five-point lead early and then stretched it to 12 points early in the first quarter. Clippers were unable to make shots early and missed multiple easy attempts. The Lakers got the score up to 25-18 before Clippers head coach Paul Hewitt called a timeout to stop the run. The Clippers got the lead down to five with two minutes left in the first before the Lakers surged ahead to be up nine after the first quarter.

Clippers came out of the break on a mission. They opened the quarter on a 9-1 run, closing the lead to five. Jaelen House and Patrick Baldwin Jr. helped the Clippers storm back out of the break. The Clippers grabbed their first lead of the game with 6:38 left in the quarter. The key for the Clippers in that quarter was that they were plus three in rebounding margin, which had been an emphasis from coach Hewitt. The Clippers managed to go into halftime up 56-53.

The second half saw the Clippers run out of gas as they were in their fifth game in seven days. The Lakers hit timely shots, but the Clippers could not. The Lakers were only up by six early into the fourth quarter, but “going into the fourth quarter, we were within striking distance,” but ultimately the Lakers “made a couple of baskets and put some distance between us and them,” Coach Paul Hewitt remarked after the game.

The Clippers were on their sixth game in ten days, and it showed. Braxton Key felt after the game that “it kinda jumped on our back and a couple of loose balls we should’ve got we didn’t get.”  The Lakers kept pushing the lead in the fourth quarter, getting the lead to 17 with two minutes left. The teams traded a few desperation baskets, but the game was already in hand for the Lakers.

The Clippers did not shoot the ball particularly well. They managed to shoot a decent 43.4% from the field but struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 29.7%. The shooting was a factor in this game; “We allowed our shooting woes to impact us too much,” Coach Hewitt stated after the game. In addition, the Lakers held a plus-eight rebound margin to end the game.

Looking forward, the Clippers are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. With the off days coming, the Clippers plan to “get some rest, look over some film, as a team to find ways to be better both offensively and defensively,” Key remarked after the game. Coach Hewitt closed his press conference with this, “it’s the old cliché one game at a time. First thing up is have a good practice Tuesday and Wednesday.”

An important four days off are coming for the Clippers this week after a busy last ten days. The next game for the San Diego Clippers will be at home on Thursday, March 6, against the Motor City Cruise.

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.