The Clippers were eliminated from NBA Cup contention during Tuesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Intuit Dome.
The primary goal on this night, however, was for the Clippers to continue to compete at a high level and play their smothering defense.
With Norman Powell scoring with efficiency and James Harden keeping up his offensive production, the Clippers pulled off a 127-105 win over the Trail Blazers.
Read more: Norman Powell’s return and James Harden’s 37 points push Clippers past the Nuggets
The Clippers have won eight of their last 10 games with sustained grit and by following the lead of Powell and Harden.
Powell started strong, making his first five shots en route to going 11 for 15 from the field and five for seven from three-point range in a 30-point effort.
For Harden, it was another milestone game. Finishing with 23 points, Harden has scored 26,399 points over his 16-year career, pushing him past Paul Pierce for 17th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Harden also had seven assists and made a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to cap his scoring effort and give the Clippers a 13-point lead.
The Clippers took control in the third quarter, holding the Trail Blazers (8-14) to just 20 points. And they didn’t hold back in the fourth, building a 26-point lead. They shot 55.3% from the field and 51.4% from three-point range in the game.
The only bad news for the Clippers was the loss of Terance Mann to a left finger injury in the third quarter.
The Clippers finished NBA Cup play 2-2. But with a 14-9 overall record, the Clippers have kept their focus on giving the right kind of effort in every game.
“We just can’t get comfortable,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Our goal is to be a top-five defense into the season and we’re doing that so we can’t let go of the rope from doing that. And then just having the right mindset every single night. When we come in for walk-throughs and shoot-arounds, we have to take advantage of those times because we haven’t had time to practice all month, because we play every day, or every other day. So, just locking in, being mentally sharp, watching film, understanding what we need to do, and I think our guys have done a good job with that so far.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
