With Kawhi Leonard available for just the first half, the Clippers fell 108-94 at Memphis on Friday night to lose ground in the West playoff race.
To reach the Memphis locker room after his pregame warmup Friday, the Grizzlies’ Luke Kennard had to first pass by a Clippers bench populated by a few of his former assistant coaches. Stopping to chat, Kennard playfully asked whether the Clippers, whose suffocating defense two nights earlier limited him to attempt three three-pointers, would finally allow him the room to play.
Sharp for just one quarter, with Kawhi Leonard available for only one half, the Clippers couldn’t overcome mistakes of their own making to lose ground in the Western Conference playoff race.Leonard played 18 minutes in the first half, scoring 12 points, but didn’t play after halftime because he intends to play Saturday night in New Orleans.
The Grizzlies’ Desmond Bane, right, steals the ball from the Clippers’ Ivica Zubac, middle. Memphis’ Dillon Brooks is at left. Zubac had 15 points and 15 rebounds in the loss. Entering the game off the bench late in the first quarter, Powell and Terance Mann quickly made differences, Powell sinking a three-pointer to extend the lead to 28-12 and force a Memphis timeout. Mann, handed the assignment of chasing around former teammate Kennard, draped himself on the sharpshooter, who had made 53% of his three-pointers since being traded in February. Mann drew an offensive foul before running Kennard out of bounds.
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