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LOS ANGELES — The Clippers blow a 21-point lead to the Phoenix Suns losing 125-119 on Thursday night . This makes it two back-to-back disappointing losses for Los Angeles. The Clippers fall to 2-3 and are still winless in their new arena, the Intuit Dome.
Here are some takeaways from the Clippers loss to the Suns:
Harden records another triple double
James Harden had a bounce back game as he recorded his 78th triple double of his career.
He finished with 25 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.
Most of those numbers came in the first quarter. Harden recorded 12 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds in the opening quarter. The Clippers outscored the Suns in the first quarter 37-20.
With his high usage rate comes success but also some struggles as Harden had six turnovers.
Harden tried his best to help Los Angeles pull out this win but didn’t have enough left late to win.
The Clips can’t find a way to close
The Clippers dominated the first half outscoring the Suns 70-52 but everything became spooky in the second half on both ends of the floor.
Shoots weren’t falling the same in the second half and the defense was just a bit slow as well.
The Suns controlled the second half outscoring Los Angeles 73-49.
This is the second game straight that the Clippers lose a game where they led late in the fourth quarter.
This loss gave them their second defeat to the Suns in the past two weeks.
Not being able to close may be an issue for the Clippers going forward without another star next to Harden.
Booker too much for Clippers
The Clippers had issues all not dealing with one of the Suns all stars.
Devin Booker scored 40 points adding 8 assists and 5 rebounds.
Booker kept the Suns in the game early and was able to help put them over the top late.
In the two team's first meeting, it was Durant who helped the Suns pick up the victory in the opener. This time it was the former Wildcat leading the way.
The Clippers have struggled the past two games containing a team's top scoring guard after tonight and Anfernee Simons' 25-point performance the night before.