PORTLAND – The San Diego Clippers (5-2) faced off against the Rip City Remix (1-7) at the Chiles Center, and won 130-115 Friday afternoon.
The Clippers got off to an early 17-13 lead, a stark contrast after their loss against the South Bay Lakers in their previous game. It also helped they started 4 of 6 from 3 point range, again something they missed against the Lakers.
Cam Christie came out hot with a quick 8 points, and Tosan Evbuomwan had 9 points of his own halfway through the first quarter.
This was the third matchup these two teams have played, San Diego had won the first two.
A back and forth through the end of the first, with 11 lead changes, saw the Clippers with the lead over the Remix, 34-30. Evbuomwan had 14 points in the quarter on 5 of 7 field goals. He finished the game with a career-high 29 points.
The second quarter was where the Clippers started to pull away defensively, forcing several turnovers that led to fastbreak layups, at one point it was a 6-0 run simply off of turnovers by the Remix. That gave San Diego a 45-39 lead and forced a Rip City timeout.
Christie got back into rhythm as well, on near-consecutive possessions made layups plus the foul shot, helping San Diego reach a double-digit, 53-43 lead.
An 11-5 run by the Clips’ capped off by a 3 pointer by Trentyn Flowers, gave them a 64-48 lead, their largest of the first half.
A late push by Rip City to close the half made it an 11 point lead for the Clippers, 66-55.
San Diego was winning on the defensive end, having less turnovers than Rip City. Offensively, both teams were shooting fine, above 40% on threes.
Rip City cut the lead to 5 before Flowers was able to stop the bleeding with a layup, 72-65 3 minutes into the third.
The Clippers in this game looked like the team that had been 4-1 in their homestand. Passing, cutting, and smart shots all seen during play. They had an 87-76 lead with 4 minutes left in the third frame, forcing a Remix timeout. Through that point, the Clips’ only had 6 turnovers to Rip City’s 15.
An Evbuomwan dunk right before the buzzer gave San Diego a 96-85 lead.
The Clippers dominance continued into the fourth, blowing the lead up to 109-90. Braxton Key had back-to-back layups, and they continued to work into the paint.
The Remix tried to fight back, going on a 20-8 run, which cut the lead to 7. With 3 minutes left to play, all the Clippers had to do was not turn the ball over and take smart shots.
With time running out, a layup by RayJ Dennis put the lead back up to double-digits, 123-113, with that being the dagger.
The Clips’ came and did what they needed to do on the road, officially finishing their first road trip with a 1-1 record, and their third win over rip city, 130-115.
Along with Evbuomwan’s scoring output, Christie contributed 24 points, and Dennis had 21 points and 9 assists, career-highs for both the latter two as well.
Tosan Evbuomwan, Cam Christie, and RayJ Dennis all scored CAREER-HIGHS to lead the @sandiego_clips to victory over the Remix! 🎯
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) November 30, 2024
San Diego’s 130 points was their second highest scoring total of the season. pic.twitter.com/KpuRUXDngX
Bryce McGowens led scoring for the Remix with 25 points.
The Clippers head back home to face the Stockton Kings in a two game baseball series, the first of which will be on Sunday, Dec. 1, played at Frontwave Arena.