OCEANSIDE, Calif. – For the first night of their back-to-back, the San Diego Clippers (11-11) played against the Indiana Mad Ants (14-10) and won in dominating fashion, 118-103 at Frontwave Arena.
No Kai Jones (signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks) or Jordan Miller (signed a standard, 4-year 8.3 million dollar deal with the LA Clippers) for this game, but a yes to Kobe Brown and Trentyn Flowers, who were both back in the starting lineup for this San Diego squad.
A slow start for both teams saw a tied game at 12 all halfway through the first. A wing three from Braxton Key gave them a 17-14 lead. Key had 7 points through that point, putting in the work offensively for San Diego.
Eventually, Indiana went on an 11-4 run, only stopped after Jaelen House got fouled on a layup attempt. He hit the free-throw to make it 25-23 Mad Ants. By the end of the first buzzer, San Diego headed back to the bench with a 32-25 lead.
A quick early run for the Clippers blew the lead up to double-digits, clearly starting to pull away. DJ Carton started to heat up as well, hitting a corner 3, also looking very comfortable being the team facilitator. The Mad Ants, down 16 just four minutes into the second, had to call timeout.
A 24-second shot-clock violation forced onto Indiana continued San Diego’s momentum, up 49-37 with four minutes left in the half. The game slowed down, with tougher defense and more stoppages. A relatively standard end to the second quarter, the Clippers closed with poise and headed to the locker room up 57-48.
Credit San Diego’s defense, they held the Mad Ants to just 2-12 from 3-point land. If they themselves shot better from that distance (6-24), the lead would have potentially been a lot higher. They were also forcing the turnover issue, forcing 14 Indiana turnovers to San Diego’s 6.
A 7-3 run by Indiana to start the third quarter required a timeout by Clipper head coach Paul Hewitt. The team that left in the first half, didn’t seem to return for the second half, missing their first few shots and not getting back in transition for defense. Whatever they talked about in the huddle, didn’t work because San Diego immediately turned the ball over twice and Indiana hit a 3 pointer.
Luckily for San Diego, they were able to get a Cam Christie 3-pointer, Key dunk, and Carton layup to go back up 69-60 halfway through the third. That run continued with another 10-0 run, finishing at 79-62 Clips’ and the Mad Ants had to call timeout; the last play before the break was an off-the-glass lob from House to Trentyn Flowers who dunked the ball. They headed into the final frame up 83-64.
A quiet start to the fourth saw the score at 90-73 San Diego. The Mad Ants were still fighting but the Clipper defense was holding strong, though Hewitt kept telling his squad to push the ball versus running the clock. A wing three by Christie gave the Clippers a 21 point lead, their largest of the night through that point.
Christie got hot through the fourth, hitting several three pointers to quite frankly, put a dagger in the game. With five minutes left in the game and up 24 points (106-82 at that point) all the Clippers had to do was play some solid defense and wait for the buzzer; And that they did.
Christie finished with 26 points after having his jersey ripped halfway through the game. "I was missing a couple shots (in my jersey) so I decided to rip it in half and get a new one. It ended up working," he laughed after the game.
Dakota Mathias led Indiana with 22 points.
Carton also clearly had his most comfortable game as a Clipper, scoring 19 points and 3 assists. Christie said of him and House -- the team's current backcourt, "They've gotten a lot better. They want to be really good, and continuing to ask questions and learn to improve their game to help the team is good. I thought DJ played great today."
The Clippers will play again once more against the South Bay Lakers on March 2. Tip-off at Frontwave Arena will be 6:30 p.m.