Clippers handed worst loss of the season in Phoenix

PHOENIX -- It all looked like it was coming together for the Clippers for the first 3 quarters. The defense was stout, Kawhi Leonard had a poster dunk, Ivica Zubac was having a monster game and it looked like the Clippers were back on track. 

Then, the 4th quarter came. A 23 point comeback by the Phoenix Suns handed the Clippers their sixth loss in seven games, 119-117. 

Kevin Durant had 34 points overall and 19 in the 4th quarter alone to lead the Suns to a humongous victory. 

In the first half, it looked like the wheels were falling off for the Suns, as Durant and head coach Mike Budenholzer got into an altercation on the sidelines following a timeout. The crowd was booing their team, the broadcast team at TNT were trashing the lack of effort out of the Suns, and it seemed like they were headed to their lowest point of the year. 

Then, the Clippers gave them a sliver of breathing room at the end of the 3rd quarter, and Phoenix ran with it.

If there were an MVP award to give out on Tuesday night, it would go to Collin Gillespie who came off the bench and changed the entire game. He had 10 points, which were all in the 4th quarter, and provided energy and hustle that the Clippers just couldn’t match. 

Ivica Zubac was the standout amongst an ugly ending, as he posted a career-high 35 points on 15-19 shooting and 10 rebounds, finishing with a +22. 

Going down the box score and it is clear that the Clippers did get good games from some of their supplementary pieces. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 13 points on 5-7 shooting, Amir Coffey provided 13 points of his own on 5-8 shooting and it looked like the team had finally figured out how to play on a string again. 

But with Norman Powell out for the next 10 days at least with a hamstring strain and Ben Simmons still out with knee soreness, it was clear that the Clippers needed their best players to play like their best players. 

James Harden had another bad efficiency night going 5-14 from the field and after Kawhi got out to a hot start, he was not much of a factor late. 

The Clippers now fall to the 9th seed in the Western Conference in the span of two weeks. If there was a low point of the year, it has to be right now. 

But, as it is always said, there is still time to get back on track, although that time is dwindling. 

The Pistons come to town on Wednesday night to face the Clippers in their first game at home in almost a month. Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM PST.