Chris Paul had that look in his eye. That look of ultimate control. That is what his Clippers had been doing throughout the entire third quarter as they finally gained breathing room on the Magic and put their hooks into the game.
Paul unleashed that killer crossover once, twice and Victor Oladipo rocked with him biting on each bounce until finally Paul left him in his dust — the ultimate sign of a player in complete control of the game.
After the Magic did so many things right in Monday’s game, and the stretch of games before them, they could not find the formula to defeat the Clippers at Amway Center on Wednesday night, falling 114-90. Much like Oladipo on that play, they were perhaps a bit too eager and not all the way together to win a game against a seemingly angry team playing at the top of its game.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
| L.A. Clippers | 114 | 118.7 | 60.7 | 5.1 | 7.1 | 19.1 |
| Orlando | 90 | 91.9 | 44.2 | 22.9 | 13.8 | 20.9 |
“We just didn’t hit shots,” Oladipo said. “It was just tough. They’re a really good team. They played really well. Credit them. The way they played, they shared the ball, they made big shots, we missed shots we normally make. It is what it is. It is the game of basketball. It is a lot of ups and a lot of downs. It is a long season. I haven’t really gotten my rhythm back. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time and stay positive.”
Oladipo really struggled making just three of 13 shots and having four turnovers against four assists. He got to the basket for seven of those shots, but made just two. The Clippers long arms in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan did a good job deterring too many forays into the paint.
Orlando struggled as a team finishing those shots making just 16 of 40 shots at the rim on the evening. With jumpers stopping their fall in the second half — the team shot an icy 38.1 percent while Los Angeles continued its offensive groove shooting 61 percent in the second half — it was tough to generate offense.
The defense was not there to support the Magic and keep things close. It could be as simple as the Clippers making shots and the Magic missing them. The box score certainly supports that. Orlando was just a step off the entire night, however.
Orlando, as Channing Frye said post game, focused on containing the bigs and did so, but left the 3-pointer open. That is where the Clippers killed the Magic.
“There is always a good and bad,” Frye said. “I think we did a pretty good job of keeping the bigs in front and trying to limit their touches. But, again, we have to be able to play both in and out. Tonight, we kind of just did the in part and were a little . . . on the out part. We are learning. We played them for a half, but that other half gets you an ‘L.’ A bad ‘L.'”
The Clippers drained 12 of 21 3-pointers. Jamal Crawford came off the bench and made 22 points, including two 3-pointers. The killer though was Matt Barnes making three of his five 3-pointers after shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc entering the game.
Before Paul took over in the third quarter — 10 of his 16 points and five of his nine assists in the second half — the Clippers were just moving the ball and the Magic were late getting out to the 3-point line. Barnes was often left alone — and that might have been something Orlando was OK considering the percentages.
Until that run in the third, the Magic just seemed able to do enough to keep the game close. The Clippers were working well and getting their shots to fall, even if it were the ones the Magic were willing to concede. Making shots is the great equalizer.
“That’s why you stay grounded,” Vaughn said when asked about coming down to Earth after Monday’s stellar performance. “You don’t worry about what is being written or said about you. You stay grounded and you stay present.”
Orlando’s offense did its best and kept pace for one half, but could not do so the entire game. Whether that was Nikola Vucevic making a tough face-up jumper or taking it to the basket himself or Tobias Harris attacking or getting a 3-point look, Orlando had some things working offensively early on.
Vucevic ended with 19 points and 14 rebounds, getting his double double fairly quickly. Harris had 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting and a 73.2 percent true shooting percentage. This was a good individual effort for those two and the Magic still had 21 assists on 34 field goals.
But the help for the star players on the Magic was not there. No one else seemed able to lift the team up. And without the defense as a backstop, it allowed the Clippers eventually to run away. There was no third-quarter run to close the gap. The ball moved less and an offense relying on assists could not produce enough baskets to match Monday’s stellar performance.
The Clippers just got away from them.
“I still thought we played good team basketball offensively,” Harris said. “We stuck to a lot of our principles tonight. They were just a better team.”