Fresh back home from a six-game road-stand, the Los Angeles Clippers looked like they meant business and indeed they did; torching the Suns with a stellar second-half outburst to win going away in the end... Five things stick out for me in this one:
1) The rise of youngster Kelly Oubre Jr - the athletic small-forward lit up the contest early on with a statement dunk on Paul George; followed by the dead-eye stare-down. It was indeed a heady and brave play for the youngster against one of the pre-eminent stars of the NBA today; and you got to give him credit for that.
2) You could sense George getting a bit irritated from that point on; like he was waiting for the payback. And man it came; when his defensive prowess stripped the ball off Oubre Jr.; before then torpedoing down the court to send in one of his trademark leaning jams to even the score. And yes; he did return the favor with a deliberate; aggressive stare-down back at the youngster.
3) Patrick Beverley played another stormer in this one. In one unbelievable and rather comedic sequence; he blocked the Suns center; 6'11" Deandre Ayton from behind and held on to the ball; followed by an amusing, Beverley-only quizzical look at the big man; with Corey Maggette's hilarious "what are you doing?" quote.
4) If that wasn't enough, Beverley did it again later on. This time, he manned-up and blocked power forward 6'10" Dario Saric's shot on the low-post in a never-to-be-forgotten defensive play; even winning the ball off the Croatian. It was another instance of the magnificent defense and commitment from the Clippers point guard.
5) To top everything off, it was reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams who shot the daggers in the Suns in this one; hitting consecutive tough three-pointers to spur his team; and demoralise the Suns in this Western Conference showdown.
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