INGLEWOOD — This wasn’t as much fun.
In the Clippers’ surprising victory against the league’s best team earlier in the week, they were healthy, locked in and more importantly having fun.
You could sense it in the way Kawhi Leonard scored, how James Harden did his thing, the times when Ivica Zubac dominated inside against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the rest of the team reacted on the bench.
“One of the things that we’ve emphasized is finding joy in the game. We want to continue that. We want ’em to have fun,” assistant coach Brian Shaw said.
Finding that kind of joy against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night was a bit more difficult. This game had more of a business-like feel, the team taking on a more serious approach in facing another high-level Western Conference foe.
But seriousness turned to fun following halftime as the Clippers scored 68 points in the second half for a 128-108 victory at the Intuit Dome, their fifth straight and eighth in nine games.
James Harden finished with 30 points and nine assists and Kawhi Leonard added 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting and 10 rebounds as six Clippers who scored in double figures.
The Clippers (40-30) are in seventh place in the West, a few percentage points ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves (41-31) and one game behind the red-hot Golden State Warriors (41-29) as they try to climb into the top six and avoid the Play-In Tournament (seeds 7-10).
The Clippers took charge of the game in the third quarter, opening the period on a 19-5 run and outscoring the fifth-place Grizzlies (43-28) by 36-16 to take a 96-82 lead into the fourth. Harden scored 12 points in the third and the Clippers cruised to victory from there, improving to 3-0 against Memphis this season.
Shaw, who has coached six games in Tyronn Lue’s absence, said the key to beating the top teams is simple.
“If we are just emphasizing and focusing, taking care of what we do and imposing our will on the other team and just staying focused on that as opposed to what anybody else is doing,” said Shaw, who has guided the team to a 5-1 record.
Lue continues to be bothered by a sore back and his status for Sunday’s home game against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (58-12) is unclear. He had improved, according to team officials, but he stayed home Friday.
Unlike their coach, the Clippers are healthy for the first time this season. Yet, one of the drawbacks of having a complete lineup is finding room for everyone on the court. Guard Norman Powell missed seven games while dealing with two different injuries and integrating him back into the lineup could be difficult given how well the team had played in his absence.
“Norm is competitive, and he wants to be out there, and he wants to be a part of it, but there’s going to be different guys on different nights,” Shaw said.
Powell, however, reminded everyone at Intuit Dome why he continues to be valuable with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including one 3-pointer in 27 minutes. With his lone long-range shot, Powell passed Lou Williams for seventh place on the franchise’s all-time 3-point list.
Like their victory over the Cavaliers, nearly everyone who played had a hand in this win.
Zubac had another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 points and five assists while shooting 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Kris Dunn contributed 11 points.
The Clippers struggled to garner much traction early against the Grizzlies, who led by as many as eight in the first half. Memphis went on a 9-4 run to take a 66-60 lead into intermission.
With the score tied at 53-all, Scottie Pippen Jr. and Santi Aldama drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to get Memphis rolling. Leonard answered with a pull up jumper, but Pippen buried another 3-pointer to give the Grizzlies a 62-55 lead with 1:07 left in the half.
After Leonard completed a three-point play, the Grizzlies scored two quick baskets to extend their lead to 66-58. A pair of free throws by Harden closed out the half.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 23 points to lead the Grizzlies, who lost their third straight. Aldama finished with 16 points and Luke Kennard and Pippen each had 15 points.
Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who has been averaging 22.3 points and 4.1 rebounds. missed his fourth consecutive game while dealing with a hamstring injury. Memphis also was without Brandon Clarke, who left Wednesday’s loss because of a right knee injury.
More to come on this story.