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Clippers’ loss to Nets leaves bitter taste - OCRegister

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The aftertaste this time had an unmistakably bitter flavor to it.

That after the Clippers’ first bite of the apple in Brooklyn – an indulgent affair for an NBA fandom that loves star gazing, a showdown between L.A.’s Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and the Nets’ Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving – earned a five-star review.

Despite losing that game, 124-120, George spoke afterward about how much fun the challenge had been and paid respect to the Nets’ big three as being “some of the best iso players in the world.”

“The only thing missing was fans,” he said, over Zoom, that Feb. 2 night in Brooklyn.

But Sunday’s game at Staples Center 19 days later – without Durant this time, and still without fans, but again highly competitive, and again a victory for the Nets, 112-108 – left both teams smarting.

A seemingly frustrated Leonard joined George’s postgame video conference after it had begun and took one question, about the offensive foul call against him with 8.1 seconds left, a whistle that came when Harden went backpedaling across the baseline in a way that suggested he’d been pushed by an angry giant.

“My take from it is if we gonna pretty much play bully ball at the end of the game, let both sides play it,” said Leonard, who complained that he’d been grabbed too. “But they didn’t call it, so good defense. I got grabbed early, but like I said, no call.

“So,” he added, sourly, “great defense.”

For what it’s worth, the NBA saw no prior foul and agreed with the one that was called in the last-two-minute report released Monday, ruling the referees right in determining Leonard extended his off-arm into Harden’s front which “dislodges him from his defensive position.”

Then Leonard departed, leaving George alone on-screen, sitting beside an empty chair for the rest of the interview.

When he was asked, George offered his own take on facing players whose skill set extends beyond first-class iso offense to elite powers of persuasion.

“It’s really hard, it’s really hard,” George said. “I mean, I haven’t really got into the flopping game, but in today’s game, it’s smart, you know what I mean? It’s smart. They control the refs. They got the refs in they pocket, so kudos to the guys who are great at that part of the game.”

George led the Clippers with 34 points on Sunday, drawing them close in the fourth quarter, when he scored 12 points, making both of his shots from the floor, all six of his free throw attempts and feeding Ivica Zubac for a pair of timely dunks.

“PG did what PG does,” Zubac said. “He is an All-Star player. He is a great two-way player. He did exactly what we expect him to do … he is going to find me, every time I am open.”

As long as he’s on the court, anyway.

George – on a minutes limit in his second game back after missing seven straight with a toe injury – was pulled from the action with 2:50 left and his personal game mileage registering at 33 minutes.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue laughed when asked about having to pull his hottest player in the heat of a comeback, acknowledged that it was in accordance with a medically imposed time restriction and then tried to remain philosophical.

“It’s a tough decision,” Lue said. “But like I said, the biggest thing is that he’s healthy and the biggest thing is the player’s health. We did what we could but it is what it is.”

Had George wanted to continue playing?

“Man, I think you know the answer to that,” he said, adding, “I was ready. I was ready to go. I wanted to keep going.”

It wasn’t any fun at all, this time, to abandon a game in which the competitive fire had been stoked early and often.

In the first quarter, the Clippers’ defensive bulldog Patrick Beverley and Harden got to talking – and not niceties – after they got tangled; Beverley yanked Harden’s arm as he fouled him to stop a fast break and received a solid shove in response before teammates intervened.

Later, George exchanged words – not pleasantries, either – with Bruce Brown, who continued this season’s trend of opponents directing what George has referred to as “sweet” talk toward him.

Brown’s impact – 13 points, eight rebounds, four steals – was plain, and plenty irksome to George, who snarked: “I mean, just got to watch dude that can’t shoot cut all game. We got to just find where he’s at … he won’t be a problem. It’s just we got to do a better job of the energy. He brings energy for them. We got to do a better job of matching the energy that he brings to them.”

Beverley made his presence felt again late in the fourth quarter, when he set a screen that left Brooklyn veteran Jeff Green – whom Lue compared pregame with Nicolas Batum, a quintessential glue guy – crumpled on the floor, writhing in pain.

Green – who reportedly suffered a right shoulder contusion for which he was to be evaluated Monday – kicked over a Gatorade cooler on the Nets bench as he headed to the locker room.

Afterward, during his virtually delivered postgame comments, Irving noted that he’d done some trash talking and also gave credit to the Clippers for their fight.

“They kept battling, battling,” he said. “And we saw a different lineup towards the end of the game as well, I’m sure we’ll see PG next time down the stretch.”

With the Nets having won both of their regular-season meetings with the Clippers, if the teams do meet again, it’ll be for more than a midseason slice of pie, and the heat will be turned up that much more.

More immediately, the Clippers have an opportunity to rinse and rebound on Tuesday when they host the Washington Wizards (10-17) in the final game of their homestand before heading back on the road for the final five games ahead of the All-Star break.

WIZARDS (10-17) at CLIPPERS (22-10)

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Staples Center

TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket

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Clippers’ loss to Nets leaves bitter taste - OCRegister
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