RJ Barrett, Knicks vs Clippers in New York – San Bernardino Sun

From the start, the Clippers look pretty warm, like they’re back for another East Coast game – even if their bodies, more attuned to the Pacific time zone, register to depart at 10 am.

However, the home team New York Knicks is really feeling the heat after 3 consecutive losses and they have reacted accordingly.

Led by RJ Barrett’s 28 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and fueled by a top-scoring run of the first half of this season, the Knicks edged ahead of the Clippers on Sunday and beyond. hold them back for the rest of the way- to a 110-102 victory.

Their effort was enough to earn applause from the relentlessly demanding fans at Madison Square Garden, where a ticketing crowd of 19,812 people joined the matinee.

“They took some tough shots,” Coach Tyronn Lue said, via Zoom, after the loss, the second of three on the Clippers’ eight-game road trip, which continues Tuesday at Washington, DC “In the first half, they were 10 3 – 7 out of 10 that were contested, and that got them on track. We can still keep playing with those hot guys. ”

Unfortunately for them, even as their hosts cooled down, the Clippers’ attacking temperature dropped significantly to match the 66-61 first-half onslaught.

“I don’t think we had a lot of offensive pop, and the second half, it caught up with us,” said Lue, who watched the Clippers open the game 12 to 18 (66.7%) and 6 eat 10 from 3. -array of points.

In Q2, they increased 11 times to 21 (52.4%) and 4 to 11 (36.4%).

But then it got extremely cold in New York, where temperatures were in the low 30s outside and inside, the Clippers shot 11 points for 40 (27.5%) and 4 for 20 (20%) after halftime.

And, to be clear, they scored 20 goals for 30 shots from the free-throw line for the game, of which only 15 were on 23 in the second half.

“We missed 10 free throws (but) getting to the line 30 times was huge for us,” said Lue, whose team averages fewer than 19 free throws per game. “So we just have to keep going aggressive.”

Reggie Jackson has recently fully embraced that attacking spirit, as shown by his scoring 19 points in the Clippers’ 24-point comeback win over Philadelphia on Friday, where he shot 8 to 14 but only won. get two 3 points.

He said Sunday his teammates and coach had “annoyed me to be aggressive when going downhill, aggressive to get in the paint and then play…so I was just trying to get up to speed, trying to get in the game. Try to remain aggressive and not let others. from the hook. ”

He and Ivica Zubac were the Clippers’ only source of significant violations on Sunday, as Jackson scored his fourth straight game with 19 points or more, leading the Clippers this time with 26 points on 10-18 shoots, including all 4 eat 8 from the worm.

Zubac finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his third straight double and 13th of the season.

In his first game at the iconic Knicks arena, rookie Brandon Boston Jr scored 13 points and Luke Kennard, began to regain his rhythm and stamina in the third game. his since missing nine because of COVID-19 health and safety protocol, adding 14 .