Los Angeles, United States—Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said it was attitude, not injury absences, that cost the Clippers in a comprehensive home loss to NBA stragglers Memphis on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time).
Jae Crowder scored 27 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 24 and Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks notched 22 apiece for the Grizzlies, who produced their highest-scoring game of the season in a 140-114 victory over the Western Conference-contending Clippers.
“They were faster, quicker, they played harder,” Rivers said. “They were clearly the tougher team. Honestly, they deserved to win the game.”
Montrezl Harrell scored 28 points to pace the Clippers, with Kawhi Leonard and Lou Williams delivering 24 points apiece.
Meanwhile, Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas was fined $25,000 by the NBA for inappropriate contact with a referee in a 122-103 home loss to Portland.
Thomas received a technical foul and was ejected for the incident, which took place 88 seconds into the first quarter.
The 30-year-old American was being double covered by Portland’s Carmelo Anthony and Damian Lillard along the sideline. He battled for control of the ball with Anthony and moved forward, sticking his arm into the chest of referee Marat Kogut, who was standing out of bounds.
The play was reviewed by officials before the ejection was upheld.
With Paul George sitting out because tightness in his left hamstring and Patrick Beverley missing a third straight game with a sore wrist, Rivers said the rest of the Clippers failed to step up.
“Paul George and Pat had nothing to do with this game,” the coach said. “We didn’t guard anybody.
“We didn’t play together on offense either … I just think we came to the game today, we showed up and thought we were just going to win and we got our butt kicked – and we deserved to.”
Memphis, up by eight at halftime, scored the first seven points of the third period.
That included a free-throw off a technical foul against Leonard, who was whistled for just the second regular-season tech of his career for arguing an out-of-bounds call.
Trailing by 24 at the end of the third quarter, the Clippers heard boos from the home fans at Staples Center.
Rivers admitted he had some sympathy for supporters who had expected to see better against a Grizzlies team that came into the contest third-from-last in the Western Conference.
Although he said before the game that the early tip-off time was disruptive, he wasn’t about to let his own players off the hook.
“They played at 12 (noon) too,” Rivers said. “Maybe their alarm clocks are better than ours.”
Although the contact could have been Thomas trying to steady himself against Kogut rather than push the referee, it made no difference in enforcing rules designed to protect officials.
“He made physical contact with a referee,” referee crew chief Mark Ayotte said after the game. “It was definitely just a push during the dead ball contact with the referee.”
Kogut, 40, moved from Ukraine to the United States with his family seven days after he was born in Kiev.
Thomas, 30, is averaging 13.0 points and 4.4 assists a game for the Wizards, who at 10-24 are 5 1/2 games behind Orlando for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.