It was anything but pretty, but the Los Angeles Clippers managed to escape Barclays Center with a 124-116 victory over the significantly shorthanded Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Los Angeles ended its six-game road trip against Eastern Conference foes with a 4-2 record and improved to 31-26 on the season behind 29 points from Paul George, 24 points from Kawhi Leonard and a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds from Ivica Zubac.
Yet the biggest storyline was who wasn't available for the Nets after trading Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris to the Dallas Mavericks. Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer reported the Clippers attempted to land Irving with a package including Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, a future first-round pick and two first-round pick swaps, but Brooklyn chose the Mavericks instead.
Irving and Morris weren't the only ones out, as Kevin Durant, Seth Curry and Ben Simmons were all sidelined for the Nets as well. That led to plenty of criticism for a Clippers squad that trailed by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter before pulling away:
The main problem for the visitors was a failure to contain Cam Thomas.
Thomas was placed into an elevated role with so many crucial players out and responded by pouring in 47 points in a stunning performance. Throw in Edmond Sumner, Nic Claxton and Royce O'Neale providing support, and Brooklyn remained within striking distance throughout the contest.
And then it struck with a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter that featured a dunk and triple from Thomas and key contributions from Sumner, Joe Harris and Claxton. That gave the Nets an eight-point advantage and had the fans fired up in Barclays Center.
Alas, the Clippers deserve some credit for responding to get the win. Leonard took over for a stretch, and a key and-1 from Nicolas Batum in the final minute proved to be one of the most important plays of the game.
Next up for Los Angeles is a home game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, where it may have to be better than it was for most of the contest against an outmatched Nets squad.
