Los Angeles (USA), March 30 (EFE) .- The Los Angeles Clippers, who still cannot count on Serge Ibaka, dismantled Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks (129-105) and achieved their sixth consecutive victory.
With a splendid collective effort (four players over 20 points), the Angelenos made up for the important losses of Ibaka, Paul George and Patrick Beverley.
Ibaka has missed the Clippers last eight games with a bad back.
“They are progressing. I’m not sure when we will see them, but they are progressing,” Los Angeles coach Ty Lue said at the pre-game press conference when asked about Ibaka, Beverley and Rajon Rondo, the team’s latest signing.
The Clippers (32-16) stalk the second place in the West of the Phoenix Suns (31-14) and have opened a small gap with their neighbors and rivals, Los Angeles Lakers (30-17).
Marcus Morris (25 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists) was the leading scorer of some very coral Clippers in which Kawhi Leonard also shone (almost triple-double with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists), Luke Kennard (21 points with 5 of 6 in triples) and Reggie Jackson (20 points with 4 of 6 in shots of three).
The Clippers finished the game with 54% shooting from the field (51 of 95) and 56% on 3s (19 of 34). Ty Lue’s team also led clearly in rebounding (46 versus 32 for the Bucks).
In addition, the locals showed patience and know-how when taking command of the match, as they dominated the first quarter very easily (26-38). And, after the second quarter (31-17), they clearly imposed their game to the despair of their rivals.
For the Bucks, immersed in a worrying three-game losing streak, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the main reference with 32 points (10 of 21 shooting), 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
But except for Jrue Holiday (24 points) and Khris Middleton (15 points), no other Bucks player exceeded ten points.
The Bucks (29-17) remain in third place in the Eastern Conference and on Wednesday they will have a tough confrontation with the Los Angeles Lakers to try to reverse their negative streak.
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