Justin Russo

I very much want to make a joke of him almost doing something and inject his last name into it.

End Q3: Warriors 79, Clippers 77. Clippers closed the third quarter on an 18-8 run. They're in it. But can they, ya know, win it?

Yanic Konan Niederhäuser might lead the league in almost poster dunking on someone this season. These are some spectacular sequences.

Darius Garland has moved into a tie with Diamond Stone and KJ Martin on the LA Clippers' all-time scoring list, for those who enjoy throwback second-round picks.

It's been an 11-2 (and 7-0) Clippers run to trim their deficit against the Warriors down to 73-70. The energy has ticked up as the game has trudged along. Clippers are +9 in Leonard's 23 minutes so far, but they will need to survive when he hits the bench. They didn't earlier.

Kawhi Leonard has reached 16,000 career points.

We've seen crazier!

You could tell me any Top 8 seed and I'd believe it.

In non-Clippers news: I am buying Utah Jazz stock for next season. Jazzcoin will pay off.

Through six quarters of basketball at Chase Center this season, the LA Clippers are a combined 11-for-54 (20%) on 3s. Warriors are 27-for-68 (40%).

Halftime: Warriors 56, Clippers 42. Funny to say about a game they trail by 14 in, but it could have been worse. Warriors shot 10-for-23 on 3s; Clippers were 5-for-21. Clippers looked sluggish, half-speed, and out of sorts for a bit. Credit the Warriors defense for some of that.

Darius Garland has his first basket as a member of the LA Clippers.

Darius Garland is officially the third player from Gary, IN to score points for the LA Clippers, joining his father, Winston, and Branden Dawson.

Warriors have made 7 3s. Clippers have made 10 shots. Clippers trail, 41-25.

It might behoove Bennedict Mathurin to start passing a bit more in fast break situations.

Darius Garland is the only player over the last five seasons to average 20 points, 7 assists, and shoot 39% on 3s.

Darius Garland is checking in for his LA Clippers debut.

I don't know where the starting center matchup of Brook Lopez (37 years, 335 days) and Al Horford (39 years, 272 days) ranks in terms of combined age, but it has to be up there in NBA history.

A fascinating thing isn't just that Darius Garland's father, Winston, was traded by the Golden State Warriors to the LA Clippers. But, in that deal, the draft pick that would become Kevin Pritchard was dealt. Pritchard is the current president of the Indiana Pacers. And, well ...

Clippers starters tonight:

Kris Dunn
Kobe Sanders
Derrick Jones Jr.
Kawhi Leonard
Brook Lopez

Reed Sheppard had 19 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 6 steals, and 2 blocks tonight. He joins Nikola Jokic, James Harden, and Andrei Kirilenko as the only players since 2000 to do that.

In things that are flying drastically under the radar as of late, Jordan Miller is averaging 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on a 63.2 TS% over the last 23 games. The 3-point shooting (32.7%) hasn't been there, but he's gotten to the FT line so much it hasn't mattered.

Kelsey Plum, my word. 31 points and another game-winner, this time to send her team to the Unrivaled championship game. Fantastic outings from Dearica Hamby and Rae Burrell, as well.

It appears that Darius Garland will be playing off the bench for a little while for the Clippers until, as Tyronn Lue put it, Garland’s minutes get back into a range where he can then slot back in as a starter. So, perhaps not just a one game thing.

Tyronn Lue, to @lawmurraythenu.bsky.social on reason to bring Darius Garland off bench: “He can kinda just find his own rhythm, his own timing, just try to run everything through him. ... That’s what he’ll be doing until we get his minutes up. Then, of course, he’s going to be the starter.”

LA CLIPPERS INJURY REPORT - 3/2 at WARRIORS

OUT
Bradley Beal - Left Hip Fracture
John Collins - Neck Soreness

One last note: In 2020-21, 14.7% of Marcus Morris' possessions were deemed as post-ups. It's 10.8% for John Collins this season, which is up from his 9.3% last season in Utah. But Collins is averaging a league-leading 1.31 PPP on post-ups this season (min. 60 possessions).

During the offseason, I profiled that John Collins could get used in a similar way as Marcus Morris was with the Clippers in that 2020-21 season. Turns out, that's happened. This season, Collins is matching his career highs in 3-point rate, TS%, and eFG%. justinrusso.substack.com/p/how-john-c...

The LA Clippers' March 16th home game against the San Antonio Spurs has been moved to a 7:00 PM PT start instead of the originally listed 7:30 PM PT time. The game will also now be broadcast on Peacock.

Didn’t make my piece from last night but the 36 points off turnovers in their win against the Pelicans were a season high for the Clippers and their most in a game since Feb. 12, 2025. Their 22 fast break points were tied for the third-highest mark for them this season.