LOS ANGELES — The purpose of the second game of a back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night was two-fold. The Clippers’ starters got a night off and Coach Tyronn Lue got an opportunity to see the younger players play significant minutes.
Winning was not the point. The Clippers have two more regular-season games left to lock down the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks.
“I want to see Bones (Hyland). I want to see Kobe (Brown). I want to see Brandon (Boston), the young guys who have been doing a lot this year, just working hard to get through the season,” Lue said.
“Everybody wants to play, and everybody wants to compete at a high level, and just the team that we have, they have not been able to get consistent minutes. So just seeing the young guys being able to get a chance to play is going to be exciting for me.”
Lue said he hoped to see the reserves play hard, compete, and “lay it all on the line.” He had to like what he saw at Crypto.com Arena.
Hyland scored a career-high 37 points and Boston added 23 – a season high for him as well, but the Clippers came up short in a 124-108 loss against a Suns team that featured its top seven scorers.
All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, along with Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Jusuf Nurkic and Royce O’Neal proved to be too much as they outscored the Clippers’ reserves, 20-2 over the final 7:48. Booker finished with 37 points, Beal scored 26 and Durant add 24 points and nine rebounds for Phoenix.
The Clippers’ role players still made the most of their opportunities in a game that featured 22 lead changes and 10 ties.
Mason Plumlee had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Amir Coffey finished with 11 points and P.J. Tucker contributed a season-high 10 points. But it wasn’t enough to fill the void left by the regular starters.
Kawhi Leonard sat out his sixth consecutive game because of inflammation in his right knee and he could sit until the playoffs, which would give him eight games off.
Asked if he was concerned that Leonard’s injury could roll into the playoffs, Lue said “No, not as of right now.”
The others – Paul George, Russell Westbrook, James Harden Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell – joined Leonard on the bench with a litany of sore limbs, a result of the heavy load they have had to carry in the two-time NBA Finals MVP’s absence. But their ailments are nothing that a night off wouldn’t cure.
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The fifth starter, Terance Mann played just eight minutes and got the rest of the game off thanks in part to the aggressive play of Hyland, who made the most of his fifth start this season. He shot 15 for 28 from the field, including 6 for 7 from 3-point range, in 43 minutes. He also had nine assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Hyland got started early in the game, scoring 15 points in the first quarter and 24 in the half. With 1:09 left before halftime, Hyland stole the ball then raced down court for a layup that pulled the hosts within 55-51, bringing the Clippers’ bench to their feet. They had trailed by as many as 15 in the first half.
Boston hit a short jumper to further cut the lead, 55-53, before Hyland lofted a 27-footer to give the Clippers a 56-55 lead. He was greeted by the entire bench as he walked off the court, several players walking onto the court for a high-five.
Hyland continued his energetic play – going overboard after a layup that earned him a technical late in the third quarter.
The Suns’ win locked the Golden State Warriors and the Lakers into the play-in tournament. The Suns are seventh in the Western Conference, a half-game behind New Orleans for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot.
More to come on this story.
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