LOS ANGELES — Plot twist: The Clippers turned to a hungry back-of-the-bench unit to eat into the Atlanta Hawks’ big lead and help save a game that was slipping away in a hurry.
And Luke Kennard, little used of late, was the ringleader of the brash bench crew that also starred Terance Mann, Patrick Patterson, Amir Coffey and Nicolas Batum.
Kennard invigorated the Clippers on Monday with a sublime scoring performance, making all eight of his shots and some franchise history, and in so doing, spurring his team to an inspired 119-110 comeback victory in his first significant action in three games.
After having played just once – and for just 6 minutes, 31 seconds – in the Clippers’ past three outings, Kennard became the first player in team history to record at least 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists in fewer than 20 minutes of play. No player in the NBA had done it since Giannis Antetokounmpo in November 2019.
Kennard’s 20 points came on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting performance that featured four 3-pointers, including one after he Euro-stepped into a half-court bank shot at the third-quarter buzzer.
He also delivered the cross-court pass to an open Mann for the 3-pointer that returned the lead – lost long before, with 8:55 to play in the first quarter – to the Clippers. On Mann’s 3-pointer, L.A. climbed back ahead 110-108 with 2:42 to play and didn’t relinquish the advantage again.
“It’s definitely one of the most fun games I’ve been a part of in my basketball career,” Kennard said. “Not even just NBA, but just playing basketball. It’s top two, if it’s not at the top. That was a lot of fun.”
“I am so happy for Luke Kennard,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “He’s definitely earned – he’s earned something. And when he came into the locker room, the guys threw water all over him and jumped up and down for him. Everyone loves Luke and we are just glad he is playing well right now and just happy for him on a night like tonight.”
When Kennard – along with Mann, Patterson, Coffey and Batum – entered the game with 6:29 left in the third quarter, the Clippers were flailing, trailing by 21 points, despite having had a 10-point lead seven minutes into the first period.
Annoyed, Lue was searching for something, anything to revive the Clippers against the red-hot Hawks, who seemed primed to extend their winning streak to nine games.
“Just frustrated early on just by the way we been playing,” Lue said of his decision to turn over the game to the bench. “Like I said, these guys have been working out every single day. They been competing in practice and playing five-on-five afterward. I just wanted to put a group in to try to change it up, play hard and compete and those guys did a hell of a job.
“Terance Mann, Luke Kennard, Pat Pat, Nico, Amir, they all came in and got us back in the game.”
Kennard didn’t leave the court again after setting foot on it Monday. When he did depart, win in tow, it was with a career-best plus-30 in 19 minutes of action.
After Kennard’s half-court bank shout counted, cutting the deficit to a manageable 90-82 entering the final period, Lue kept the same fivesome on the court until he reintroduced superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George (eight points, seven assists) after a timeout with 9:04 to play and the Clippers trailing by seven points.
“I’m a team player, I still believed,” said Leonard, describing his thoughts when Lue made the wholesale on-court personnel shift. “There was a lot of time left, about seven minutes left once we checked out, I just stayed in the game, clapped, you know, still telling guys to play hard, it was good, it was fun to watch.
“I mean, you see a teammate dive on the floor just giving their all it inspires you to do the same thing, and that’s what they did. They were just still competing, running hard and things happened for them.”
When he returned, Leonard scored 11 of his team-high 25 points in the fourth quarter. He also logged five rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and showed noticeable emotion to help the Clippers improve to 28-16 and win consecutive games for the first time since mid-February.
“I was just proud of everybody’s effort, even when the starters came back in they gave so much effort, they were out there getting deflections, rebounding, guarding,” said Mann, who contributed 10 rebounds, a season-high 21 points, including a career-high 11 in the final period and infectious energy.
“I mean Kawhi got a big-time block, they were out there facilitating, Kawhi hit two big 3s to close it – they came back in with effort and I was just proud of everybody’s effort to turn the game around.”
Thanks to its bounce-back bench, the Clippers improved to 27-4 in games they led by at least 10 points.
Trae Young scored 28 points for the Hawks in the loss, as their winning streak fizzled and they fell to 22-21. Tony Snell, Leonard’s high school teammate at Martin Luther King High in Riverside, scored 13 points.
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