LOS ANGELES -- One day after arriving in Los Angeles the centerpiece of a trade the Clippers believe will point their trajectory upward, Norman Powell was rising Sunday evening, higher and faster than any Milwaukee defender, toward the rim.
His two-handed dunk, off a dead sprint from beyond the three-point arc made possible by first crossing over Jrue Holiday, one of the NBA’s feared defenders, was met with cheers from a fanbase that hopes explosiveness like that will become the norm — and upgrade this team’s offense both now and in the future, when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George eventually return.
But Powell’s burst, as sudden as it was, had only trimmed the Clippers’ deficit to 20.
As welcomes go, the Clippers rolled out a mat for new additions Powell and Robert Covington as only they could in Crypto.com Arena. Their offense went from clicking to clanging, again, leading to a scoring drought of more than five minutes, again. When they fell behind by 25 points with 15 minutes to play, nobody who has watched this team in the past month batted an eye. Because it set the stage for a comeback.
Again.
Powell opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer. He drove to the rim, was fouled on his layup, and made the free throw. Flipped the ball for a wide-open wing three, he instead rerouted the pass to Covington in the corner, who made his three-pointer. Out of a Milwaukee timeout, Powell drove headlong into the paint again, and when his layup missed, Covington was there to tap in a basket for a nine-point deficit with nine minutes to play.
If Sunday was any indication, the new guys will fit in just fine on a roster that has made comebacks their calling card.
But also on display were many of the hallmarks that have required such high degree-of-difficulty rallies in the first place, the kind of stagnant offense that currently separates them from the league’s upper crust, such as Milwaukee.
Playing for the second consecutive night, the reigning world champions outclassed the Clippers in a 137-113 victory first by outscoring them by 23 points between the second and third quarters. The Bucks (34-21) then answered the Clippers’ charge, swatting away their push in a manner so many other opponents have not in the past four weeks through a 17-7 run over the last four minutes. The Bucks made half of their 38 three-pointers. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points with 10 rebounds.
The Clippers (27-28) brought in Powell, and to perhaps a lesser extent Covington, to add consistently to their lineups, reducing such scoring slumps through Powell’s scoring at the rim, beyond the arc and off the dribble, while also shoring up their defense. But much work remains to shed some bad habits.
Marcus Morris Sr. made his first three shots and finished with 20 points and eight rebounds but often his post-ups led nowhere as teammates stood still, watching him operate. Point guard Reggie Jackson was again boom-or-bust, making three of his 12 shots for 10 points.
Milwaukee’s starting five outscored the entire Clippers roster, 114-113.
Covington and Powell each started off of the bench but that could shortly change as they acclimate because Powell immediately became the most varied, and potent, offensive threat on the active roster and Covington’s defensive reach was as-advertised in stretches. He finished with 13 points. Powell was hindered in the first half by three fouls.
