The Morning Column: January 26, 2022
No team in NBA history laughs at 20-plus-point deficits quite like these Clippers do.
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1. Today’s lead item was supposed to be Anthony Davis’ return to the Lakers and the Lakers beating the Brooklyn Nets and perhaps turning around their season (again) now that they’re finally healthy (again).
That was before the Clippers pulled off the second greatest comeback in NBA history. The Washington Wizards were leading the Clippers by 35 points Tuesday night before the Clippers stormed back from a 66-31 deficit to beat the Wizards 116-115.
No team in NBA history laughs at 20-plus-point deficits quite like these Clippers do.
Here are some records that were set or nearly broken according to ESPN Stats & Info and Elias Sports:
- The 35-point comeback is tied for the second largest comeback in the NBA over the past 25 seasons, only trailing the Utah Jazz overcoming a 36-point deficit against the Denver Nuggets in 1996.
- The Clippers trailed by seven points with 20 seconds left in regulation. Entering Tuesday, teams were 1-16,239 over the last 20 seasons when trailing by 7 or more points with under 20 seconds remaining in regulation.
- Luke Kennard became the only player in the last 25 seasons with a game-winning 4-point play in the final 5 seconds of a game.
- The Clippers are the first team over the last 25 seasons to have three comeback victories in a single season when trailing by at least 24 points. They are the first team to do so in the same month with those comeback wins coming against the Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and Wizards in January.
This is nothing new for the Clippers as the franchise. They already hold the record for largest comeback win in NBA postseason history when they came back from 31 points down to beat the Golden State Warriors on April 15, 2019. They also orchestrated the third biggest postseason comeback win after erasing a 27-points deficit against the Memphis Grizzlies on April 29, 2012. The Clippers also came back from 25 points down to beat the Utah Jazz during the playoffs last year on June 18, 2021 on their way to advancing to the franchise’s first trip to the conference finals. They also came back from 28 points down against the Boston Celtics on Feb. 9, 2019.
Just call them the Comeback Clippers from now.
2. The Lakers looked like the team we all thought they could potentially be before the season as they welcomed Anthony Davis back for the first time after missing 17 games with a sprained left knee. The Lakers beat the Brooklyn Nets, the team they were favored to play in the NBA Finals by oddsmakers and NBA general managers, and were once again led by LeBron James, who scored a game-high 33 points.
The game started perfectly for the Lakers as Davis finished slam dunk from a lob pass from James and gave the rest of the league a glimpse of what one of the best duos in basketball could look like when they’re healthy.
The Lakers are now 24-24 and are currently the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. The numbers make you think of one person on this day.
3. Today marks the two-year anniversary of the death of Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant and seven others in a helicopter crash. It’s still hard to believe he’s gone. We all remember where we were when we found out the news. I was in Miami getting ready to cover Super Bowl LIV between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. I’ll never forget getting the news and refusing to believe it was true for most of the day before breaking down that night. I’ll also never forget picking up the USA Today the next day and reading about the crash and a story about something called “coronavirus” and a rush for a vaccine. It was officially the start of what has been a surreal and often times nightmarish two years.
4. The last time I sat down with Bryant was in his office in Costa Mesa on Oct. 21, 2019 before the opener of the 2019-20 season between the Lakers and Clippers. He was more focused on pending more time with his wife, Vanessa, and their daughters, Natalia, Gianna, Bianka, and Capri, than going to NBA games. When I asked him what he would be doing during the game and why he wasn’t at more Lakers games, he said he was going to Natalia’s volleyball game and he wasn’t sure when he would be at his next Lakers game.
“To be honest, I have a life and I have my routine at home,” Bryant said. “It’s not that I don’t want to go (to Lakers games) but I’d rather be giving B.B. a shower and sing Barney songs to her. I played 20 years and I missed those moments before. For me to make the trip up to Staples Center that means I’m missing an opportunity to spend another night with my kids when I know how fast it goes. Natalia is 16 and Gianna is 13 so that time came and went so I want to make sure the days that I’m away from them are days that I absolutely have to be. I’d rather be with them than doing anything else.”
5. I recently asked hall of fame photographer Andrew Bernstein what he thought Bryant’s statue outside of Staples Center should look like.
Bernstein, who captured some of the more iconic images of Bryant’s 20-year career with the Lakers, smiled and paused as he thought about the answer.
“I would love to see my buddy, Garrett Elwood’s photo as the statue,” Bernstein said. “After the 2010 championship, Kobe is up on the scorer’s table and his arms are out. Looking across the court, Garrett just absolutely captured that with the confetti falling. I would love to see that. That would be an incredible tribute to him. It has a lot of meanings behind. He told me it was his favorite championship of the five.”
6. Today’s tweet of the day brought to you by Ike’s Sandwiches.
7. Here are some odds if you’re thinking about placing a wager today brought to you by Circa Sports.
8. Here’s the local pro sports schedule today brought to you by Yaamava’.
4 p.m. LA Clippers at Orlando Magic – Bally Sports SoCal
4 p.m. Anaheim Ducks at Toronto Maples Leafs – Bally Sports West
9. Here are the “get in” price for a ticket on TickPick to go the NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams – $700
10. On Tuesday’s The Arash Markazi Show, we talked about Anthony Davis returning to the Lakers to take on the Brooklyn Nets.
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That’s it for today. Talk to you on Friday.