LOS ANGELES - The new guys look like they'll fit in.
Even in a 137–113 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and their rising Milwaukee Bucks, the Clippers' recent additions Norman Powell and Robert Covington were as unwilling to give up as any of their new teammates, who took three from 24-plus points this season. Bar rally. loss
Powell and Covington dropped their first shots - both 3-pointers - off the bench in their Clippers debuts, en route to 28 and 13 points respectively.
The newcomers' tally included their combined 18 points in the fourth quarter, when they helped the Clippers trim what was a 97–72 short to nine points – 101–92 – before the Bucks (34–21). ) was charged back.
It was Milwaukee's seventh win in nine games and their second consecutive night with 137 points - matching their season-best and setting a new season-high for a Clippers rival.
"They have a good point here," Powell said. "They fight, they compete - like tonight, we fought, got it in the single digits. I love that. I love a team that's like that... That's my sport, who I am . I'm a grinder, I think I fit perfectly here."
"I thought they did a good job," Clippers coach Tyrone Lew said of the new Clippers. "Attacking the basket, reaching the free-throw line, scoring the basketball and I thought Covington's defense, his energy, his (two) offensive rebounds, he did a good job - especially for the first game with no practice." "
For a heated minute, the Clippers (27-28) managed to make it interesting - thanks to the newcomers who arrived through Friday's trade, who won the likes of Eric Bledsoe, Justice Winslow, Keon Johnson and in turn Portland's Sent the pick of the future second round. ,
With 9:40 to play on Sunday in front of a crowd of 17,395 fans at the Crypto.com Arena, Covington skidded for an offensive rebound and passed the ball to former UCLA star Powell, who shot it for an open 3-pointer. was given back directly. What was a 25-point lead with 3:18 to play to 101-90 in the third quarter with 9:40 to go into the game.
And when Powell's floater came out 28 seconds later, Covington was there to clear it with a putback that closed the gap to another nine. Together, the former Trail Blazers combined for the Clippers' first 11 points in this period.
But former UCLA standouts from Milwaukee, Chatsworth native Jew Holiday, and Bobby Portis responded with a flurry to quell the Clippers rally, trailing by 11 and 10 points in the fourth quarter, which the Bucks pushed 36-21. stopped giving.
Making his debut for his new team against a team that drafted him 46th overall in 2015 — and traded him to Toronto that night — Powell led all Clippers scorers and 9 for 16, 3- 4 for 8 from point range and made six free throws for seven. , He added four assistants.
Covington scored 4 for 7 and 3 for 6 for the Clippers, who went on to lose for the third time in seven games.
After throttling Portland's 137-108 on Saturday, the Bucks matched their season-scoring high for the second game in a row when Antetokounmpo had 29 points with nine rebounds and six assists against former teammates Powell and Covington.
They could not avoid another Antetokounmpo attack, which continued on Sunday evening in LA, where he scored 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Bucks all started in double digits. Milwaukee shot 54.5% off the field and 50% from 3-point range (better than any other Clippers opponent this season), including 14 for 20 from deep in the second half.
After a first quarter of 32 points, the Clippers' regularly scheduled lull came in the second period, when their scoring tally stuck at 9:36 and did not tick upward again until 4:12 before halftime. When Marcus Morris Seniors' 3 ended the drought and trimmed the Bucks lead to 49-47. Morris finished with 20 points, 11 of which came in the first quarter.
The Clippers went 60-51 after halftime, missing 19 of their final 23 shots before halftime to finish the quarter as they took 6 for 25 (24%) off the field and 3 for 11 in the period. Took 3 shots.
More regularly scheduled programming: Pat Connaughton played the odd shooting villain on Sunday — canning four consecutive 3-pointers in the third period — to extend the Bucks' advantage to 79-56.
"He shot the ball well," Lew said. “He (Miami) ran with Gabe Vincent (six 3s in one period), ran with Duane Washington Jr. (four 3s in one period) in Indiana, they warmed up (and) they came for us tonight. There were too many."