Nicholas Batum sat in front of his locker, scrolling through the night’s box scores on his phone.

Clippers The forward made two of his 10 shots inside the United Center on Tuesday.

Luke Kennard, one of the most consistent shooters in the NBA, went 6-0.

Reserve Reggie Jackson, who has experienced a rejuvenation in the past two weeks since losing his rotation spot, went 9-1. And Terrance Mann, often an injection of energy for the Clippers, made one of his six shots.

The Clippers failed to make an open 3-pointer and made 12 of 44 from deep. They couldn’t take the lead until the 28th minute, and once they got it, they couldn’t defend it.

“And we won,” said Batum.

There are two reasons why this is over 108-103 win That gives the Clippers (29-25) six wins in their last seven games. Only one thing surprised me.

Norman PowellAveraging 13.2 points and shooting a 50% 3-point shot percentage since January 6, the reserve guard came to life again when the offense was on the verge of collapse. His 15th second quarter his points bounced back from the brink after the Clippers closed the deficit in just five minutes after trailing him by as much as 19 points. He reached the line ten times and completed all ten. His ability to draw fouls continues to be unique on this roster. He finished with 27, one ahead of the Bulls’ bench.

Powell, who was fouled on a drive to the rim with 10.8 seconds remaining, made both free throws to take a 3-point lead.

“We can attack right away,” said coach Tyrone Lue.

But there was another reason that made this an extraordinary spectacle. That’s what they’ve struggled to master over the past month. To keep the Bulls at his 45 points after halftime and play such an effective defense that he induced 20 turnovers. Kawai Leonard‘s Zach LaVine strip has five seconds to play and the Clippers are hanging to a three-point lead.

“The reason we keep winning is because the defense picked it up and carried us on nights like tonight,” said Paul George, who scored 16 in 40 minutes. “The luxury is having a player who can shoot and put the ball in the basket most nights.

“Thanks to our defense, we were able to find our rhythm and continue the match.”

Mr Lue said: Defensively we were able to get back in the game, get out in transition and get some easy stuff and that pushed us forward. “

This Clippers win wasn’t pretty.

Still, it was an advance in itself.

From Dec. 23 to Jan. 20, the Clippers were ranked in the NBA’s bottom four in half-court defense. In the six games since then, they’re 5-1 and rank 13th in points per play average.

Leonard and Powell said the majority of the rebound was due to Leonard and George regaining health, partly increased communication between defenders and finally having a consistent line-up.

Coaches were aware of pick-and-roll defensive gaps and limited transition points. On Tuesday, they realized how to disrupt Chicago. This was out of character for the Clippers’ defense, where he ranks 25th with 4.6 steals per game.

Reserve Robert Covington said, “It’s a trust factor and we’ve gotten better.

“The biggest thing was trusting the process, trusting the game, trusting each other. rice field.”

The defense “has had its ups and downs, but we have to keep improving,” Leonard said. In his season-high 40 minutes, he scored 33 points and scored at least his 24 points in his career-high 11-game streak.

“I think it was a good win on the road tonight, 40% on field goals and under 30% on three goals. I had a lot of work to do.”

This story originally appeared los angeles times.