No Kawhi Leonard.
No Paul George.
No James Harden.
There's no way to help or hurt their playoff status.
Already locked into the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Clippers gave their stars the day off during the regular season finale against the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
But a former Clipper gave Los Angeles fans something to celebrate in the fourth quarter, and that something was free sandwiches from Chick-fil-A.
The Rockets, who had already been eliminated from the postseason, had an eight-point lead when popular center Boban Marjanovic stepped to the line to make a pair of free throws with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Marjanovic's miss on his first attempt sparked an unusually enthusiastic response from the crowd, and the 7-foot-4 player seemed to understand why. The Clippers and Chick-fil-A run a “Bird Shot Promotion” in which fans in the stadium receive free chicken sandwiches if an opposing player misses consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter.
Kind-hearted soul that he is, Marjanovic smiled, nodded, pointed at himself several times and appeared to utter the words “Gotcha” to the crowd, and then apparently took the second shot, much to the delight of hungry Clippers fans. . in assistance.
Marjanovic, who played 56 games for the Clippers between 2017 and 2019, triumphantly pointed his index finger upward after the ruling. According to the Clippers, it was the seventh time this season that fans received free chicken through the promotion with the fast food company that uses the “Eat Mor Chikin” slogan.
It may not have been the only play Marjanovic gave away for fun. Less than a minute later, he mysteriously missed a jumper against Clippers guard Xavier Moon (6-2), much to the amusement of the other Rockets players.
Marjanovic finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who won 116-105 to finish the season at 41-41, their first unbeaten season since 2019-20.
Meanwhile, the Clippers enter their playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks with rested starters (Leonard's status is unknown after he missed the last eight games with knee problems) and well-fed fans, making him It makes for a great day for everyone involved.
