Clippers Lose to The Kings by 1 AGAIN

Clippers Talk with Adam Auslund after they fall by 1 to Sacramento 128-127 after battling back down 13. You'll hear from Coach Lue postgame.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The game is over, Paul Georgemoney in the pain, but the postgame
reaction has just begot Kawhi Leonard isso smooth in the mid range. This
is Clippers locker Room, a recapof today's game and a look ahead on
your hope for LA Clippers basketball.And now your host, you, sir,
are a bad man, Adam Ousley. Well, it was a lower

(00:24):
scoring affair this time, you couldsay, against the Kings. But once
again the Clippers lose by one inheartbreaking fashion with a one twenty eight one
twenty seven final in favor of Sacramento. As the Clippers have lost all five
games after the All Star Break.Welcome into your postgame show. Coming up,
we will have Clippers Talk eight sixsix nine, eight seven two five

(00:45):
seventy. We'll get the second halfhigh light of postgame box scoring and coach
luin the players. But first,back up to Golden One Center with Noah
Eagle. No, we talked aboutit early on the mis free throws and
Sacramentore going perfect from the line.Look to be the differ prince in this
one. Yeah, I mean,that's all it is. And that was
the Clippers two years ago, Adam, when they made the Western Conference Finals.

(01:07):
They were the team that would gotwenty six to twenty six to the
line and it won them many games, many many games. To go nineteen
of twenty seven at the free throwline in the game you lose by one
is brutal. I mean, there'sjust no way around it. You cannot
afford with the way this season hasgone the way this stretch after the All
Star Break has gone to miss eightfree throws in the game and a game

(01:27):
that's tightly contesting the game. Youbattled so hard in an epic fashion to
come back in this fourth quarter ona second out of a back to back
without Kawaid, Leonard Norman Powell,Marcus Morris or Vietsa Zubots. The little
things are what add up. AndI kept saying that this team had a
very small margin of victor, ofa small margin of error, and we

(01:49):
saw it play out in that exactfashion at the very end. Now,
do I agree with a foul callwith seven seconds remaining. No, Generally
the whistle is swallowed in that case, and I think that the Clippers will
feel the same way. They gotthe defensive stop they needed to, but
again, it's just second chance opportunities, fouls on potential rebounds, all the
little things that add up, andeventually the Clippers dropped their fifth in a

(02:13):
row. And these are character builders, no doubt about it. But man,
do they really hurt in the moment? Yeah, well, sixteen games
left and it didn't look like Sabonissold it somewhat. And Robert Covington was
awesome in this game. In thirtyone minutes when they couldn't buy a three
early in the fourth quarter, hehit a couple of them. He was
huge, no doubt about it.I mean, they wouldn't have even been

(02:35):
close in this game without Robert Covington. And I know a lot of people
are going to point out that thatplay where it went right through the hands
of Russell Westbrook, but I dowant to say same deal with him.
They wouldn't have been even closed inthis game without Russell Westbrook. Twenty seven
points and ten assists in thirty sixminutes. I thought he was great.
He twelve sixteen from the floor.He didn't take that many bad shots or
anything. He really didn't turn theball over. So sure in a big

(02:57):
moment he may have had a blunder. You take way more than of the
good than any of the bad,and for him, there was very little
bad today. So for both thoseguys, Westbrook not catching and securing the
ball and Covington committing what was apparentlythe touch foul underneath. I haven't seen
the play back yet, so Ican't really speak to it until I do.
But those two guys were great andthe team wouldn't have been even in

(03:21):
it if it wasn't for them.And I'm still looking for a closer replay
of the final shot by Paul Georgewhere he thought he was fouled on the
right arm. But I did likethe assertiveness and he was much more aggressive
in the second half where he tooktwelve shots and that three point he hit
in the two man game with Russand also the high off the backboard lay
up he had in the fourth quarter. Absolutely clutch, he was. He

(03:42):
was super clutch, and that fourthquarter he was great, four of eight
from the floor, thirteen points.He was a plus five, but to
him was a plus seven, andagain to prove my point from before,
Russell Westbrook was a plus twelve andthe fourth quarter at him, they just
don't they don't come back in thisgame if it's not for the energy come
he comes back with when he reen through the game. I just thought
overall, this was a tough wayto lose. And to your point as

(04:04):
well, I gotta take a lookat that shot. Upon the first replay,
I saw it didn't look like Peeggot hit, but you know he
felt it. So I would loveto take a closer look as well.
Just a tough one. And nowthey got to get back to the drawing
boards Sunday, and you got aMemphis team coming in that always likes to
take it to the Clippers, andit's the first matchup of the season.

(04:25):
Just a lot, a lot toreally get through in that short amount of
time. And so we'll see ifLA has that mental makeup which right now,
based on what they did tonight,they proved themselves a whole lot.
And I thought they really showed alot about their ability to bounce back after
a tough loss last night. Shorthandedtonight down by thirteen and the fourth quarter,
to come back and take a leadand probably give yourself a chance or

(04:46):
maybe should win this game. Thatsays a lot about where the team is.
Yeah, they no doubt fought withkey guys out, including Kawhi Leonard,
and come up just short. Theylose eight to one twenty seven in
Sacramento to the King's No, whatyou gonna mentione? It's Sunday. They're
taking on the Grizzlies back in downtownLos Angeles. Tip time for that one
is at seven. We'll have Clipperscountdown for you at six. You know,

(05:08):
if you don't mind freeze drying fromgym boys for me, maybe you
could have coming up on. Idon't know how that cheese stays at him.
That's a lot of cheese. ButI know, listen, I know
you get cheesy when it's all getsdown to business, especially on your cheap
days. I'm gonna call them cheesedays for you. It's easy with dad
jokes too. Yeah, that's whatyou do best. But there's nothing wrong
with that. No, you go, great call as always, We'll talk

(05:29):
to you on Sunday. Adam can'twait. Coming up next. Second half
highlights. Clippers lose a brutal onein Sacramento. They come up a point
short twenty seven. Your final andfavor of the Kings or postgame next here
on the Los Angeles Clippers. Rightthe animal Clippers fall by one up in
Sacramento to the Kings. The hitskeep on coming. They've lost five in

(05:54):
a row since the All Star Break. Welcome back into your postgame show.
I'm atam Moslin eight six six ninetyseven two five seventy as we have Clippers
stock coming up on AMPI seventy LASports eight six six ninety seven two five
seventy. Let's get to your secondhalf highlights. Clippers were down by five
at the half. The score wassixty eight to sixty three in favor of

(06:17):
the Kings. I mentioned it,but Paul George had just four shots in
that first half. He started toget it going though on the third,
trying to get it to George,but Toomb can't do so. Now he
does on the bounce pass just insidethe ark, George facing up, Tenna
shoot cross over down the left valley, long strides fan sit in with the
right hand PG. Thirteen with eleveneighty three eighty two, Clippers down by
one, Westbrook left to right,bounce pass right alboh It's George facing up,

(06:40):
tries a fifteen footer and response rightover Davis. George now with thirteen
seven in the quarter. Yeah,that's where he had Clippers, though,
we're still down by five exiting thethird at one oh one to ninety six,
but at that point Paul George hadfifteen points. Now heading into the
fourth, Clippers were down by thirteenearly on as they started zero of eight

(07:04):
from the outside in the final period, But then Paul Georges reinserted and he
started to get it going. Georgedriving kick for Westbrook, working on Fox
again down the right alley, kickit out Comington, swing at George or
right wing. Three is on theway and good for Paul George. He's
got twenty three one, twenty two, one, sixteen three fifteen remaining far
side. Said Bonus had it knockedaway, but Toom saved it. Gordon

(07:27):
has it. Here it comes Westbrook. A minute of play left to right,
Westbrook on the right wing, guardedby Barnes on the outside. Clippers
can tire take the lead. Bobbinginside. George looks like he was Poald.
Kick it out Westbrook, swing atGeorge. Quarter three coh. Paul
George looks it down one twenty five, one, twenty four, Clippers in

(07:48):
front, forty five seconds left.Fans on their feet here at golden one
center, but toom will inbound farside get it in for George a few
people behind the line. George lookingto drive on Barnes down the right alley
to the ram high the window PoePaul George gets it to go one seven,
one twenty six. Clippers in frontPG thirteen with thirteen points in the

(08:09):
fourth quarter, Clippers were in front, in front there with thirty three seconds
left at one twenty seven to onetwenty six. They got the miss from
deeron Fox. They got the basketball, almost had an eight second turnover in
the backcourt. They got into thefront court, but Eric Gordon threw it
to Russell Westbrook went between his handsand over his head and out of bounds.

(08:31):
Kings would call a time out.Demontis Sabonis ends up getting fouled going
for an offensive rebound by Robert Covingtonon a miss from deeron Fox was seven
seconds left. He goes to thefree throw line knocks down both to put
him back up by one. SinceSacramento goes on to win once twenty eight
to one twenty seven. As PaulGeorge would miss a pull up three pointer

(08:54):
where he thought he was fouled asthe buzzer sounded. Clippers lose one twenty
eight to one twenty seven up northto the King's. Second time in a
week they've lost by one to Sacramento. Coming up next well, previous Sunday's
game, Clippers back home taking onthe Memphis Grizzlies. You're listening to your

(09:15):
post game show right here on theLos Angeles Clippers or Good Network. Clippers
lose by one, this time upin Sacramento to the Kings, after losing
two and by one in downtown LosAngeles a week ago. Final score Kings
one twenty eight, Clippers one twentyseven, as they would miss eight free
throws, a big one in thelast two minutes from Russell Westbrook, who

(09:37):
did have a great game overall,unfortunately missed that free throw and had to
turn over late, but he's stillfinished with twenty seven points. Tennisis was
a plus eleven out there. RobertCovington fifteen points season high six of eleven,
three of eight shooting from distance ona night where the Clippers still struggled

(09:58):
from the outside overall fourteen of fortyone that's thirty four percent. But those
miss free throws the four they hadin the last two minutes of the third
quartermake it. Mason plumbly missed two, then a mere coffee miss two,
and Sacramento went twenty six of twentysix from the charity striving. That was
the difference. Clippers lose by oneonce twenty eight to one twenty seven to

(10:24):
the Kings. Their next one iscoming up on Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
I believe we're playing the Denver Nuggetstonight. Yes, they were.
They lost in Denver one thirteen toninety seven. Gonna be hungry. They
get a day off as well.There'll be the Clippers first game against John

(10:46):
morand the Grizzlies this season. Well, they see him two more times after
Sunday as well. Clippers have tostop the bleeding somehow, some way,
get a victory on Sunday. Beforewe get out of here. I do
want to remind you tip time forSunday night's game from Crypto dot com arena
is at seven. We'll have Clipperscountdown starting at six. Outside of Los

(11:07):
Angeles, we are leaving you untilthen, but coming up next year on
AMP five seventy LA Sports, wegot Clipper stock. Welcome into Clipper Stock.
Here's a new shore from town.You won't be able to deny it.
You're going to go to the NBAFinals. I believe it in my
heart. This is the best teamin the history of the franchise. I

(11:28):
am all about the Clipper Nation.This is Clippers Talk. They're trying to
win the whole thing. A postgamelook, it's your La Clippers recapping the
game, the stars and looking aheadto what's next. To hear episodes you've
missed. Subscribe to Clippers Talk oniHeart Radio or wherever you podcast. Now

(11:48):
your host of Clippers Talk. Here'sAdam Oslin. Whoa God, no,
God, please no, whoa,whoa, whoa. Another day at the
office for the Clippers. Another loss, unfortunately by one again to the Sacramento

(12:09):
Kings, this time up north.They lose. Wasn't even that high scoring
one twenty eight to one twenty seven. I'm kidding, but after the one
seventy six one seventy five game aweek ago, Yeah, low scoring nineties
basketball affair, Clippers lose by oneagain. Deja vu. They have lost
five straight. Welcome in the ClippersTalk. I'm at dam Oslin eight six

(12:33):
six ninety eight seven two five seventyeight six sixty nine eight seven two five
seventies the phone number. You canalso get to me on Twitter at follow
Adam as. Many are some trolling, some with some serious and suggestions of
how the Clippers can turn this freefall around. Maybe Zach will pick up
on that and play the late greatTom Petty heading into the break here coming

(12:58):
up on the show, we're lookingpropost game audio from coach lou and the
players. I mentioned the desperation modethe Clippers have to be in right now.
Paul George said it after last night, and I thought we saw it
this underman squad without Norman Powell,Kawhi Leonard of Vita Zoobots, Marcus Morris

(13:20):
on the second night of a backto back after giving away at twelve point
lead early in the third quarter againstGolden State last night, they were the
ones down thirteen multiple times in thefourth quarter, and they battled. It
was one thirteen, one hundred,eight nineteen left, then the Clippers down

(13:43):
one sixteen to one h three,was six fifty two left, and they
kept coming. And Paul George,who I went after a little bit in
the first half because he only tookfour shots ended up with thirteen points on
the fourth a latch three off thetwo man game with him and Russell Westbrook
in the far side corner. Alayup in traffic could have been an a

(14:07):
one maybe, but just a ridiculousshot that he hit to put him up
by one high off the top ofthe backboard. It would drop and somehow
the Clippers had a one point leadwith thirty three seconds left at one twenty
seven to one twenty six, andI thought it was going to be a

(14:28):
classic Clippers turnaround come back, agritty effort win by an underman shorthanded squad
like we had seen over the years. But like we have seen this season,
they come up just short as therewould be a tough call on the
other end, as Demonte Sabonis wasfouled by Robert Covington minimal contact, But

(14:52):
we'll see what a two minute reportssays tomorrow. Not that it will make
anyone feel better if they say itwas a bad call. Roco was called
the foul in a game that heplayed great in and they would hit both
free throws, Sabonis knocked him down. Paul George had a look glad he
took that shot. That's what youhave to get from your stars. He

(15:13):
thought he was fouled. Still haven'tseen a replay that was close enough to
know if he was. I thinkit was dear and fox on him.
But he would miss that three pointerand the Clippers lose by one again to
the Kings, not in double overtime. Final score in regulation one twenty eight
to one twenty seven. I mentionedRobert Covington having a sour play at the

(15:37):
end of this one that a lotof people are gonna remember, but I
hope instead you remember how well heplayed, because in thirty one minutes,
for a guy who was getting Dnp'sleft and right all season long, I
can't understand it either. His defensewas great, but also his offense.

(15:58):
When the Clippers started that fourth quarterdown by five, they missed their first
eight three pointers till Roco hit acouple clutch shots, and when he wasn't
hitting threes and went three of eightfrom distance, he was taking guys off
the dribble and getting layups, attackingcloseouts. Finished with two steals, but

(16:22):
I mean he had deflections also endedup his steals for others four boards in
a season high of fifteen points.I gotta think he starts playing more.
There's sixteen games left in the season. He and Nicholas batoum on the court,
trapped, Sabonus turned into a steal, and I believe a Russell Westbrook
lay up on the other end.Another guy that people are going to point

(16:45):
to for being the goat you don'twant to be. And he's been scapegoating
far too much this season by Lakersand their fans, and this loss is
not on him. Get it theturnover late as the Clippers are up by
one, and there probably should havebeen an eight second violation. Anyways,

(17:06):
it didn't look like they got intothe front court in time, but Eric
Gordon tried to pass to Russ whowas open, and he was looking where
he was going before he caught thebasketball as it went over his head and
out of bounce. And it's reallyunfortunate because he played great. And honestly,
if you think he's the problem rightnow, if you think he lost

(17:27):
this game tonight, I'm probably gonnacall you a casual. The guy was
a plus eleven in a game theylost by one. He was absolutely keeping
them in it. He had Iwant to say, fifteen and seven at
the half, was leading them andscoring, was setting guys up, playing
aggressively going out. Daron Fox hadten assists, hit a three, twelve,

(17:55):
was sixteen from the field, sixteenshots first twenty seven points. He
was efficient. It is a damnshame that a lot of people, and
I know the casuals and Sports Centerhighlights are just gonna zero win on that
play at the end and that turnoverthat didn't lose the Clippers the game.
You would say it was a badcaller or a weak caller or tiki tack

(18:15):
call. At the end, guy'sgoing for an offensive rebound and maybe if
Sabonis doesn't get found there, hecomes down with it and puts it up
in any ways, but it's noton Russ. Don't oversimplify things. And
the majority of his games so farhe's played really well. Even in the
last two games where he had struggledin second halfs, he was very good

(18:37):
in first halfs. This team onlyhas seven turnovers. Tonight, I saw
Michael Eaves. I believe it wasanchor at the Evil four letter looking for
low hanging fruit, and maybe Ihim for even giving him attention here.
I think it was him, butsomebody was pointing out the amount of turnovers

(19:02):
the Clippers have had since Russ hasbeen on the team. They had seven
tonight. It's great number, halfas many as they average. Yeah,
he had five of them and thatone late. At least one of them
wasn't on him. It was apassing Nicholas Batoum who didn't meet the basketball
in the second half. Still Batoumhit big shots too. The Clippers fought.

(19:30):
It was a different type of loss, a loss none the same.
I see a lot of people onTwitter saying I'm more encouraged by this,
but it's still five straight losses andthe hemorrhaging continues and they're falling down the
standings. I'll update you on thoseeight six six nine eight seven two five

(19:52):
seventy eight six six nine eight seventwo five seventy is the phone number.
Let's go to Damien La Damien,and you're on Clipper stock without I'm awesome,
Adam Adam Adam man. Another toughloss, bro. I want to
start it off with a positive though, because I listened to you guys on
the broadcast tonight. What a callby you and Noah, And you know

(20:18):
what a call by Noah I'm justglad to be here. Hey, you
know you're contributed, bro, andI appreciate everything you brought to the table
too, especially in the post game, free game and halftime shows. But
yeah, Noah was on fire tonight, and you know, like, we
really don't deserve you a Clipper nation. You guys are awesome. But I'm
encouraged. I'm encouraged a little bitby some of the things I saw.

(20:41):
I want to rant for like tenseconds, Bro. The refereeing. You
know, they've been getting really involvedin competitive matchups. I don't really know
what that's about, seeing as theratings of them down for the last five
years. But the refereeing, youknow it. I'm not I'm not interested
in complaining about the officials tonight.I'm not. I know. I know

(21:03):
you want to go after the Sabonusplay or the Paul George play or something
specific. Okay, but just sayingoverall the refereeing, I'm not interested.
Well no, no, no,no, I know I just went around
a little quick. I have toget that out of my assistem. I'm
done. But you know, butone thing I do want to say,
actually want to piggyback off of whatyou said, because I too have been
on Twitter and I've seen all theWestbrook slander and everything like that. You
got to stop with that. Man. If you think that he's the reason

(21:26):
why we're losing games right now,you're really, really, really just distorted
in your basketball views. He's beenplaying better every single game. He's improved
in the areas where we need himto be improving in. Like I said,
you know, when I was atthe game the other day, I
told you, and he get well, he gets the fifteen assists, we
won't lose. So when they figureit out, when they get all these

(21:48):
guys together, when we get healthy, I really think it could be something
dangerous. But the problem is we'relosing time. Man. We gotta win
games. We gotta find ways towin game. If that means we've got
to be more regrets, if thatmeans we got to come out and play
harder, whatever it is we haveto do. We have to get off
things that aren't working quicker. Wejust got to play from the hip a
little bit better. And I trustTilu to do that because he's a field

(22:10):
guy. How do you feel Ifeel like I think Clippers have lost five
in a row. And four ofthese games were extremely winnable. And I
don't know if that's encouraging or discouragingto you. It depends on how you
look at it, because I didsay this here night. At times it
has felt like they had forgotten howto win these close games. That's what

(22:32):
it is looked like at times.Now they battled back and they were under
man tonight, and I do thinkthere were some good signs. And Russell
Westbrook, no, he was notthe problem. You didn't watch. If
you're just going out and posting ohand five with Russell Westbrook like you didn't
watch, you did do? Ithink Paul George should have been more aggressive

(22:52):
in the first half. Yes,did he step up late? Yes?
Did the Clippers lose this one?At the free throw line? They actually
got more attempts than Sacramento if youwant to point to the officials. The
problem is they miss eight of thetwenty seven attempts. Sacramento didn't miss once
on their twenty six. Clippers loseby one to the Kings. We'll update

(23:17):
you on the standings. We'll getback to your phone calls eight six six,
ninety eight seven two five seventy eightsix six ninety seven two five seventy.
You're listening to Clippers stock. You'reon em by seventy l a sports
something. I said, huh,the Clippers losing by one one twenty eight
to one twenty seven and sacraments upto the Kings. The pattern continues,

(23:38):
not just the losses, but theclose gut punches. They were more like
a John Claude punch. And wasfort eight six six nine eight seven two
five seventy eight six six nine eightseven two five seventy is the phone number.
Welcome back into Clipper Stock. I'mAdam Oslind. Let's go to John

(24:03):
in Santa Monica, California. John. What's up John? Europe? Hey,
Adam, how's it going? Yeah? I mean I can't believe we
still haven't won a games since AllStar. You know, you see the
game at Phoenix, you think we'rereally going in the right direction, and
to think that, you know,we haven't won a games since then,
it's just beyond disappointing, you know, especially when you see players like Westbrook

(24:25):
having a great game tonight and Gordonhaving a great game tonight, and just
that you know that past obviously wasn'twhat it caused us to lose the game
tonight. But it's frustrating, youknow, it's just you hope this team
hasn't but you just you see moreand more, and I mean it's just
it breaks your heart. They're findingways to lose right now and that is
a little bit troubling. Am Iwrong? No, Yeah, it's exactly
it. And there's just like yousaid earlier, these close games where you

(24:48):
know they're more than winnable against teamsthat you know, you feel they could
they could beat this team. Youknow, there's no reason why. And
I feel like a night late tonighttonight, even though Covington played great,
you still miss Zobots tonight. Youknow, I think it's Zubosch was in
the game. I think maybe wewould have had a little bit obviously better
defense than we had going to againstagainst the bonus. I'm concerned about Big
Zoo now because when he came backagainst Minnesota, I thought, yeah,

(25:10):
there's a good chance he doesn't playboth on the back to back, but
not playing either game the last twothere's a level of concern there. And
it's the right calf injury, andwe've seen the way these things can be
managed. It seems to be likea hamstring where you just don't know.
It's a little bit more unpredictable andtrying to manage it. But yeah,
I hope Zoo can come back soon. They desperately need to give it coming

(25:33):
two minutes. I mean, ifthis is going to be right now,
then at least I hope they startkeeping Covington playing right now, because I
mean, while I think Plumble's playedgreat for us, I just don't think
you know he's playing on jumping intothe starting role as center right now.
Maybe the blessing in disguise coming outof this one is that Robert Covington got
to show what he can do andstill do to help this team on both
ends, because I thought it wasa breath of fresh air to see him

(25:56):
out there and see some of thosewings stop lineups with him and Nicholas Patum
on the court at once. John. I appreciate the phone call, my
friend. We'll talk to you onSunday. Okay, take care, let's
go to Let's see hey Zeus andPlinza. Hey Zeus, you're on Clippers
staff without Hm Bastin. Hey,Adam, thanks for having me on man

(26:17):
and I just want to say Iappreciate everything you do with Will and Chuck
in the clips and bit podcasts.Really love you're back and forth and you
guys is you guys are views andopinions on the Clippers. Man, so
thanks for having me on. AndI you know, like you were saying,
like everyone else has been saying,Man, this is really a heartbreak,
this loss. But you know,it did actually give me some hope

(26:38):
because I saw while there was likesome sloppy play like in the in the
in the third, second and thirdquarter and stuff where you know, affectiment,
I took the leads. I didsee some essence of the comeback Clippers
that we that we kind of gotused to seeing in the past few years,
like you know, without Kauai orof those times like when we had
like Lou William on the team.Still you know, I was like we

(27:02):
were able to fight back, youknow, and get back in the game.
You know, Paul George, despiteeverything he said on the JJ Reddick
podcast, I really thought that hehe showed leadership tonight. I mean despite
you know, you know, acouple of errors here and there, and
then you know that missed by byyou know that turnover by Russell Westbrook at
the end. You know, itreally sucked, man, because he had

(27:22):
such a such a great game,you know, but I really thought,
you know, Paul George started slow, but he really like kind of came
came in for us, came throughfor us towards the end, despite the
slimiss shot at the end. Obviously. Yeah, Paul George had twenty two
of his twenty eight in the secondhalf. Yeah, nine in the third,
thirteen in the fourth quarter. Hitthe big shots, hit a tough

(27:45):
layup, a big three pointer.Russ found him for that. I thought
Russell Westbrook was so good throughout andI appreciate the phone call his Zeus early
on this one. He had asteal on Sabonis, He went coast to
coast, went at Fox for alayup. You know, there were times
where he was the one trying towield the Clippers back when they got down,

(28:07):
when they had to battle, becauseSacramento is that good, and the
Clippers were without Kauai and a VisaZubots and Norman Powell. There was a
time where he turned down a threeand took a fade away in the first
and started talking to the crowd whowas getting on him. They saw him
lining up for that three pointer,he didn't take it. He has done

(28:30):
this multiple times now in his fivegames as a Clipper. That's not Russ
being Russ. That is someone muchmore in control making better decisions out there.
But that layup he had off thePG strip in the second half was

(28:52):
special, and he got he gotto steal on Deer and Fox a couple
of them, and those two werekind of going back and forth. You
liked the competitiveness. You would haveliked to see a Clippers victory, though.
They need one desperately, and theydon't get any easier. They got
three more games with Memphis. Firstone starts on Sunday, So this is

(29:15):
a team that they have to playdesperate, They have to play with urgency.
I thought we saw some of ittonight. They certainly didn't quit.
There were a lot of people saying, look, it's Sacramento. You're going
into the Lions then, and theylocked the door behind you. That's a
really tough place to win. They'relooking to light the beam and light you

(29:37):
up with their shooting, and theycould get on top of you quick.
And I thought the Clippers the mostpart, just kept battling down many guys.
Let's go to Alex and Fresnell.Alex, what's up? You're on
Clippers sock without? I am awesome, hey man, A big fan this
once say, I think we playedwith without Kawai. I think we played

(30:00):
pretty good game tonight. But Iwant to say too, I mean with
a different roster. I mean,what a couple. What when when we
had Kawai NPG come back from injury, we lost? I think we went
oh and four games straight. SoI think it's just the matter of finding

(30:22):
a greight roster at this point.But you said, when Kawai and Paul
George come back from injury, what'sthe right roster? Then you don't want
those two? No, I knowwhat he's saying. I want the most.
No, it's just at this point, I think TYLERU is just trying
to find a good point to fitwithin. I mean, what we got
bones Gordon and Westbrook could I thinkwe're just trying to find this right roster

(30:49):
to play, and I think it'sstill all mixed up at this point.
No, I can't get to disagreewith that. Alex. They they haven't
had a continue and coach lew hadtalked about. I think the quote was
something about getting a nine man rotationgoing by next week. They're sixteen games
left. I asked the question onTwitter. But it's hard to have a

(31:12):
sense of urgency while also shuffling lineupsthis much. Some of it is just
out of necessity. They have newguys, they have to try them out,
but they are running out of timeand I don't know if they can
escape some of the bad habits they'vehad all season. Tonight, While you
can say that one turnover killed themlate, overall that kept them in it

(31:33):
the way they took care of thebasketball before that, they had a lot
of turnover issues and three of thelast four games they were okay against Denver,
but against the Kings the first timethey had twenty five turnovers. Against
the Minnesota Timberwolves, I want tosay they had another twenty five against Golden

(31:55):
State, they had sixteen. Andsometimes it's when they happen as well,
they just end up being crushing blows, self inflicted wounds that this team can
ill afford to have. Let's takea quick time out. We'll come back
looking for postgame audio from coach LouClippers lose on one twenty seven in Sacramentos
of the Kings out scored him byfour and the fourth after being down thirteen.

(32:22):
It looked like it was going tobe a classic Clippers comeback, but
we said it a lot this season. Those comebacks have been coming up short
lately. We'll Clippers stop next duringa five seventy l A sports to get
me in trouble. You want meto their old school, I'm not gonna
do it, Zach Clippers one twentyeight, one twenty seven in Sacramentso they

(32:45):
lose by one again, four oftheir last five games during this losing streak
extremely winnable, but they're finding waysto lose now. They also found a
way to come back, and theyfound a way to have a thirty one
to seven assist to turnover ratio betterthan four to one. That's fantastic.

(33:10):
That kept them in it. Butthey did settle early in the fourth quarter.
Starting the quarter down five, theytook a ton of threes. I
want to say six of their firstseven shots at least were from distance,
and they weren't falling bones Highland.God bless him because he's so aggressive out

(33:32):
there. One of nine, butoz of six from three. He was
putting them up. I don't mindit, that's what he's out there to
do. But in twelve minutes hadjust four points and again one of nine
shooting. He's young, they'll continueto get better. It was a steal
to get him for two picks.But we said at last game, you

(33:54):
know, the Clippers settled in thesecond half. They had thirty two points
in the pain in the first halfagainst Golden State. Yesterday they had just
ten in the second half, andI thought they settled too much down the
stretch in the fourth to let theKings build up that thirteen point lead to
where the Clippers did come back admirably. I mean they battled, they had

(34:19):
some of that heart and toughness.And coach Lou said it. I put
up this clip earlier in the day, but he said, you can't give
in. Yeah, you can missshots, yeah, you can have turnovers.
You can't get in. You can'tget down on yourself. You have
to continue to compete and fight.And they're in a hole and they've dug

(34:39):
it for themselves. And I knowa lot of people are just going to
focus on Russell Westbrook and say they'reoh of five since getting RUSS. I
don't think it's nearly that simple.They've been consistently inconsistent all season long.
When they had a six game losingstreak, was Russ there, No,

(35:00):
this is who they've been. That'stheir identity. Unfortunately, being consistently inconsistent
and not building enough good habits.They give up too many key offensive rebounds,
including fouling Sabonis on a key onelate. He would put them up
by one. Paul George had ashot at it, thought he was fouled,
couldn't get the three to go.Clippers lose by one. Lenny and
Inglewood, you're on Clippers stock withAdham Austin. What's up Lenny, hey

(35:22):
man? I I mean, itjust seems like they say it's getting late
early, and I'm just curious ina situation like this, if they do
go play out the rest of theseason and looks like they're gonna fall,

(35:46):
they fall short way short of theirgoals, which was to me get into
the finals. And I'm with you. I've said it all along. It
is a championship type or bust year. Yeah, it has to be.
It's year four. Paul George andKawhi Leonard and Kawhi has been playing at
too high of a level for themto be losing games. In fact,

(36:07):
I posted this earlier today on Twitterat follow out of May and Lenny will
get right back to you. Holdon. But it's amazing to me how
good Kawai has been. And Iwant to say, it's the last twenty
one games now, and I gotit for you right here. Since he
started playing regular minutes again at thirtyseven a night since January seventh, in

(36:30):
his last twenty one games, he'sgetting twenty eight points on fifty three fifty
ninety shooting splits, and the Clippersin those games are twelve and nine.
That just seems impossible. They arewasting a top five player performance that they're

(36:50):
getting out of Kauai every night lately, and they're not getting victories. And
I told you also before their defensejust hasn't been good enough all season long.
That has been a constant. Youtake out the first seven games of
the season, and they basically havebeen bottom ten in the last almost sixty.
Now that that's maybe who they areon that end, it shouldn't be,

(37:10):
and maybe the difference is personnel insome ways, and having Robert Comington
out there was great tonight. Butlet me keep going. I'm sorry,
No, I think those are allexcellent points, and I you know,
to me, you know, justI think Kawai man hasn't vindicated with the

(37:31):
whole oh low management thing, andI think they really can't put that hang
out on him. But they handledhim right. And anyone who's mad that
he's not playing tonight, look athow good he's been. He is back
to one twenty twenty one Kawhi Leonardlevel and that is remarkable in his first
year back off the a c L. Absolutely, And my last point is

(37:53):
this, you know, Kauai isjust you can't you just can't put anything
like that up on the block.But I mean, there's there's no way
you can take this same team intothe next year. So I'm just curious.
I mean, do you think there'sgoing to be some shakeups or what?

(38:16):
Lenny, I don't even want togo down that road yet. Let's
cross that bridge when we get there. Season's not over all, right,
I get it, they've lost fivein a row. It is disheartening,
discouraging in some ways. It's worsethan the six game road or losing streak.
It probably is. I said thisafter they lost four yesterday, because
it's so late into the season tohit the skid like this. So I

(38:40):
understand, but there's games to beplayed when there's not I'll tell you what
I think. But I appreciate thephone call my friend Ryan and Burrbank.
You're on Clippers, soife without imAustin yeh, Adam, it's a pleasure
to talk to you with always.Look, man, I mean there's to

(39:04):
me when it comes down to theClippers right now. Number one is Covington's
gotta get minted. He has toget minted. Look Marcus Morris during the
playoff run, it's twenty twenty,twenty twenty one. It look great.
I know he's had big shots.Give me Covington. Gives those minutes to

(39:25):
Covington at this point, he looksmore athletic, he looks better defensively,
and Adam, I think he hitthe nail on the head really, because
the thing is, I don't findthe Clippers taking three. I don't find
that because that's what the league is. You look at the you know,
most of the last couple of championsfive the Lakers a bubble they've been three

(39:45):
point union styled teams. But thebiggest constant that has happened to season as
it's terrible, it's not good.And and again you have a game like
this where you had a chance towin this game again after the Toronto over,
so forget the turnover for a second, and you couldn't get the rebound

(40:07):
from Sabonis and then you foul livewell, and it was going to Rocco,
but they called the foul. Iwatched it again and Sabonis it looked
like he sold it. He did. Was there some contact? Did it
look worse than it was? Yes, I can see why it was called.

(40:29):
My question of you having would thatbe called to foul in the playoffs?
Probably not, But if it wasgonna happen, it was gonna happen
for the home team, and theywere in Sacramento and Sabonis was an All
Star this year. So so mything though is again though, if you
weren't trying to win a Gamian again, the threes don't bother me as much

(40:51):
as because look, the three willcome to three will go and and in
today's NBA you're shooting more three thingor none. But again, do we
have to play defense to actually getinto guys and stop guys. Don't tell
me that these guys can't any Imean I'm looking at some even Aaron Born
at that time, so I'm like, dude, I've seen him play the
people for the bouts, thank you. So when I look at all these

(41:15):
players, I'm like, where's thedefensive mentality? Birth Like, I want
to play Ryan. That's one ofthe most baffling things all season long with
this team that Coach Low keeps saying, defensive mindset, come out, hit
first, make a stand on thatend. Shots are gonna come and go.
The defense has to be a constantfor them, and it hasn't been.

(41:36):
They've been close to bottom ten theentire year. It is perplexing as
anything, but some of it.I do think a lot of three guard
lineups early on some guys that aren'there anymore. They've been trying so many
things with lineups and roster moves andand there was just another big shake up
with having to incorporated guy into thestarting lineup in Russell Westbrook. And I'm

(41:59):
not blaming him at all. Thisis what they wanted, this is who
they wanted. They want a pointguard. They got him. But a
guy who's playing thirty five minutes anight and played thirty five minutes in this
one, it's hard to get himup to speed with everyone else. When
there's so many moving parts going on. There was bound to be a learning

(42:19):
curve, and there has been.I don't think tonight at all, he
was the problem. I think itwas just they were down guys. They
fought, they battled, they gavewhat they could. I didn't like the
three pointers early in the fourth quarter. They took far too many. But
outside of that, I can't putmuch on these guys. They fought right.
Let me ask you something. WhenI screened your call, your phone

(42:43):
sounded amazing. What happened? Youput me on the bluetooth? Just be
honest, yea yea killing me brother, killing me? Man? How are
you gonna Are you gonna fake meout like that? When I screen you
and you sound so good, hD and then you put me on the
boot. I hope you're driving safe, clippers. I'm not gonna make a

(43:07):
film on Louise reference here. They'redriving. There's some bumps in the road
right now. They gotta figure thingsout. Tonight you can say there was
some positive but in the end theylost, and there's sixteen games left in
the season. I'll update you inthe standings. We'll hear from coach lu
Next we'll get back to your phonecalls. Eight sixty six nine eight seven

(43:29):
two five seventy eight six six nineeight seven two five seventy. This is
Clippers Talk, Karen MP five seventyl a sports somebody I want to show
love to. In this game.They also have zero shot without Eric Gordon
playing the way he did. Eightof thirteen, three of seven had a
steal, had some deflections leading tosteals for others. Twenty one points,

(43:52):
best plus minus on the team,a plus eighteen in a game the Clippers
lose by one up in seven Recramentoto the Kings. This still could be
a first round matchup, but Igotta be honest, the Clippers wouldn't be
the three seed in that scenario,They'd be in the sixth spot. Welcome

(44:13):
back in the Clipper stock. I'mAdam Oslin eight six six nine eight seven
two five seventy eight six six nineeight seven two five seventy. Clippers right
now are in the eighth spot behindMinnesota, who beat the Lakers tonight,
half game behind them. And rememberMinnesota winning that game against the Clippers here
to night. I told you thiswas a brutal loss. Because they won

(44:35):
the season series, they have thetiebreaker over them, Kings have the tiebreaker
over the Clippers. They have prettymuch l zero shot at three seed.
That's what it is. Clippers threeand seven now their last ten, they've
lost five in a row. Davidand Sino, you're on Clipper stock without
Am Moslin, Hi, Adam,thanks making my call. Another brutal lost

(45:00):
night. But there are some positivesout of there. I gotta give credit
to Sacramento making every every single oneof their free throws. It would have
been nice we could have made acouple more there. Those free throws at
the end of the third quarter,two miss by Plumley, two miss by
a mere Coffee who was out intransition. Some people will saying he's not

(45:21):
a good free throw shooter. Heshould have given it up to somebody else.
That those two really hurt because theycould have been down one head against
the fourth. And the good pointabout Eric Gordon, it was a good
pick up there, and you know, and so there's some things we got
to take away from tonight, andit does feel like worse than the sixth

(45:42):
game losing streak earlier this year.But we're still around and now they're still
was sixteen games left, so beokay, all right, Dave. I
appreciate the phone call. I likethe positives. Eric Gordon got things started
with an N one. He wasreally good, I thought, after the
last two games where he struggled mightilylast couple. Now he stepped up in

(46:07):
a big spot. Third quarter.He hit a big three to put him
up by two. He had abig layup. He had all twenty one
of his points before the fourth.I'm not sure how much he ended up
playing in the fourth quarter. TerrenceMann had eight points. But you know,
it's more about the defense and doingsome little stuff. But he hit
a couple of three pointers that werebig. Chris in LA, you're on

(46:32):
Clippers stoff with that. I'm anster. Thank Chris. It's been tough.
It's been tough man, But Idon't know why Tyluke can't see it.
I've been saying it all along.I really believe Terrence Man needs to be
in this starting lineup. If youif you set out Mooke, I love
Mooke, but he's got to sitout, and you bring Kawai at the

(46:52):
four, PG at the three,Man at the two, Westbrook at the
at the one. Bording comes rightoff the bench with Bones Thailand. Whoever
catches a group between those three closeout the game pretty hopefully Norman Powell will
be back to come off the benchwith Eric Gordon. Yeah, yeah,
no, I'm sorry Norman Powell andh and Eric Gordon, but we gotta

(47:14):
find a way to get Bone someminutes. He looks off because he's a
rhythm player. He's got to getcomfortable and we need his spacing, we
need his three point shooting. Butmore so, we gotta get we We
gotta get Terrence Man in that startinglineup. He was the reason for that
winning streak. He's got to getminutes. He's he's the glue. He's
the young Nico on our team andwe need that. And I don't know

(47:38):
why Tyler can't see it. Andit just sucks that Rust missed that because
he had such an amazing game andI'm still rooting for this guy. I
still see good things. But allyou have to do is catch that ball
that would have been free throws oreven an open layup. Man. That
was a tough game, dude,and it's it's tough because I've been a

(47:58):
fan since Poul Richardson and this isa tough ride. Man. Yeah,
Well keep the faith, Chris,as I like to say, they got
sixteen games left, they have time, and they have I still think the
right coach to figure this thing out. Last call before we hear from coach
Lou Morris and long beach. Morse, what's up? You know what,

(48:20):
Adam? Let me share something withyou. I'm gonna say what nobody else
wants to say. The reason whyfolks don't like Russell westbook is because he
don't know how to dress. Haveyou seen some of the clothes this man
where I have? He's got style. Okay, And I'm gonna tell you
something. Nobody dresses like that.He probably had his own person making this
clothes for him. That's that's numberone and the reason why we lost this

(48:44):
game. You got the statistics,I don't. We lost this game because
I believe Sacramento got twelve points offof offensive rebounds. Can you check that
for me, Adam, I'll checkit for you right now. You got
anything else, Morrise, No,I just to say this. Lenny didn't
want to say it, but I'mgonna say it. H If we don't

(49:04):
do what we're supposed to be doingthis year, we can't go in the
next year with this, with thisteam at him. And I want to
feel so bad for mister Bamber.I've never met the man, but he
reminds he won us. He's afan. But I feel so bad for
the guy because he's doing all hecould do. He's playing the luxury tax,
He's given the players everything they want. They played once a week,
and what do we got for him. We're not We're not really giving him

(49:28):
a good return on his investment.Let me say the best advantage is in
sports. His ownership and the Clippersdo have the right guy that has to
give you hope. Well, youknow what, I'm Adam, I'm gonna
take that run with it. I'mgonna take that run with it, and
I do have hope. I'll getwith you next time, all right,
Morse, I appreciate the phone call. I got hope still because Coach slew

(49:50):
the chiropractor tinkering tie. He provedit in twenty twenty one. He was
able to out adjust the opposition andmake the right moves when they had to.
Let's hear from a post game afterthe Clippers lose one twenty eight to
one twenty seven, and the sacramentsof the King's good job. But just
you know, firing and Fox gettingthe ball of his hands. My rotations
is really good. It hurts whena couple of rebounds because the bonus is

(50:14):
down there, But I thought,overall just fine. Just trying to get
the ball in his hands and rotatingwas pretty good. And then offense he
was able to score the basketball.Finally makes me shots. In that fourth
quarter, I see that that's apossession came down to a loose ball foul.
I'll read out there, like,what would you see just on that
possession? Like you got to stopobviously, God call I didn't get a

(50:36):
chance to see it. Yet.Who was so good? We attack the
pain tight. I'm curious when hewent out though and air with him.
I laid after a quarter, itseemed like the shot section was almost all
threes. Really not attack them.They're very many, which you need.
Could just a shot slation in thatsecond half in the fourth quarter, I

(50:57):
don't understand it. In the fourthquarter, Yeah, I mean, I
don't know. I mean, Idon't understand what you're asking. I'm just
wondering late if you felt like theshots that they got were once you're happy
with, or heil you get orsettling for jumpers. Oh you mean in
the f in the fourth quarter?Starting the fourth quarter? Ye oh,
I mean they were twitching one throughfive, you know, because we were
you know, when we go small. But I thought when maces on the

(51:21):
floor and we got a chance toget downhill and attack, we did.
We got some pretty good shots,and we got some open threes. And
so if a team was gonna collapseand helping the pain, you can't get
to the rim, then you know, you gotta kick it out, you
know for open shots and open threes, which I thought we got some good
looks that we just didn't make itearlier on especially like it, like you
said, in that fourth quarter,we just didn't make What did you think
of for us, especially after thelast nine years? Segonder spotlight? If

(51:42):
you think they played against him whathe bounced back tonight, I thought it
was great, you know, Ithought they try to you know, protect
the pain and sag Off, Imean did a good job of just catching
him still attack and getting into thebasket, getting to the rim and making
the right play, you know.And so I thought he did a good
job of just you know, readingwhat the defense was giving him, and
he did a good job of attacking. Derek had a really strong game,
especially the first half where he helpedRuss something that's scoring everything. Uh.

(52:07):
I thought he gave him a startyesterday. How do you feel like he
was able to take advantage of thatbetter today? Yeah? I thought he
was. You know, he wasgood. I thought, you know,
just with that starting lineup, justable to get shots and Russ and PG
those guys, you know, manufacturingopen shots, and we know he could
shoot the basketball and so have himon the floor and also be able to
attack and get down hill and getinto the paint and get some a couple
of layups as well. And soI thought it was really good tonight.

(52:30):
Let's just see what the true I'veseen somewhere as the rotation. Yeah,
I play the night. What wouldyou think of this minutes? I thought
it was great, just his deflections. I thought a couple of block shots,
uh, driving clothes out, wasgetting to the basket, making the
right play, I thought he dida really good job, just you know,
on both sides of the basketball.I think he was talking about Roga

(52:51):
there. I just trying to hearthat correctly, that question by Andrew Griffe
at the ly time. So they'retalking about early in the fourth quarter all
the three points shooting. I justwent through the game blog and it looks
like nine of their first ten shotsor from three to start off the fourth.
Yeah, and they miss their firsteight. So a couple of things

(53:13):
you could point to for what didthe Clippers in tonight? Boils down to
this. They got sixteen games left, they're in the eight spot and they're
holding onto that by a game.The Lakers are in the eleventh spot,
two games back of the Clippers,still outside of the play in just one

(53:37):
baby Al David style. They gottatake down the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Tip time for that one is atseven. I'll love Clippers countdown at six
before we get out of here.I do want to thank the Clippers organization,
Noah Eagle, Brian Seaman, RalphLawlor, big brother, Jake Warner,
a head engineer, Katie Newton who'sout. But Zacho called you filled

(54:00):
in beautifully for her. Our producertonight until Sunday Sunday Sunday with the pregame
show starting at six I metam Osla. We'll talk to you that. This
has been Clippers Talk, a postgameconversation about your LA Clippers with Adam Oslay.

(54:23):
If you like the show, subscribeto Clippers Talk on the iHeart Radio,
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