Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Got your fall. Now it's timeto react to La Clippers basketball. This
is a playoff edition of Clippers TalkReaction and Analysis hosted by Adam Mosley.
You know he's feeling good. Takethe show with you anywhere you are and
get the podcast. I mean,iHeart radio while and now your host.
He makes everything happen, Adam Mosley. The Clippers had some sweet chin music
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waiting for the Utah Jazz back inLos Angeles, where they take Game three
by a final score one thirty twoto one oh six over the Jazz.
Welcome into your post game show.This is Clippers Talk. I'm at a
Moslin eight seven seven five two zeroeleven fifty eight seven seventy five two zero
eleven fifty will get to your phonecalls. Plus my friend Robert big Shot
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Bob Flom Robert Flom from two onethree Hoops will be here all the way
from the East Coast and you'll hearfrom Coach Lou post game as well as
Kauai and Paul Joe after they combinedfor sixty five points after having just forty
eight in Game two where they onlygot up thirty five shots combined. Tonight
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they get up forty eight shots combined. Each guy goes for twenty four attempts.
Kawhi Leonard finished fourteen of twenty fourfor his thirty four points, had
twenty four of his thirty four inthe second half. Paul George goes twelve
of twenty four, had twenty ofhis thirty one points in the first half.
They had balance from their superstars takingturns when it came to taking over
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this game, and they had somegreat contributions especialist from beyond the ark from
guys like while Nicholas Batoum, whogoes four of six from distance, Luke
Kennard knocked down a couple, TerrenceMan hit a three point or late.
Yes, Terrence Man played not oneminute, but twenty two minutes tonight after
playing less than a minute in gametwo. We thought that would change.
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Coach Low went to his guy,went back to him. It paid off
because he played some really good defenseoverall on Donovan Mitchell, who finished with
just thirty points. You'll take thatwhen it's on eleven of twenty four shooting
from him, still hit five threepointers and the Clippers survive a game where
the Utah Jazz hit nineteen threes,they go nineteen to forty four. That's
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forty three percent. How did theClippers do from distance? They win nineteen
of thirty six, that's fifty threepercent. The law of averages is undefeated.
And when they progress towards the mean, when they keep getting up three
pointers and shots, eventually the shootingis gonna turn around. We've been waiting
for this to happen throughout the firsttwo games of this series, throughout the
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first six games against the Dallas Mavericks, until they took them out with twenty
three pointers in that game seven hereat Staples Center. Finally, after being
the best three point shooting team allseason long at forty one point one percent,
the Clippers have had a couple ofgames now like that. Now Marcus
Moore still oz of two from theoutside. But Reggie Jackson he goes five
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of six, has seventeen points,not the twenty nine he had, and
twenty two of those came in thesecond half, like he had in Game
two when the Clippers were down bytwenty one, and he helped drive that
and fuel that comeback for them.But he would just steady Reggie in this
one, six of eight from thefield, did most of his damage in
the first half. But when yoursuperstars lead like this, when Paul George
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is coming out and getting seven shotsup in the first quarter, it makes
all the difference in the world becauseeventually, even if he's not hitting early,
and I think he started something likethree for seven, well he ended
up at fifty percent at twelve oftwenty four. You gotta shoot your way
out of these slumps, especially whenyour back is against the wall. You
gotta do what you've been doing allseason long, relying on that three ball
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at times when you're getting good looks, but just being decisive with your takes,
showing that confidence from three. TheClippers had it back at Staples Center.
But there's that trickle down effect.When your superstars go for sixty five
points combined, and we'd like tosee them average about fifty five points combined
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during this playoff run, it makesthe job easier for everyone else out there.
Because if you watch Paul George afterhe got it going in the first
half, then the defense collapses onhim and the paint. What happens he
finds Nicholas Batoum for a wide openthrowdown. It opens up the floor for
everybody else out there, but holdingthe Jazz to just one hundred and six
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points when they hit nineteen three pointersis rather remarkable, because they held the
Jazz to just seventeen of forty fromtwo. That's forty two percent. The
Utah Jazz shot worse from two thanthey did from three. They had just
thirty two points in the pain andthe Clippers were much better with their interior
defense, whether a Viza Zubots wasout there or not, and he gave
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them some really good minutes. Ithought at the end of that third quarter,
he had a block on Donovan Mitchell, he had a throwdown. But
collectively the Clippers did a good job. They outrebounded the Utah Jazz at forty
one to thirty eight, even whilegoing small. They returned to that small
ball starting lineup with Nicholas Batouma outthere, who was awesome. He had
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seventeen points seven boards to assist wasa plus twenty four. Highest plus minus
out of every one seconds to thatwould be Terrence Man a plus twenty one.
It doesn't really matter how much he'sscoring, he finds ways to contribute
with his defense. One of thelast plays before Donovan Mitchell left this game
with it looked like another ankle injuryto that same right ankle that he's been
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dealing with for a couple of monthsnow. Terrence Man played some great defense
on him and then the rest ofthe Clippers collapsed in on him where they
had three guys waiting for him atthe basket, and it wasn't a traditional
big with a vizza zubots in thefourth quarter. It was just Nicholas Batun
being there, Kawhi Leonard, wholed them in rebounding with twelve, Paul
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George. At times, it takeseverybody to stop a player as hot as
Donovan Mitchell has been. It's notjust one guy that can do it.
You gotta throw different looks at him. I thought they did a great job
in that department. They made allthe right adjustments. And we've seen this
story before. They were down twogames to none against the Dallas Mavericks.
They had to go out on theroad to get that game three. Tonight,
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they returned to Staples Center and thefriendly confines of Staples Center, back
in front of their home crowd.I believe there was almost ten thousand people
here tonight. It was loud,it was loud. Postgame two, the
Clipper nation was hyped. Someone hadtheir own thoughts about what they thought about
Donovan Mitchell and how to slow himdown. Don't let him get to his
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right hand. We've heard that fromanalysts. It's not just him. Doris
Burke has been saying it. Ithink the Clippers have been preaching it.
They did a better job overall,even though he got off to a hot
start. I want to say hehad sixteen points in that second quarter alone,
but the Clippers got thirteen from PGthirteen in that second quarter to match
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it. They were up fifteen atthe half, and then after Paul George
comes through with twenty points in thefirst half, Kawhi only had ten,
and he picks it up. Hehas twelve points on the third quarter,
twelve more in the fourth quarter.Put the finishing touches on this one.
But when you see Kawhi Leonard attackingRudy Gobert and not being afraid of the
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stifle tower and going right at himfor multiple layups in this one. But
I'm thinking of one in the fourthquarter where he had a difficult left handed
layup he put around Rudy Gobert thatwent in that has to be inspiring to
the rest of the team. Ifhe's not afraid, neither can we.
We can't be either. And PaulGeorge had a layup off the top of
the backboard against him where he flewten feet out of bounds. Afterwards it
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was incredible. And then after havinga bad turnover, he'd pick things up.
He'd find Kawhi Leonard after a steal, streaking down the middle of the
floor for an easy layup. Thiswas one of the best games considering it's
a playoff game, considering it's thefourth really must win game for the Clippers
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so far in these playoffs. Youcouldn't go down three games to none.
Nobody's ever come back from that deficitbefore. But they were here against the
Dallas Mavericks. Okay, they werein Dallas for that game three, but
they were in this same position.But they were down two games to none,
and they were down three games totwo. That was a must win.
In that game six, Kawhi showedup with forty five. Then they
had to win game seven to advance. So there were your first three must
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win games. Tonight was your fourth. But the Clippers did get off to
a better Dart. They didn't startas slowly as they had the last two
games now where they just got punchedin the face immediately. Now, okay,
they were down eight nothing and there'sno eagle point out. They were
down ten two, but once theygot that lead, they never relinquished.
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Which about the Clippers, the LAClippers and the Utah Jazz. You're listening
to playoff basketball on the LA Clippersofficial hole a turnal ho instead of the
eighth grew which the canard and upahead for man's kicked out canard opened for
an earside corner three Eddie perries indenard with a steel and then the finish
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on the other hand as man keepthe head up and get the Clippers on
one oh two eighty nine lead,no eagle on the call. There After,
the Clippers win Game three, onethirty two to one oh six over
the USA Jazz. Back here atStaples Center, Hey, welcome back.
I met am Oslin. This isClipper saw he the Clippers shot the lights
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out. The power went off atone point we were abruptly cut off there,
So where the hell was I?I always think about that scene from
Naked Gun where that inner monologue fromLeslie Nielsen leads him out into the middle
of nowhere. All of a sudden, that's basically where I was. I
was talking to myself. I wasn'tsure if we were still on or not.
But big brother Jake Warner took careof things, our head engineer here
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at Staples Center, and Zach o'caldywas back in Burbank. Keep us steady,
my man. Clippers win by twentysix with a final score of one
thirty two to one zero six overthe Utah Jazz, who still need this
best of seven second round series twogames to one. But you had to
be encouraged by the play of yoursuperstars. Their backs were against the wall.
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They combined to score sixty five.Paul George thirty one, his first
thirty point game of these playoffs.He's been solid. This is his tenth
straight game of at least twenty pointsor more in the playoffs. Kawhi Leonard
had thirty four, but had twentyfour of those thirty four in the second
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half. And they just played likethe Clippers team we've seen all season long.
That shooting, that hot shooting thatcould bury any team. It finally
happened here in the playoffs against agreat Utah Jazz team, the number one
overall seed in the league, andthe Clippers torched them from distance, those
open shots where they went four minutesscoreless in Game two at one point,
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generating the same type of shots thatthey did tonight. They just couldn't get
them to fall. Tonight, theygo nineteen of thirty six. That is
fifty three percent from three. It'snot happenstance. It's not a fluke,
it's not luck. It's eventually guysgetting hot that had been really good all
season long, and Reggie Jackson stayinghot and staying Reggie. He finished five
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of six from three, had Iwant to say, four of those three
points in the first half, butPaul George getting up ten threes. Man,
I could take you back to thefirst month of or the first maybe
the second month of the twenty nineteentwenty twenty season, when Paul George and
Kawhi Leonard got together that first yearlast year and talking about what Paul George
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can be still in this league andhow he's still getting better and evolving as
a player. But one of theareas he can still improve in is just
staying this aggressive and tonight. Youcould tell he was intent on getting to
the basket early and looking for ashot from the outside. He should be
averaging ten three pointers attempted per game, because he's that good even if he
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starts off cold. Eventually, thelaw of averages is going to come around.
But you have to shoot yourself outof a cold streak first. You
gotta get those shots up. TheClippers shot their way back into this series
tonight by doing what they've done bestall season long, not relying on the
three point shot when they're bad threes, but continuing to take those open threes
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that they had been missing uncharacteristically toa ridiculously high degree. They've been missing
them, which is why you geta game like this where they go nineteen
of thirty six from three. I'mnot saying it's sustainable, but they can
shoot over forty percent from three fouran entire series. It can happen.
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They're that good. They only shotbarely thirty seven percent from three in the
first round against the Dallas Mavericks afterhitting twenty of them in Game seven here
at Staples Center, so it kindof skewed the shooting. It wasn't even
that good. It was awful attimes, but this is what they've done
all season long. You have torely on it to some degree. It
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has to be there for them.They have all these great shooters out there
on the perimeter. They got toknock them down. And even with Marcus
Morris going oh of two from three, the Clippers still hit nineteen tonight to
match the Utah Jazz, but theyshot it at a higher clip. Clippers
win one thirty two to one ohsix over the Jazz. You're listening to
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Clipper Stock, I'm out of Maslin. Eight seven seven five two zero eleven
fifty at is the phone number.Let's go to uh Morrison, long beach.
Morris here on Clippers Stock without aMaslin. What's up, Cattam.
I know this is game three,but this was a game seven for us.
This was for us, this wasa game seven. You go down
on the three like teen, Jakesaid, it's ovah all right, So
these guys showed him that. Wejust we need to remember what happened here
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tonight. You got to think aboutthis Utah at one moment. At one
moment was twenty two and two,twenty two and two. There's a reason
why they have the best record inthe National Basketball Association. And I look
here, we're Clipping fans. Weknow what we were thinking. Can you
imagine what Utah was thinking when theycame into the game. It's a nice
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game. They know if they wentto nice game, it's over all right.
So the Clippers really showed up tonight. They really If Larry Bird go
down three, of Michael Jordan,anybody to go down on the up three,
it's over. But these guys showedup to then. I'm gonna tall
you some. They showed us that. They showed us the first two games.
They can play, but they canwin two. Now, this is
the Clipper team that we know,the one we saw tonight. Let me
come down. I'm talking to youthat. Thank you, Morris. As
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always, I talked about this lastshow last Clippers talk. But to me,
this team has been dealing with adouble edged sword. They are resilient,
they can come back on you.They've done it all season long.
They've looked more like the twenty eighteentwenty nineteen that Clippers group that overachieved.
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But at times, let's be honest, it looks like this team has underachieved.
The story is yet to be writtenthey're down two games to one,
but they've been playing on their heelsat times, and both these Playoffs series
so far, they've been down,and I do wonder if they've gotten too
comfortable playing from behind. Eventually,that's gonna catch up to you. That's
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gonna bite you in that. Youknow what they took us, as a
bTB would say, and I don'twant to see that happened to this Clippers
group. Neither do you if you'relistening to Clipper stock. I'm sure unless
you're hate listening, which we doget some of that. Let's refer back
to a call we had Thursday night. No, I won't go there.
My point is this Clippers team hasto start fast and finish strong. They
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can't keep waiting to find that senseof urgency every time they're down. Play
from ahead and pour it on.That's what we saw in the fourth quarter.
I mean, they were up bytwenty eight, they win by twenty
six, but they kept playing evenwhen the starters got removed. Patrick Beverley
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stayed aggressive. That's what this teamcan do. They had that pop tonight,
they had that burst. I thinka lot of that was about their
superstars are showing up and showing offand looking like the two on three connection
we expected to see throughout these playoffs. They just have to be more consistent.
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But some of this is just continuingto stay aggressive by those two guys,
Kawai and Paul George. With Kawhi, you're not as concern with it.
Last game he only took I thinkseventeen shots. He'll shoot himself out
of a slump. Paul George,though, I don't care if they're following
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or not. In the first half. You stay aggressive as good as he
is at everything else he does,which is huge for this team. He
had five assists. He creates forothers, but create for others off of
your own offense, off of theopposition having to worry about you and double
you. Then make the game easierfor everyone else. And I thought tonight
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he did a lot of that.Seven shot attempts in the first quarter and
then nine more in the second quarter. I'd love to see him get up
twenty shots per game and maybe halfof those be three pointers for them to
get to their ceiling and to raisetheir ceiling. Kawai and Paul George just
have to put up more games likethis. Or at least one of them
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goes for thirty at least one ofthem. All right, Clippers win one
thirty two to one oh six.Here a Staples Center. In Game three,
let's go to Sean and Inglewood.Sean, Y're on Clippers stop without
amslin Hi. I want to applautthe defensive effort. I want to applaut
Reggie Jackson for being that third linkon that third score lately. Because the
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defensive effort. What they did isthat they kip bowing after Mitchell is so
much. They did many times.Well, Mitchell didn't want to. We
had to give up the ball.So you have to limited touches and when
he hasn't touched, you have tolimited his shot attempts. I think they
did that. The second thing theyneed to do, and they did somewhat
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tonight. Fearlessly go to the hole. You're not gonna get file shooting three
pointers, and only so many threepointers are gonna go in. I don't
care how hot you are. Andwhen you go to the hole, that's
what happened. There's someone's wide openshooting a wide open three. And that
was one of the differences in thegame. Utah was shooting contested threes for
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most for most parts, and theymade some tough shots. They'll say with
the lost last forty. So keepgoing with the defense age if you have
Clippers, keep being tenacious, becauseyou can win this series by being tenacious
and actually have a no quick attitudeon the defense. The offense will take
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care of itself. And I wantto get more points off the turnovers.
If you play our defense, youwill. And I love Paris Man out
there. That's pretty much all Igotta say, Sean, good phone call,
appreciate it. Speaking of points offturnovers, Oh, they did that
night in spades. Off the sixteenturnovers from the Utah Jazz, they scored
twenty four points the Clippers. Theyhad nine fast break points. Kawhi Leonard
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had another swipe in score, asNoah Eagle would say, he's good for
at least one of those each andevery game. Finished with two steals,
had five assists, led them withtwelve boards. But one of the things
you brought up there, Sean,was the fact that they attacked Donovan Mitchell
defensively, especially in that third quarter. He had three personal fouls in the
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third quarter alone. He finished withthose three personal fouls, but make the
superstars that are torching on offense haveto work on defense. It'll take something
out of them. Out of theirjump shot, out of those step back
ridiculous threes he's making like he's Lucadon chich. It just continues. The
Clippers are having to deal with anotherotherworldly like superstar budding superstar performer in these
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playoffs, but they should be preparedfor it after what they saw in the
first round against the Dallas Mavericks andtonight they accepted the challenge. And I
thought they just threw a lot ofdifferent looks at him defensively, with multiple
guys and different types of coverages,whether it was man, they were doubling,
they went to a zone at times. They're getting more creative defensively as
this series has gone along. Perhapsthey found something on that end. Well,
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you know what coach lu said,so he said as much. They
found something with them going zone inthe second half of Game two, and
they took it into Game three tonightfor a twenty six point victory. Let's
take a quick time out speaking tocoach Lou. We'll come back. You
will hear from him post game.We'll get to more of your phone calls
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here on Clipper Talk. Eight sevenseven five two zero eleven fifty. Eight
seven seven five two zero eleven fiftyis the phone number from Staples Censor.
I'm at a Moslin and you're listeningto the Patriot AM eleven fifty in the
Clippers already and now this is thesecond round of the NBA playoffs. Kawhi
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Rennard, I'm your official home ofLA Clippers basketball. Rebound up A two
up A heck the letter tella rightout. You'll clip of the way and
close it up and in and quitthe right hand. Kauwhi Leonard on a
mission in transition, gets the Clippersa one oh six ninety two lead and
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horses a quick Cunner time out witheight on six to play. The Clippers
win Game three, one thirty twoto one oh six. Kawhi Leonard finished
with thirty four points, at twentyfour of those in the second half.
What's tenacious, as Sean said,relentless getting to the basket, applying pressure.
Regardless if Rudy Gobert was there ornot. You just have to put
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the pressure on the Utah Jazz.Even though the Clippers didn't get to line
a lot tonight. In fact,the Utah Jazz got to the line almost
as much as the Clippers did inthe game total, where they only attempted
sixteen free throws, would hit thirteenof them. Utah got their seventeen times
hit fifteen of their seventeen attempts atthe charity stripe, but thirteen of those
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attempts came in the third quarter afterthey attempted just two free throws in the
first half. So one of theareas that played the Clippers through the first
two games was being in foul trouble. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Reggie
Jackson fouled out unbelievably. Paul Georgefinished with just three personals in this one.
Kawhi didn't pick up a single foulafter I think he had four fouls
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in Game one and game two.They did a better job defending without fouling.
But you heard that dunk there fromKawhi Leonard. It was funny.
At one point in the second halfhe had what looked to be an and
one slam taken away, and thenone or two possessions later. He would
not be denied. He was fearlessattacking the basket. You have to get
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that from your two leaders, andI thought Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were
both spectacular and they picked and theywere able to choose what time of the
game to take over and went toget the others involved. And Reggie Jackson,
he continues to be that third consistentscore for this team. He finished
with seventeen points on six of eightshooting. Nicholas but Tune had seventeen in
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this game, hit four three pointers, hit a big one in the fourth
quarter, and even when Utah wouldhit some debilitating shots and early on Jordan
Clarkson was on one after going sixof nine from three in Game two,
including a bank shot. I don'tknow if he called glass or game there
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like Paul Pierce, but it wasover Luke Kennard at the end of the
shot clock. It was just insane. He just threw it up. And
in well tonight he started three ofthree. Jordan Clarkson did from the outside,
but finish just four of nine,so he would hit just one of
his last six attempts from three,finishes five of sixteen overall from the field
with fourteen points. Fourteen points onsixteen shots. That is the opposite of
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being a fishing out there. Clipperswin by twenty six, led by as
many as twenty eight. You're listeningto clipper stock. I'm out of Oslin.
Let's go to Pam and Temple City. Pam, what's up here on
clipperstock? Forgot? I've been excitedto talk to you as I am about
the Clippers, the Clippers winning tonight, I've win to adopt you for a
really long time. So I havea couple of comments and a couple of
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questions, and then I'll free upthe line. My comment is, I
think what you said about not playingfrom behind is going to really help them,
because I think when they played frombehind their camps, they're uptight and
they can't make their shots, whereas if they're his it's just like playing
a kick ups game or something,you know, where they can be a
lot looser. And then my othercomment was, I think now that they've
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won this game, maybe they havea little more confidence, not thinking,
oh, we can't beat these guys, you know. And I think it's
going to help and my questions workfor you if I may. And I
was addressed a little earlier mentioned whywhy did Charnce not play until tonight because
I was wondering last week I couldn'treach you. But and then I wanted
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to know what that wonderful song isthat you guys play at the end when
you guys sign off, and I'lllet you go. And I really appreciate
you taking my call. And I'mjust so excited and I'm thank you so
much. I I said that Iwas thinking of what I called him I
think before, But thank you Adamfor taking my call. And I'm I
just wish the two was the bestbecause we don't have drama in our organization.
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Thank you all right, Pam,Thank you for the phone call and
the parting shot. Pam from TempleCity. There up some good points.
Stop playing from behind. It's okayto be a front runner once in a
while. Get the lead like theClippers did in this game in the first
quarter, and they never gave itback, and they led by double digits
throughout most of the last three quarters. The Utah Jazz had it to within
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eight, but the Clippers were upby fifteen at the half, and they
absorbed punches from the Utah Jazz encounteredbecause when you have a team that shoots
as many three pointers as the utahJazz does, averaging forty three per game
during the regular season. They wentto forty four in this one. And
they have stayed hot from the outsidein these playoffs. Donovan Mitchell especially,
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I think he's shooting about forty threepercent from distance. But it keeps you
in a game. You could alsogo cold and have it shoot you out
of a game quickly, but you'realways in striking distance when you have this
level of potency from distance, asthe utah As do. In your Los
Angeles Clippers, it's just about timefor this Clippers team to start knocking down
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shots the way they had throughout theregular season, and maybe they need some
of that confidence in their shooting fromthe outside, and Pam talked about it
there, but knowing that they canbeat this team, I don't think there
was any concern about that. Theywere right there in the first two games,
even though they played pretty poorly overall, and they still had a chance
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to take either Game one or gametwo. Game one, they led by
thirteen. They had a shot atthe end that was blocked by Rudy Gobert.
They led it for thirteen, bythe way at the half, led
by as many as fourteen in thatgame. They had a shot, and
then they came back down twenty one. In Game two, had a two
point lead in the fourth quarter.They just went ice cold from the same
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areas of the floor, same spotson the shooting chart in that game where
they would knock down those shots.Tonight here at Staples Center, and they
earned the law of averages coming backin their favor. So let's go to
Joseph and Westlake Village here on Clippersstock next Ti Joseph, what's up,
(29:07):
hey man, I just want tosay it's a great day to pick up
a w You know, we weredown out two versus Dallas, everybody counting
us out. We're down out twoversus of Jazz. Everyone started counting us
out. You know, you thinkabout this second round quote unquote curse.
And I'm just gonna bring this upreally quick. I'm a Red Sox fan,
and I got told of Red SoxWe're never gonna win. I was
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wasting my time and all of this, and then they beat New York Yankees
four straight. And the reason I'mbringing that up is purses have to be
broken in epic fashions. They haveto beat and this is the perfect storm
for this team to really sit thereand say we're gonna do something that has
not been done in Clipper Nation history, and we're gonna do it in style.
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And I'm talking a little about thegame. I thought we did a
great job at traffic Mitchell, youknow, like you said out, we
gave him some different looks, weput some different guys on him, and
at the end of the day,I think that made a big, big,
big difference. He didn't really knowhow to play it, and our
guys just took over. And Ijust want to say, I don't know
how this ending's gonna go, butClipper Nation forever. I love you,
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I love Ala Clippers talk, Ilove our fans, and God bless the
La Clippers. Maybe that's all Igot. And God blessed Joseph and Westlake
Village for that phone called Joseph,Thank you, And yeah, we talked
about it with Noah Eagle. Maybethat's what it's gonna take for the Clippers
to become the first team ever tocome back in consecutive series where you're down
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oh two. Nobody's done it before. We had a caller the other night.
I think it was Greg and Ventura, and he asked me if anybody
has done it before. No,the Clutch City Houston Rockets in nineteen ninety
five, they won five must wingames, true must win games where they
(31:00):
were down two one in the firstround to the Utah Jazz was stocked in
and Malone. They won two straight. They were down three one in the
second round to Charles Barkley and thePhoenix Suns. They don't bring this up
on TNT. I don't know why. And then they won three straight.
So and then they won the verynext series easily against the San Antonio Spurs
(31:21):
or I think they wanted six.And then they swept the Orlando Magic in
the finals after Nick Anderson missed allthose free throws. But they won five
must win games to solidify themselves asClutch City. Maybe the Clippers can do
that to some degree if they cancome back and win this series down two
(31:41):
games and nuns, just like theydid against the Dallas Mavericks last round.
Tagus in Walnut tags here on Clippersstock without in Austin. How are you
they had great win? I wasn'tkind of encouraged after the first two losses
because I felt that EQUI wasn't somuch alike in the slump, where he
was just more out of rhythm becauseof the foul trouble. I think,
(32:05):
especially in Game two, I thoughtit was a little sketchy that in the
first three minutes of that third quarter, I think he was called for three
fouls, which is rarely seen,especially on the Superstar, But you know,
that's what happened, and I thinkthat's kind of took him out of
rhythm, not just offensively but defensively. And today you can see him being
a little bit more aggressive coming upwith the steals the rebounds because he didn't
(32:29):
have to worry about the fouls andhe did what he did. And I
think that I agree with you andPaul George. He's been playing well.
He's been having some rough stretches,but when he hit those threes, the
Clippers just play at another level.They just have that swag where you feel
like, you know, the wholeteam just feeds off of it. And
(32:51):
it was great to see today.And but to whom he was solid,
He played smart, he drove inwhen and read what the defense was giving
and and he shot the threes andmade him Reggie. He might be one
of our most clash players all year. He's just it was unbelievable him shooting
(33:12):
those threes, and he's playing withinhimself. He's not getting too out of
control. So I mean, hewas an awesome law year. I appreciate
the phone call. Yes, hehas stay Reggie. He also had the
floater at the end of the firsthalf to put them up fifteen. Well,
we have a moment. Let's pauseten seconds for station identification here on
the Patriot AM eleven fifty This LAClippers basketball AM eleven fifty KiB Los Angeles,
(33:39):
an iHeart radio station, PG thirteen. Though you talk about those threes
and when he's hitting them, itdoes feel like the Clippers are unbeatable,
and he's like a six nine stephCurry out there because it looks so smooth
and so effortless, and he alsohas an amazing handle for a guy at
his height. But he hit somebig shots, including a three over Bogdanovitch
(34:02):
when it was just an eight pointgame. That was the eight points I
was talking about earlier. They gotit down so that he came up big.
But when he's being this aggressive offensively, what I like about it is
because He's been so better at somuch better as a facilitator this season.
They've demanded that out of him.He's played a lot of point all of
a sudden, He's able to makethese easy passes to guys for open looks.
(34:24):
He found Zoobots for a dunk,he found Nicholas Batum for a dunk.
But Paul George, he can buildoff of this performance because I think
for Clipper Nation, he gave themexactly what they were looking for. Take
more attempts from three, take moreshot attempts overall, stay in attackmouth for
(34:45):
the entire game. And also beingwith that level of player, you know,
being that aggressive early on in thefirst half. It allowed the game
to come to Kawhi Leonard, whoonly had ten points in the first half.
He could save his legs, hedidn't have to expend as much energy,
and then he can take him homein the second half, which he
(35:07):
did with twenty four points twelve andthe third twelve and the fourth. Let's
go to David in Santa Monica.David, you're on Clippers. Hey,
I don't thank so much for takingthe call. Great win tonight for the
Clippers, really huge, getting backin the series a couple of points.
First, defensively, I love howthey keyed Oliver Mitchell, all the different
(35:30):
looks they gave. But I alsowanted to note the effort on all over
the floor. You know they wouldwere able to shut down the big Utah
shooters, not just Mitchell, butall the other guys too. I'm really
kept their red hot offense in check. That was huge. Of course,
Kauai and Paul George, especially steppingup tonight, putting up huge numbers when
(35:52):
they really needed to. That wasgreat. And then also the crowd.
The crowd was awesome, looked greaton TV. And I love love seeing
Steve Bomber. The guy's just totallyinto it and he's a model owner for
the NBA. Is a great nightand ready to turn this series around and
(36:14):
hopefully just you know, take himfrom here. Thank you for the phone
called David. Steve Bomber's the best. His passion represents Clipper Nation to the
fullest. You just love to seethat. He wants them to win so
bad. You will do whatever ittakes for this organization. But they have
(36:35):
the pieces. This roster is goodenough, which is why with them underperforming
in the first two games. Itwas concerning. I know some of the
Clipper Nation was just straight up depressed. You thought, after getting out of
that series against the Dallas Mavericks,all right, we're just gonna take off
from here. Things are gonna bemuch easier. Well, now they're dealing
with a different beast, a differentdragon. They have to slay with this
(36:59):
ute jazz team led by Donovan Mitchelland Rudy Gobert defensively, and it's a
new challenge. But what I loveabout this coaching staff and what they do
is they absorbed so much information.They take in so much information from game
to game, and they just continueto adjust and tighten things up and zero
in on certain areas where they haveto improve. That's what they did in
(37:21):
the first round. That's what theywere able to come back on the Dallas
Mavericks. And I'm starting to seethe exact same things here, including Terrence
Man playing over twenty minutes tonight andmaking an impact. Doesn't matter if he's
hitting shots or not. He playsdownhill. The reason Paul George and Kawhi
Leonard were able to get up moreshots tonight is also because they had more
(37:43):
possessions because they were playing at afaster tempo at Utah's tempo and beating them
at their own game. All right, let's go to Jose and Southgate.
Jose, what's up here on Clippers? Stock? Am My guy? Hey
man, I had to step awayin the Nadas fight because it's like Nads.
(38:04):
We're fighting, baby, he fighting? Maybe? Hey what just like
Nads. I'm not surprised the Clipperswon this game? Hey, hey,
Aldam, what I tell you?What I hey, shout out Pam,
shout out Morris, Jeff and Tarzana. But in our calling in with a
negativity in this that being said,Adam, what I tell you last game?
Because Utah Jazz have hit us withtheir best consisting punch and we've been
(38:30):
there and guess what today, finallywe hit him with all the appuntry.
We were up by thirty, baby, Adam, I had to go back
because right now figure Rito and Marinoare fighting next to the main event.
Are you ready for this, Adam? Are you better not pack your backs
down him? Are you ready?Last dog? Clippers? Thank you,
(38:50):
Jose, and speak of the devil. We have Jeff and Tarzana online.
Jeff, would you like to respond? Yeah, listen, I don't listen
to Whole or Jose as he's drunkhalf the time. Come on, Jeff,
we're what's that? Let me tellyou something, Adam. They're gonna
win Game four and then they're gonnawin Game five and they're gonna pull an
(39:15):
upset that nobody's gonna believe. Andhere's what's so great. You have all
these other people on the other stationthat hate the Clippers, one guy in
particular, and never gives credit.And what I love about this tonight when
I was watching Doris Burke, sheis an excellent reporter, and Doris Burke
says, this team's got more talentat anybody to win, and she's one
(39:37):
of the few people, Adam,they give the Clippers the credit that they
deserve. But one thing I don'tunderstand the few minutes that Boogie Cousins have
played this series. He's been reallygood. I don't understand why he doesn't
play more minutes. Explanation for thatthere was a law of diminishing returns going
(39:57):
on with Boogie Cousins, because well, he's started off really good and on
the offensive end, he does providea scoring punch in the post, and
he's physical and he plays bullyball.But on the other end, he is
toast at times in the pick androll. And it's nothing against Boogie Cousins.
He just lacks the athletics and andthe other guy at center, I
(40:21):
forget what the guy's name is.The other center they have Visa Zubots or
surgery. Can do that and playBoogie out because he can shoot from twenty
feet. But here's the thing.Defensively, he's a liability at times.
Dooan Mitchell's a liability defensive weight notso much. And offensively he's so good,
(40:44):
of course you have to have himout there. He's been playing like
an absolute superstar, as he alwaysdoes in the playoffs. Jeff, I
don't know if you can compare thosetwo guys for a long time, would
you say that Damian Lillard's a greatdefensive player. He's not, but he
offers so much offensely. Look,if DeMarcus Cousins was giving you an easy,
efficient thirty five points, then yeah, you'd have to play him at
(41:07):
times. Nikolayokich has not been avery good defender for the Denver Nuggets,
although he has improved in that area. But it doesn't matter because He's a
hub on offense. He's a greatpasser, he gets everyone involved and he
gets his own and has some ofthe most unreal touch around the basket that
I've ever seen. It's just it'snot it's apples and oranges. But I
well, what I'm saying, whatI really like about the Clipper team is
(41:30):
they don't really have They're not ayoung team, but they're not old like
that other team that has that playerthat was the best player in the league
for years and years, and I'mnot putting him down. He's a great
player. And the other thing is, you don't know what a d if
the guy gets hurt as often ashe does. He misses more games than
Joel mb and Bill Walton. Jeff, I'm not hearing to talk about that
(41:52):
other team. The Clippers just wonby twenty sixteen. Delighted with the end.
They're gonna win on Monday night,two to even all right, thank
you, Jeff and Tarzana. Comingup next, my friend Robert Flom from
two one three Hoops will be hereas some of the best Clippers analysis out
(42:13):
there. I call him big ShotBob. Plom Clippers with some big shots
from the outside. They hit nineteenthree pointers. They shoot fifty three percent
from distance, and they got betteroffensively from the first half to the second
half. They were up as manyas twenty eight. They win one thirty
two to one oh six here atStaples in Game three over the Utah Jazz.
(42:37):
Game four is coming up Monday night. As Jeff alluded to, I'm
out of Moslin. You're listening tothe Clippers stock here on the Patriot Amlen
fifties. The quest for the LarryO'Brien is off for them to get to
the Promised Land for the first timein franchise history. You're listening to La
Clippers playoff basketball and they're exclusive home. Letner wants to go to work,
(43:01):
holding on his right hip, buttwo will come to seven on Now to
his right, it's George on theright wing. Cut deep, three on
the way, Paul George. Itis perfect. Twenty points for PG thirteen
and Quinn Sider calls the time out. Paul George had thirteen points on the
second quarter alone, had twenty inthe first half, finished with thirty one.
(43:27):
Clippers almost won by that much.They were by as many as twenty
eight. They win by twenty sixwith a final score here at Staples Center
at Game three where they win onethirty two to one oh six over the
Utah Jazz. Game four is comingright back here Monday night time is at
seven pm. We'll I've Clippers countdownfor you is starting at six. But
before you get back to your phone, calls Bob and Woodier. I know
(43:49):
is there. I do want toget to my friend on the East Coast
who is staying up late for usbecause it's the weekend. It's Robert Flam.
You follow him at rich Homie Flamon Twitter. He covers the Clippers
for two one three hoops. Heis one of my favorite basketball analysts out
there. Big shot Bob Flam,thanks for coming on Clippers stock tonight.
(44:12):
Yeah, absolutely, Adam, thanksfor as always for for having me on.
So do you have any superstition likelucas hand? Do you eat some
ice cream? Is there anything goingon back at the Flam compound that you
believes helped the Clippers win tonight?No, I don't. I'm not a
big superstitious guy, and no Idon't. I don't really do anything.
(44:36):
I have eaten ice cream a coupleof times during the playoffs and it has
not worked out well, So itwas purely recreational, right, Yeah,
that was that was not to helpthe Clippers because I like, all right,
well, Paul George helped the Clipperstonight. And isn't this the formula.
Isn't this what everybody has been wantingto see, just him getting up
(44:57):
twenty four shots like he did tonight. Isn't this raise their ceiling and get
them in that upper echelon and getthem in that place where they can beat
any one in the league. Yeah, I think the twenty four shots is
huge, and I think maybe evenbigger than that at the ten threes.
You know, Paul George is oneof the best three point shooters of all
time. Really, when you lookup this numbers, he's up there in
(45:20):
terms of volume, in terms ofpercentage. Over the past you know,
five or six years, he's reallybecome an absolute elite shooter. And he
needs to be taking that many threes. You know, he's not Steph Curry.
Nobody's Steph Curry, but they're they'renot games where elite three point shooters
don't take, you know, atleast eight or nine threes. And there
are too many games where Paul Georgesdoes not get enough enough up enough three
(45:40):
point shots, and he took ten. He needs six of them. He
won't shoot sixty percent, you know, in all of his games, but
he's a great three point shooter andhe just needs to take more of them.
The twenty four shots, as hesaid, is is huge, so
many of them coming from threes andadded bonus, And surely that means he
didn't get to the line as muchbecause he's taking more jump shots. But
when he's or thirty one points ontwenty four shots and hitting big three after
(46:02):
big three, the Clippers will take, you know, somewhat less three two
attempts. While Kawhi Leonard struggled fromdistance, just one of six from three,
still was fourteen of twenty four fromthe field, had twenty four of
his thirty four points in the secondhalf. Was this just a matter of
him getting his legs underneath him wherehe just looked understandably somewhat exhausted through the
(46:24):
first couple of games, But hetalked about how he was also in foul
trouble in Utah and that took awaysome of his aggressiveness out there. What'd
you make of this performance from KawhiLeonard where once again when the Clippers back
is against the wall in a pseudomust win game, I mean he shows
up in a huge way. Yeah, I think you know. I don't
(46:45):
want to say Kawhi doesn't try hardor didn't try hard in the first team
or two, but I think youcan clearly tell one watching when there are
games that are just that little bitmore important, the extra emphasis he does
and he hasn't getting to the rim, and just how quick he was moving
on some of his moves going tothe rim. Is this not really soft
from him in game one and two. I think being aggressive is a big
(47:07):
part of that, and not beingin foul trouble obviously, because when you're
in foul trouble, you might besitting because you can't get more files,
or you just can't be as aggressive. You don't want to pick up offensive
foules, you can't be as aggressivedefensively. So I think all of that
as factor. I think just inthis one, the Clippers are down to
oh. You know that if yougo down three oh, you're not coming
back. No team in NBA historyhas ever come back from a three o
(47:28):
definit especially not against the team asgood as the Jazz. So he put
it out on all on the line, and he was a huge reason why
the Clippers were able to pull awayin the second half. He's absolutely dominant.
So yeah, I think he playedwell in the first two games.
But they need more than just wellfrom Kawhi Leonard. You know that the
rest of the team is good.It's a well balanced effort. Tyler said
that after the game. But inorder for this Clippers seemed to make a
(47:51):
d playoff roum, they need KawhiLeonard to be a superstar just about game
in and game out, and heabsolutely was one tonight. They can't have
both of their superstars be outdueled byDonovan Mitchell, which is what has happened
through the first two games of theseries. At least one of them has
to match him or be better.That seems like a blueprint for success for
(48:12):
this team. But because we gotyou all and as Robert Flam here from
two one three Hoops follow him atrich Homie Flam on Twitter, Robert,
I wanted to know what you sawthe backcourt rotations in this game and throughout
this series, and who do youthink fits best, Because tonight Terrence Mann
got twenty two minutes after playing lessthan a minute in Game two, and
(48:34):
I thought he provided what he alwaysdoes, which is a boost, which
is energy and good defense, soliddefense, at least making Donovan Mitchell work
out there. Yeah, I really, I think Tyler has been a very
good coach all season. You know, the last half of the map threes,
I thought he was absolutely fantastic.I was perplexed that he didn't play
terrace Man more of the first couplegames of the series against the JIB.
(48:59):
I think in game when he gotmaybe five or six minutes. In Game
two, as he said, hegot a you know, thirty seconds.
Terrence Man has just been good.He's been good for the last four or
five months for the Clippers, andthe team just plays better. As he
said, he's a good defender.He brings a lot of pace, he
brings slashing to the hoops, he'sa good rebounder, and there's just something
about him that really, you know, as dog rivers might say something unstatable,
(49:22):
I guess about Terence Mann and uhyeah, I mean, I don't
know why they went away from him. I don't know if he'll get twenty
two minutes every game you know,Reggie Jackson onally played twenty nine in this
one. I think in a closergame, Reggie might have gotten a little
bit more. I think, youknow, as Pat Beverley continues to get
his legs under him, I thinkhe might continue to get more minutes.
(49:44):
I thought he played very well inthis one as well. But yeah,
I think Terence deserves a spot inthe rocation. You know, he might
not always get this many, buthe consistently provides a boost and he's just
he's just a good basketball player,and the Clippers are better when he's playing.
Yeah, I think Pat beav wasout there, Zo Bots was and
there were some real good efforts defensivelyfrom those two, whether it was Patrick
(50:05):
Beverlely driving Mitchell right too a vizza, Zoo Bots to meet him in the
paint. But that seemed to besomething a combination, a rotation that clicked
for them. But do you thinkfrom the rest, from the rest of
the series on now we see NicholasBatoum in the starting lineup and the Clippers
starting small. Now I believe so, Yes, you know, I understand
(50:27):
why Tyler went with Zoo to startGame two, just to match Rudy Goberon's
eye. But at this point,the Clippers small ball formula is what's gotten
them this far, and just youknow, even removing zoo from the equation,
you know, Paul George's Ky Leonardare obviously starting at this point.
Reggie Jackson is a lock, MarcusMorris has been a lock to start for
(50:47):
months now, and he started alllast year. And Nick Batoum has just
been too good to not start.I think it says less about Zoo than
it does about how good Nick Batoumhas been. And he was absolutely fantastic
in this one. He's great inthe playoffs. He's been probably the clippers
third most consistent player. I thinkReggie Jackson has had higher highs, but
the two has been steadier this gamein and gate out, game out,
(51:09):
and he was that for just aboutthe entire season. So I think that's
really the main thing is they justneed to play Nick Pattu more. He
played thirty five minutes in this one, and you know that's not counting the
few garbage time minutes at the endwhere all the starters sat. So yeah,
I think I think the two willstart the rest of series. And
I think that's a good move.I don't think it really isn't much about
(51:30):
Zoo, who I think, asyou said, played well in this one.
I thought his defense was really good. He had a bunch of rebounds
on both the offensive ends defensive end. But Nick Patuma is just He's better
than a Visa zoobots. And Ithink the small ball lineups that the Clippers
are running or what's worked best forthem. So yeah, I think the
two will start the rest of theseries. You know, I thought Marcus
Moore as well. He went allof two from three. He kind of
(51:52):
had that fade away baseline jumper going. He finished three oh five from distance,
so it was just a three partshot that escaped him. But he
had a big tip out offensive reboundin the first half. I want to
say it was in this game,and overall the Clippers had ten offensive rebounds
and Rudy Gobert only had ten reboundsafter coming off a game where he had
(52:15):
twenty. I just felt like theeffort was very different tonight. Aside from
just the strategy standpoint and a minute'sdistribution standpoint, this Clippers team had more
pop, had more juice out there. And I do have this question for
your Robert, because I've been throwingthis theory out there where the Clippers,
it seems like, always play theirbest when their best is needed. This
(52:37):
season, when they have a badloss, they respawn. When they're down
big, they can come back.But that can be a recipe for disaster
at some point because you're playing thesegreat teams now and the playoffs, are
not always going to able to beable to come back like they weren't down
twenty one in Game two against theUtah Jazz. And it seems like they
(52:58):
just need to have that sense ofurgency from the opening tip and that has
been something that they have struggled withthe last couple of months now and I'm
not sure what it is, buttonight they were better in that area.
Just I know it's kind of anintangible question, but how can they carry
some of that over where they justare more focused. Is it just about
Kauai and Paul George starting fast?How do you see it? I think
(53:22):
that's part of it. You know, you mentioned the rebounds, and I
think that was a huge reason whythey want And one thing I do like
to note is that over the pastcouple of years, I think maybe even
going back to Toronto, I'm lesscertain about that, but certainly as a
Clipper, you can usually tell whenKawhi Leonard is really giving it one hundred
percent fully locked in by the rebounding. He get twelve rebounds in this one.
He gets an absolutely monstrous suns.I just don't know where he came
(53:44):
from and he came up with reboundsor he just skied over people and used
his gigantic hands to just take themaway, and that was really that was
huge. But yeah, in termsof starting the game, they have not
punched first in a very long time, and at some point, as he
said, they're gonna need to.You know, the MAVs were a team
that, despite Luca Dontrech's greatness,the Clippers are just a better team than
(54:07):
than the Dallas Mavericks. The UtahJazz are much closer. They are much
better team than the MAVs are.They were better than the Clippers in the
regular season. They had a betterregular season record. Now, you know
that comes down to health a lotas well in contin duty, but they're
a really good team and you can'tspot them leads. You know, they
got an eto run to start thegame. Ensure that's very early. The
Clippers were able to work their wayback fairly quickly and tied up at ten
(54:29):
ten. But so you don't wantto get down on these depisodes, both
in single games and in series.You know, if they come back to
beat the Jazz, they are mostlikely going to have to face a Sun's
team that looks absolutely locked in andvery very deadly. And then if they're
able to beat that team, they'regonna have to face whoever comes out of
the East, whether it be theSixers or the Nets or the Bucks,
(54:50):
all which are are great teams withMVP caliber players. And you just can't
get off the slow start against teamsas good as those, both again in
game and in a series. Gettingdown two. Oh so yeah, I
don't really know why. I don'tknow how to fix it. I think,
as you said, they go howKawhi Leonard and Paul George go both
because those are the two best playersin because they are the leaders on this
(55:13):
team. So it would be niceto see maybe, you know, Kawhi
Leonard, instead of saving his reservoirof energy for the second half, maybe
have a dominant first quarter and spotAlip the Clippers at twelve fourteen point lead
early on. Maybe that would helpgive them a chance to keep that lead
throughout the rest of the game.You know, Kawhi Leonard knows his body
better than anybody. Maybe this isjust the most efficient way for him to
(55:35):
work. But I do wonder ifyou know, maybe him, you know,
coming out really really strong to starta game could could help the Clippers
get to another dominant win. Heis Robert Flam. Follow him at rich
Homie Flam on Twitter. He coversthe team for two one three Hoops.
Robert. I've been listening to yourpodcasts recently, so it's good to have
you on the show. So Ican, you know, steal stuff from
(55:59):
you while you're on the line now. I appreciate it, Robert, Thanks
for coming on. Man. Yeah, I would always think about him before
we get out of here. AndI apologize to Bob and Whittier, who
I know has been online. Bob, we'll get you on. You can
be first in line Monday night.I promise we'll get to you. Clippers
win by twenty six in Game threehere at Staples Center with the final score
(56:22):
one thirty two to one zero six. You hear the photo ops song so
you know we are leaving you.It's called you could be great for Pam.
Before we get out of here,I do want to thank the Clippers
organization. Noah Eagle, Brian Seaman, Ralph Lawler back here at Staples Center,
big brother Jake Warner back in Burbank. We had Zach Lcaldy until Monday
(56:45):
night is starting at six pm withyour Clippers Countdown show. I'm at a
moslem. We will talk to youthen. This has been Clippers playoff addition,
the Home of the Clippers recap ofall the Clippers action on their official
home dynasty. So gon'll miss asingle show every day. Religious Queen,
(57:08):
hear anything you missed? I mean, I Heeart Radio wad is amazing,
man. I'm happy to be partof it. Join us next game.
I'm your home for LA Clippers basketball. Okay, great, See you later. By