Clippers Win 117-102 in Portland With Kawhi

Clippers Talk with Adam Auslund after they win 117-102 over the Blazers and you'll hear from Dan Craig and Will Updyke postgame.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The game is over. Pull GeorgeMoney in the pain, but the postgame
reaction has just be got. KawhiLeonard is so smooth in the mid range.
This is Clippers locker Room, arecap of today's game and a look
ahead on your home for LA Clippersbasketball at now your host, You,
sir, are a bad man,Adam Ousley. With Kawhi Leonard back,

(00:24):
the Clippers went on the second nightof a back to back, this time
against the Portland trail Blazers up Northone seventeen to one h two. I'll
come into your post game show comingup. We got second half highlights,
plus we'll get to your final boxscore. You'll hear from Dan Craig filling
in for coach lou in this onein the players. But first let's get
back to your voice of the Clippers, Noah Eagle. So Clippers couldn't close

(00:47):
yesterday with Kawai in the fourth quarter. There was a timeout around the eight
minute mark, with about six minutesleft. There's see me with the Clippers
up six around the eight minute mark, Kawhi comes back in and they close
this one in style very much so, extended all the way up to sixteen
to one point. They win itby fifteen one seventeen to one h two.
Leonard was big in this fourth quarter, as he had let's see here

(01:11):
five points put timely ones down thestretch. George had nine in the fourth
quarter. Even Eric Gordon added fourmore, and he had a big game
off the bench with twenty on sevenof nine shooting and more importantly four or
five from downtown. This was acomprehensive win from the Clippers, a wire
to wire victory, sixty points inthe pain They only turned it over ten
times, which was major improvement fromyesterday. Twenty six assists, which is

(01:33):
a very solid number for this team. Defensively, they only allow one hundred
two points scored to a top tenoffense in the NBA. A lot of
positive to takeaway from this one,but the most important one a win overall
and the first head coaching victory inthe career of Dan Craig. Congrats to
Dan Craig. You mentioned the defense. Yesterday, they give up thirty nine
points in the fourth quarter today inthis one. Just nineteen you spoke with

(01:56):
Big Zoo post game. I thoughthe had one of his best games of
the year. No doubt he wasawesome on both ends of the floor,
and even with nurks hapving a biggame of twenty three, eleven and five,
I thought Zubats was right there withhim pretty much the entire way fourteen
and ten. He is on paceto become the first Clipper since DeAndre Jordan
to average a double double over thecourse of a season that was in twenty
seventeen eighteen, and the first foreignborn Clipper to do it since Swin Nader

(02:21):
in the eighty eighty one season.That's how great of a year he's had.
Those are the names he's up withall NBA type performers. Swin Nader
was just outstanding in his prime,and we know what DeAndre Jordan was with
Lob City. So I think ifEasa Zubots deserves even more flowers than he's
probably gotten, and he's continuing todo it on a nightly basis. On
the day after his twenty sixth birthday, he mentioned those key buckets from Kawhi

(02:44):
Leonard late the fade away, butthe three pointer, it looked like he
was upset. I forget if itwas Thible who was on him. He
thought there was a foul there thathe got the screen from Zoo launched.
Knew it was good immediately. Yeah, Kawhi is Kawhi, and look,
I just felt like everybody in onthis team, even they didn't get some
calls, they did a great jobof letting it go pretty quickly today.
There have been some moments this yearwhere maybe they were arguing a little bit

(03:07):
too too long or too lengthy ofan argument, and they miss a play,
or they lose an assignment or somethinghappens. I thought today they did
a much better job of letting itgo, playing through it, and it
showed in the box score, onthe overall final score, and everything in
between. So a really good gamefor the Clippers, a nice building block
again and they can try to restarttheir winning streak from here. I love

(03:28):
this game from PG thirteen. Afterthat slow start one for nine, he
finishes with twenty nine points. Wasso good in the second half, and
once again he takes twenty plus shots. Is the fourth straight time he's done
that, and that's his longest streakof the year. Yeah, and he
gets twelve free throws in the gameat him, so he remains aggressive.
Gets the line goes ten of twelve. There three of six from three,

(03:49):
he and Eric Gordon combined to goseven of nine, no wrong, seven
of eleven from three out at thesecond time. That's important PG though twenty
nine points than nine rebounds, assists, the four steals, it shows you
his all around game in thirty fourminutes and Kawhi played forty. I think
the fact that both those guys reallydon't have a whole lot of restrictions and
PG could do this on the secondnight of a back to back is really

(04:12):
really important for this team. Forthese final ten games that Steely had after
missing a couple of gimmes and thenhaving a throwdown off getting the basketball back,
it just felt like a turning pointin this one. It was almost
like his defense fueled his offense.When he was struggling, he got a
couple of easy ones ago because hewas getting hands you out there with the
steals. I was vintage PG.That was Oklahoma City level PG, where

(04:32):
he was a top three finisher inMVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
It's because of two way play likethat. And also that goes back to
what I was talking about, recognizinghis own mistake not arguing the call,
getting back defensively sneaking up on theoffensive player. Those are critical plays.
Those are crucial momentum shifters. Andit went into the Clippers favorite tonight.

(04:54):
Speaking of okay, see, theClippers have a two game mini series coming
up Tuesday and Thursday in downtown LosAngeles. Starting Tuesday night. Tip time
for that one's at seven thirty.We'll have Clippers countdown for you starting at
six thirty. No a ego,great call. As always, We'll see
on Tuesday, my friend Adam,the Clippers are back in the wood.
Can't wait. Coming up next secondhalf highlights. Clippers win one seventeen and

(05:17):
one out two up in Portland overthe Blazers. And you're listening to the
Los Angeles Clippers Radio Network, bustUs. Clippers win one seventeen o one
old two over the Blazers in Portland. Welcome back into your post game show.
I'm Adam Oslin. Coming up onAM five to seventy. We'll have
Clippers talk for you. Eight sixsix nine eighty seven two five seventy eight

(05:38):
six sixty nine eight seven two fiveseventy is the phone number. Let's get
your second half highlights. Clippers atthe half had a fifty nine to fifty
five lead, but PG thirteen reallystruggled. Played fifteen minutes in the first
half, was just three of tenfrom the field with ten points. He
would outscore that in the third quarteralone. George cutting down the right alley,

(06:01):
hangs and benks it in with theright over nurpige. PG thirteen's got
a dozen and at sixty one fiftyfive clippers westfilk labbot inside George underneath Banks
at home with the right hand assistnumber nine for US and George now up
to eighteen points seventy four sixty four. George steals it right back and slams
with two. He came out ofnowhere. Now you see me, Now

(06:24):
you don't. George up to twentyseventy six sixty six LA corrections. He
matched his first half total with tenpoints in the third quarter alone. Started
to heat up. Eric Gordon camein off the bench, hit one three
pointer in the first half. Hewould, I'll do that in the third
quarters. Man swing it Gordon theright win three is up, bulls eye

(06:45):
Eric Gordon his second three ball ofthe night gives him ten off the bench
and LA back up seven seventy nineseventy two with four to fifteen to go
on the third ticket, man swingit Gordon, same spot for three,
same result for Eric Gordon. Heburies another thirteen for Gordon eighty two seventy
four La Gordon. Pump fakes straightaway three ball kaboom. Eric Gordon is

(07:08):
making it rain in the Pacific Northwest, is four three of the nine on
four attempts and makes an eighty nineseventy nine LA Eric Gordon with the big
nine points there in the third quarter, Clippers led by ten at ninety three
eighty three heading into the fourth andon the road in a big get back
opportunity for the Clippers. The twoon three connection took him home. George

(07:30):
looking at drive, crossover right tothe dotted line, long strikes with the
rim banks and in with the righthand. Ice moved as Paul George snakes
his way to the basket for twomore. He's got twenty two, had
ten and the third quarter. Ninetyseconds gone. In the fourth and the
Clippers back up nine. Leonard putson the deck, fades from ten and
connects cowhide Leonard with two more.He's got twenty one, one oh five
ninety seven La George step back contestat three oh Paul George Nylon butter money

(07:58):
one oho eight ninety seven Clippers,Leonard crossover straight away three Coupo Kawai perfect
one eleven ninety nine Leonard with twentyfour Clippers buy it does it? Those
two combined for fourteen of the Clipperstwenty four points in the fourth quarter,
where they held Portland to just nineteenand would go on to win one seventeen
to one oh two over the Blazers. Coming up next for preview Tuesday's game

(08:22):
against the OKAC Thunder and coming upon a M five seventy LA Sports,
we'll have Clippers stock eight six sixnine eight seven two five seventy eight sixty
six nine eight seven two five seventyor you can get to me. I
follow Adam Ay on Twitter. Clipperswin this one by fifteen up in Portland
over the Trailblazers, and this isyour postgame show right here on the Los
Angeles Clippers Radio Network. Clippers,now winners of five of their last six

(08:48):
games, lost yesterday to Orlando inCali, but up in Portland, Oregon,
they got the victory one seventeen toone O two tonight over the Trail
Blazers at Kawhi Leonards or turn Hefinished with twenty four on ten of twenty
shooting, PT thirteen with twenty nineon eight of twenty two shooting, but
started one for nine, got hotin the second half, got to the

(09:09):
free throw line two was ten oftwelve there. Russell Westbrook, with ten
assists to four turnovers, had ninepoints a point shy of a triple double
as he led them with twelve boardsfour offensive rebounds too. Big Zoo had
fourteen and ten on seven of elevenshooting. He didn't pick up a block,
but let me tell you he redirectedplenty of shots off the bench.

(09:30):
Eric Gordon with twenty points and twentyseven minutes on seven of nine shooting,
a couple of key layups in thefourth quarter after hitting three threes from distance
well redundant threes are for distance,but four or five from the outside after
he started four for four and threeof them came in the third quarter.
Clippers win by fifteen over the Blazers. Their next contest coming up on Tuesday.

(09:52):
They played two against the Okse Thunderon Tuesday and Thursday. Tip time
Tuesday night from downtown Los Angeles isat seven thirty. We'll have Clippers campdown
starting at six thirty outside of LosAngeles. We are leaving you until then,
but coming up next here on EMfive seventy LA Sports, it's Clippers
Talk. Welcome into Clipperstock. Here'sa new sheriff from town. You won't

(10:16):
be able to denay if you're goingto go to the NBA Finals. I
believe it in my heart. Thisis the best team in the history of
the franchise. I am all aboutthe Clipper Nation. This is Clippers Talk.
They're trying to win the whole thing. A postgame look, it's your
LA Clippers recapping the game, thestars and looking ahead to what's next.

(10:39):
To hear episodes you've missed. Subscribeto Clippers Talk on iHeart Radio or wherever
you podcast. Now your host ofClippers Talk. Here's Adam oswin number two.
Kawhi Leonard returns and keeps the Clippersfrom having a two game losing street
because they win one seventeen to oneoh two up in Portland over the Trailblazers.

(11:01):
Welcome in to Clipper Stock. Comeout on Moslin eight six six ninety
eight seven two seventy eight, sixtysix, ninety eight seven two five seventy
or get to me out follow Adama on Twitter. Coming up, we'll
have Will Updike on from Clips andDip Pod because the Clippers won. He
comes on now when they win,Charles Mockler when they lose. We'll also
here from Eric Gordon post game aswell as associate head coach of the Clippers.

(11:28):
That would be associate assistant coach.Now that's too much, but Dan
Craig gets his first victory filling infor coach lu Congrats to Dan Craig.
Coach slew out with the non COVIDrelated illness. We found that out after
their last game yesterday. He wasn'tin the postgame presser. It was Dan
Craig in for him. He flewup with the team to Portland and he

(11:50):
helped lead them to this victory,as did a lot of guys on the
court in this want some really goodperformances in a bounce back opportunity for the
Clippers when they really had to havewith just ten games remaining now and one
of the themes coming into this one. I didn't want to say it during
the broadcast, not that I'm superstitiouslike that, but I know Noah Eagle
is. I didn't want to bringit up, but the Clippers in the

(12:13):
two one three era have absolutely lockedup Dame Dalla. They put him in
Alcatraz clamp City. They have donean unreal job on one of the greatest
scores in NBA history, who inthis game went four for seventeen. Damian
Lillard had just twenty one points,eleven points off of his season average.

(12:35):
Remember he had the seventy one pointgame just a few weeks back, and
they hold him to one of eightfrom the outside as well. The only
place he could do damage was atthe free throw line, so at times
they had trouble defending without fouling.But four of seventeen from the field,
and this isn't an outlier. Insix of his nine games since the Clippers

(12:56):
brought in Kawai and Paul George,and I know they haven't had both of
them, and they probably have missedboth of them for a couple of these.
But in six to nine games he'splayed in in the two on three
era for the Clippers, Damian Lillardhas been held under forty percent from the
field, and it's by a prettywide margin. Nine of twenty three from

(13:16):
the field in a game against theClippers, five of fifteen from the field
in a game against the Clippers threeor fourteen, two or fourteen, four
or fifteen, and tonight four ofseventeen. That is a pattern, that
is a trend, and apparently it'sbeen repeatable. And Kawhi Leonard and Paul
George are both out there. Theyjust make life really tough on one of

(13:37):
the greatest scores in NBA history andmy favorite non Clipper full disclosure, I
love Damian Lillard. Best athlete rapperof all time by a mile. It's
not even close. He is agenuinely good rapper but also a great top
seventy five player of all time.But the Clippers give him fits. And

(13:58):
I thought seeing Paul George, whostarted one for nine from the field and
then would go on to make sevenof his next thirteen shots. Great performance
ten of twelve from the free throwline, big three pointer in the fourth
quarter when three of six from theoutside, finished with twenty nine points,
but he helped generate his own offensethrough his defense by getting steals. In

(14:22):
the third quarter, he missed abunny an easy one, a layup,
A couple of them couldn't get thetip in, and then as Portland was
coming back the other way right toleft, Paul George snuck in there,
stole it and throw it down withtwo hands, and you could just tell
he wanted that one. But hegenerated some easier looks because he was getting

(14:45):
some deflections and getting steals. Foursteals total in this one and four assists
to two turnovers. Decent number.He still has had better games than that
recently, but a much better numberturnover wise than what we saw yes day.
He had six turnovers in the firsthalf against the Orlando Magic. He
turned that game around back in hisfavor. He still finished with thirty.

(15:07):
He was very good against the Magic, but just like that in this one,
he started off slow, got ina foul trouble, was taken out
early, couldn't find a rhythm.He win about seventeen minutes of game time
between shots. He hit a threepointer early in the first quarter, and
then the next shot he made wasaround the four minute mark of the second

(15:28):
quarter. To see him turning aroundthough, I love that twenty two shot
attempts. Once again, he gotmore shots up than Kawhi Leonard, who
was just at twenty and Paul George'sshot twenty or more field goals for the
fourth straight time this season, hislongest streak of the year. He has
shot twenty or more field goals infive out of the past six games.

(15:50):
Great to see so Russell Westbrook effect. I don't know he had some of
those assists to PG thirteen. Hefinished with ten assists to four turnovers.
I thought he had some really goodpasses. There was some great two man
game going on between him and Evitzazu Bots in the first half where he
found zoo Bots on an extra passafter Kawai got it to Russell Westbrook on

(16:10):
the right block. He gave itup as the defense came his way to
Evitsa Zubots for an easy throwdown,and then a few possessions later, Zoobots
returned the favor. Had a bouncepass, a pocket pass between two defenders
for Russ for a layup. Whostruggled to miss some gimmes, including an
alley oop from Kawhi Leonard, butthen he would hit a big three pointer.
Finished just three of twelve, buthe made some really tough passes.

(16:36):
There was one It was actually onthe play where Paul George missed those bunnies
before getting the steal and getting abig throw down on that inbounce pass from
Russell Westbrook. It was a greatfeat. Not many guys could make this
pass to get it to Paul Georgewho was wide open, who just missed
a gimme there, but eventually gotto go after the steal in the dunk.

(16:59):
But Russ just makes life easier withsome of these passes that you know,
he's the best pastor on this Clippersteam. That's that's, you know,
not a debate. That's not upfor debate. It can't be.
He has to take care of thebasketball, of course, but ten assists
to four turnovers isn't terrible in thatarea five to two assists a turnover ratio,

(17:22):
and some of these turn into hockeyassists too, where he may not
have gotten the assists, but throughgreat ball moving and making one good pass
the next guy and zub having aneasier pass or making an extra pass to
eventually leading to a bucket or toeventually lead to a bucket. The Clippers
with eleven steals total and a VisaZoo bots by the way, fourteen and

(17:45):
ten, and I know he didn'thave any blocks, but he redirected a
lot of shots. There was ashot at the end of the first half
where Dame still trying to get itgoing, never really did. He had
a push shot over a vizza Zoobots and couldn't get it, and Big
Zoo's defense and his presence in thepaint was felt. He was fantastic.
I just love the activity level we'veseen it. He obviously looks healthier.

(18:11):
He had actually the I want tosay, the first six points of the
ball game, and in the secondhalf there was another pass from Russ to
avitsa Zoo bats in the third quarter, and then in the fourth the Zoo
had a layup or some zoo alsender action with the hook shot after using
his pivot and just looking for anopening over the defense, put it over

(18:32):
the top of him, got itto go. So he's playing much better.
The Clippers closed with Russ, EricGordon e beats the Zoo Bots,
Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Andhere's what I found interesting. If you
want to talk about progress or justthe difference of having Kawhi Leonard out there
and what a difference. It makesbecause the Clippers have really struggled when he
hasn't played games recently, and it'spretty much just been on back to backs

(18:56):
where they've been missing him. Butthey're three and fourteen in their last seventeen
games without Kawhi Leonard. A littlebit alarming because in coach Low's first two
seasons with the team, they wentfifty seven and sixty two, just five
games under five hundred when Kawhi wasout. Obviously missed the entire year last
year, that includes the postseason andthe plan. But I want to say

(19:22):
they hadn't got a victory or havenot still gotten a victory without Kawai since
early January or late December. Itwas Law Murray of The Athletic that had
a great article regarding this, andit's just something worth monitoring now. Obviously,
to win a championship, you're gonnaneed Kawhi Leonard out there. But
there's two more back to backs togo, I believe this season, and

(19:44):
so far he hasn't played both gamesof a back to back. We'll see
if that changes, because you know, the final two games of the year
against Portland against the Phoenix Suns couldbe very meaningful and change where the Clippers
end up in the standings and whothey're playing in the first round. We'll
see what happens, but obviously Ilike the approach. It has worked.

(20:04):
You've gotten the best version of mayberegular season Kawhi Leonard ever over the last
three months now shooting and I knowhe struggled from the outside and this one,
but hit a big three late andit was funny because I think it
was thy Ball who was on him. I posted the play at follow out
of May on Twitter because on thisthree point shot by Kawaid, I'm trying

(20:26):
to find it so I can tellyou where it was at in the game.
With about five minutes left in thefourth quarter, Kawai felt like he
was fouled by the defender, kindof pushed the defender's hand away and then
did a hard ball fake on himto back him up. Then it beats,
the Zubots comes over, sets thescreen. Kauhi with the fade away
three and just starts, you know, back pedaling as he knew it was

(20:51):
gonna go. It's reminiscent of oneof the big threes he hit late against
the Dallas Mavericks in that forty fivepoint game six he had a couple of
years ago in the playoffs. Helooks exactly the same. I'm telling you,
this guy coming off in acl I'venever seen anything like it. He
looks the same with this movement.But he's shooting it better again at around

(21:14):
fifty percent since January from three,but a key bucket there, plus to
fade away in the midpost on thefourth quarter, and Paul George also some
big buckets. He had nine ofUS twenty nine in the fourth. Those
two combined for fourteen of the Clipperstwenty four points in the fourth quarter while
holding Portland to just nineteen points aftergiving up twenty more points than that in

(21:37):
the fourth quarter yesterday to Orlando,giving up a thirty nine spot to the
Magic. But Paul George had asteal, and he and Kawhi were everywhere,
creating a lot of turnovers and alot of havoc, especially down the
stretch of this one in the lasteight minutes where they were both in the
ball game. But Paul George hada steal that turned into a Paul George
three in the fourth one of thebiggest shots of the ball game, and

(22:02):
the Clippers started to cruise, andit was the antithesis of what we saw
yesterday against the Magic, where cominginto the fourth quarter tonight they had a
ten point lead. Yesterday, itwas an eight point lead going into the
final period and the Clippers were upsix in that one with nine minutes left
against the Magic and ended up losingby five. Okay, so let's contrast

(22:25):
that with what happened tonight. TheClippers also were pushed. There was a
time out at the seven fifty fivemark, they were up six. One
on one ninety five was the score. Instead of wilting or letting Portland back
into it, Eric Gordon gets asix footer to go and had a couple
of layups and downhill attack baskets inthe fourth quarter. Then Kawhi Leonard guests

(22:51):
that mid range fade away and thenit's Paul George with a steel on Damian
Lillard leading to that three pointer Ijust mentioned, and all of a sudden
they're up nine and they would endup extending this lead instead of what happened
yesterday with them losing it. Today, they stepped on the gas and they
stepped on the throat of their opponents. On the second night, of a
back to back. I know Kawhididn't play in the one yesterday, and

(23:12):
he makes all the difference in theworld. But the other guys and Paul
George playing thirty four minutes and thisone, he looked to be getting stronger
as the game went along. RussellWestbrook, he ended up getting a layup
to go after some frustration where hewas missing some easy ones late in the
fourth quarter. Two beats. TheZubots had a big bucket Eric Gordon.

(23:33):
A couple of those layups that Imentioned. They closed like the way you
would want them too. Against ateam that has struggled, but Damian Lillard
has not. And the reason theClippers were able to win handily is he
and Anthony Simons really never got agoing. Simons was just six to fifteen.
I was worried about him because hecan erupt, and he hit a

(23:57):
three pointer and I thought, oh, it was over maze and plumbing in
the fourth quarter. Don't let himstart to cook. But he finished just
six to fifteen. So he andDame finished ten of thirty two from the
field. Those two combined, theydidn't have Jeremy Grant. You gotta take
advantage of that can't feel sorry foryour opponent. Nobody feels sorry for the

(24:18):
Clippers when they've been missing guys allseason long. I just thought this was
a much more complete, certainly secondhalf from the Clippers winning that third quarter
thirty four to twenty eight, butthen winning the fourth and playing their best
defense. It was their best quarterin that area, only giving up nineteen
to Portland when they had just givenup thirty nine in the fourth to the
Magic Yesterday, Big turnaround, bigbounce back. Clippers win by fifteen,

(24:44):
final score one seventeen to one ohtwo over the Portland Trailblazers. Let's go
to Damien in LA to start thingsoff here on Clippers Stalk Damien. What's
good, hey, Adam Man,right back into our winning ways. I'm
pleased with the effort, Man,it was really great. You know,
you hit on it. I wasyou practically said the same thing that I

(25:04):
was going to say right now.I was really happy with the way that
every time that Portland's thought they weregonna get back in this game, we
shut the door. And that's somethingthat we didn't do on Saturday, you
know, So it's great that theygot the message. Shout out to coach
Dan, you know, first onein the books. That's beautiful, but

(25:25):
you know, not much to sayon that. I'm just really loving the
way that they played. Let's keepthat up. Let's make sure that we're
doing those little things. We're dominating, playing dominant basketball. It's just one
of the only teams left that's capable, I feel, of playing that type
of my brand of dominant basketball.And we need to see it from the
tip off, you know, tothe last buzzard. And if we can

(25:48):
play more like that, I don'tthink that there's much of anything that people
are gonna be able to do withus. You can see the imprint that
Russ is having on PG. Thirteen. He's really brung out something in him,
you know, and he's brung outsomething and some of the other guys
too. So it's great to seethat emotional balance that we have. Now.
We have a guy that's willing totalk, we have a guy that's

(26:11):
willing to show you exactly what's needed. Let's go, man, what else
is necessary? What else is needed? We got everything we need can make
it happen. Consistency is what's needed. Now we need to see that they've
been better recently. Defensively, thisholding the Portland Trailblazers their eighth this season.
Offensively, it's on the defensive endwhere they struggle their bottom five defense,

(26:34):
but you hold them to one otwo, and most recently you also
hold and the Knicks two. Isit ninety nine? I'm trying to be
accurate with this. The Knicks recentlythey helped him to ninety five, the
Raptors they held them to one hundredand Golden States scored one hundred and twenty
six points and shot fifty five percentfrom the field. I know it looks
bad, but when you see theshots Steph was making in the third quarter

(26:57):
and throughout, but yeah, twentyone of his fifty and the third he
kind of just shrug and tip yourcap. There's not much you can do.
It's just insane skill level from thebest shooter ever. I thought the
Cooper's overall did play and gave greateffort on the defensive end, did play
well. So in a lot oftheir games recently, it looks like they're

(27:19):
starting to turn a corner. Andthey've won five of six. Now that's
a good sign. Could have hadthe one yesterday. That's a tough loss,
no doubt to the Orlando Magic,but you couldn't let it bleed into
tonight's performance, and they didn't,even after a first quarter where it looked
like they could have ran away withthis thing. Early they were up fifteen

(27:40):
the first quarter, it was thirtyto fifteen, but by the end of
it they had just a six pointlead. So they still have areas to
improve. This Portland team is struggling. Don't give them life. They did
so Portland battled back basically until thateight minute mark of the fourth quarter where
the Clippers finally said enough and theyopened up the ball game and they win

(28:04):
by fifteen one seventeen. One ohtwo was your final Coming up next?
You know what, let's pause tenseconds for station identification. Here on AM
five seventy LA Sports. This isLA Clippers Basketball. AM five seventy KLAC
Los Angeles, ninety eight seven KYSRHD two Los Angeles and iHeart Radio station.

(28:26):
Coming up next, more of yourphone calls at eight six, six
to nine seven two five seventy eightsix six to nine, eight seven two
five seventy plus you'll hear from EricGordon, Dan Craig filling in getting his
first victory as a head coach infor Tylu tonight non COVID related illness.
Hopefully he's back out there on Tuesday. William Updyke will be here from Clips

(28:47):
and Dip two. Clippers win oneseventeen o one oh two over the Portland
Trailblazers up in Portland. They're backtaking on the thunder and SGA Tuesday and
Thursday at home. This is Clipperstock. You're on AM five seventy l
a sports Kawai back. He hastwenty four. Eric Gordon off the bench
with twenty on seven of nine,shooting four or five from discance, some
key three pointers on the third quarter, just like he hit against the Golden

(29:11):
State Warriors in their victory a fewnights ago. Welcome back in. This
is Clippers talk after they win oneseventeen to one oh two up in Portland
over the Taril Blazers. Eight sixsixty ninety eight seven two five seventy eight
six sixty ninety seven two five seventyis the phone number Morris in Long Beach
before we hear from Dan Craig Morris, what's up? Hey, Wait a

(29:33):
minute, Adam, Wait a minute, Adam, do you mean to tell
me that you can measure Kawhi lettersdifferensive impact for the Clippers? Is that
right? Hey, there's no excusefor losing to the Orlando Magic. Did
you see who beat Did you seewho beat or A Morris? Did you
see who beat Orlando tonight without Lebron? Yeah, so there's no excuse,

(29:56):
there's no excuse. That's a badloss, Adam. You know it's in
ten thousand games. Whatever it happenedto the Clippers, it happened to everybody
in the NBA, and everybody makesa run during the game. And there's
ten games left. That was theirworst fourth quarter of the season, and
it happened well with eleven games left, that was a game? Would that

(30:18):
be that sixty one? Yeah?Well, you're supporting my narrative that you
can measure Kawhi Leonards defensive impact onthis team. Okay, you've mentioned so
I don't know that four. Letme believe. Put it this way for
you. They gave up just seventeenpoints of the Magic in the third quarter
yesterday. Was Kawhi learn on thefloor in that third quarter for them?

(30:38):
But the pressure moment is no,no, no, no, no,
no no. If They're good enoughto hold the Magic to seventeen in the
third quarter. Yesterday, they're goodenough not to give up thirty nine to
them in the fourth quarter. I'mjust being honest about it. It's a
bad loss, Morse. There's tengames left. Well, I disagree,
I just because it's the NBA.These guys are tough. But my point
is, you can measure Kawhi leonardsdefensive impact on this team when he's on

(31:00):
the floor. And I'm gonna tellyou something. The Clippers are a good
playoff team. What Kawhi is gonnamake him as a championship team because when
it comes down the pressure, thisguy's ready. And your boy Westbrook,
Keith Lady, can you imagine theguard getting twelve rebounds and four of them
offensive. That was impressive. Thisis my team, Adam. I'm gonna
give him a pass on yesterday.This is the NBA. They got their

(31:22):
boy back today. They got theanchor to their defense. They got a
guy who's going to minimize the turnovers. That's Kawhi Leonard. Hey, lors,
I got news for you. Theygot two more back to backs before
the end of the season, sowe already are expecting right now, with
the way this year is gone,Kauhai's not playing in one of those games.
They have to be better without Kauai. You can't just say, oh,

(31:44):
they didn't have Kawhi, it's okay. They have to be better.
They've been really bad without him thisseason. They can't just rely on one
guy. But they're not. Theyhave to be better, but they're not.
I know, when we got thatman on the floor, you're not
gonna beat this team. And he'sgot a lot of guns, and we're
doing this without my boy pal.You course, they've lost fifteen games with
Kawhi Leonard on the four of theseason. I can say they're not gonna

(32:07):
beat this team. They're not perfectlist that was a different man. Adam
be fair enough to Adam be fairenough, some of those Morris when they
just when they just had the losingstreak coming out of the All Star break,
Kawhi was playing. I'm just tryingto bring you into reality here.

(32:27):
I'm sorry, but you can haveyour own points, you can have your
own opinions. I get that,you can't have your own facts, and
that's where we're trying to go withit. I'm just trying to say,
pump the brakes a little bit.The Clippers can still beat a team like
the Orlando Magic without Kawai. Theycan still win games without Kauai. They
did it all of last season.They found a way to have a winning

(32:51):
record. It can't just be aboutone guy. He's not going to be
playing forty eight minutes per game inthe playoffs. He's not gonna be out
there for every minute. You can'tbe too relying on just Kauai, because
I'm here to tell you at somepoint he's not gonna be shooting fifty percent
from the outside. I'm sorry topop your party balloon, but it's true.

(33:19):
Maybe I'm wrong. I hope iam, but there's likely going to
be a regression to the mean.Kawai has never finished the season where he
shot fifty percent from three. Thenumbers are the numbers. We got a
lot of data on who he isfrom the outside. He's been on a
heater. He's gonna have games wherehe's that good. But you can't expect

(33:40):
him to give you thirty fifty,fifty ninety numbers every night to have to
win. If you're expecting that againstteams who are going to load up against
him and do everything they can tostop him in the playoffs. I don't
think that's a winning formula for theClippers. Other guys have to step up.

(34:00):
It can't just be about Kawai,as good as he is. It
takes more than that. It didwith Toronto, it did with San Antonio
to win a championship. It's notjust about one guy. So I just
want to coution everybody on that.That is a little bit of a warning
sign. When you're that bad inthe last seventeen games without Kawhi and you've

(34:22):
only won three of them, raisesan eyebrow. It does. Do you
need him to win a championship?Of course, you also need the guys
around him to play well and tobe good when he's not on the floor
during stretches in the playoffs. Ifthis is as deep of a team as
we have been saying it is,they should be able to get buy and

(34:44):
stretches in games if he's not playing. Some of these last back to backs,
Clippers win one seventeen to one ZOtwo over the Portland Trailblazers. Don't
get me wrong, it's a goodwin. It's a great bounce back for
the Clippers. This week's gonna bepivotal, though the rest of them all
are. But they're playing okay see, who's playing well. They just beat

(35:05):
Phoenix today. Okay See won thefirst two games this season against the Clippers
in a home back to back forthem, and at the time, people
were saying these are indefensible, inexcusablelosses early in the year, and they
could come back to haunt them.Now, Okayc's been better than I think

(35:25):
a lot of people suspected they weregoing to be, and they're in contention
in the plan. But the Clippershave to win those games Tuesday and Thursday,
and it's not going to be easy. Okay See has a lot of
young guys. They played with greatenergy, and they played together. They
moved the basketball really well, andthey have Sga. We know about him,

(35:46):
he said, a game winner againstthe Clippers already. All right.
Here was Dan Craig post game afterthe Clippers win one seventeen to one oh
two in Portland over the Trailblazers.It feels pretty good. Feel it's pretty
good. Yeah, we needed awin, I thought, just just a
good team contribution tonight to come inhere on the second night of the back

(36:07):
to back and you know, andpull out a win. It magically difference
fourth quarter defensively thirty nine points alout. I guess you're nineteen to night.
You saw just our urgency. Ithought, you know, you guys really
wanted to get this one to night. You know, obviously get that taste
out of our mouth from U fromyesterday and that fourth quarter. So I

(36:29):
think just our our urgency coming inon both sides of the ball, trying
to make sure we got good shotsoffensively and then defensively, just really trying
to prioritize Lillard again. Will bebefore you hear from Spook knowing him,

(36:50):
probably not too long, probably prettyquickly, very exposed to that. I
mean years have year old son yew. That was the key tonight, but
it's for hard keep him down.We just knew he was gonna be super
aggressive, so we came being withthe game plan that puts him uh to
start the game, try to getthe ball out of his hands, and
that hurt us a little bit withNurkics, you know, on his roles.

(37:12):
We were late with our our lowmanrotations. But again we were prioritizing
him, so we need to cleanup those rotations, but just making sure
that he didn't get going early.And then he did a good job of
getting to the free throw line,just putting his head now when he when
he wanted to uh to get somesome free ones at the at the free
throw line. So I thought wecould have done a better job, but

(37:32):
just being a little more disciplined withthat. But overall I thought we did
a good job with him. Kindof the Sea thing about Chays work work
for just the days with Ross too. Yesterday he closed, he blamed himself
to the hard ago to blame forthat. We had to or not.
But today he closed the games.Would you think of good for I thought,
you know, he was out thereand he was our point guard.

(37:53):
He was, you know, gettinga set. He was helping me get
the guys organized, making sure thatwe got into an action and just got
the ball into you know, PGand Kawai's hands. So just in terms
of orchestrating and running running the showup from the point card position, I
thought I did a great job.There was Dan Craig post game. Congrats

(38:14):
to Dan Craig gets his first winas a head coach in for Ty Low,
who's out with an illness Right now, Dan Craig, your associate head
coach of the Los Angeles Clippers,as they win one seventeen to one oh
two in Portland over the Trail Blazers. Coming back back to your phone calls
eight six six to nine eight seventwo five seventy eight sixty six nine eight
seventy six nine eight seven two fiveseventy is the phone number, or get

(38:37):
to me I'd follow out of May? Was this going back to Cali?
Coming back to Cali? Ami?They used the same beat. I think
it's pretty similar. The cool jsong. Clippers have won five of six.
Next one coming up Tuesday night,back at home, back to Cali

(39:00):
against the Okay see Thunder. You'llhear from Eric Gordon while will updike on
here on Clippers stock on a fiveseventy l a sports last times on my
neck Climbers one one seventeen and oneout two over the Blazers in Portland.
Welcome back in This is Clippers Stalk. I'm at a moslin to eight six

(39:21):
six nine eight seven two five seventyeight six sixty ninety seven two five seventy
is the phone number. But youknow the music. You know the song,
you know, the theme song forClips. And if that means we're
doing some double dip here on Clipper'sTalk and we got Will Updike on why
because the Clippers won. Not onlydid they win, they won in style,
going away late, winning by fifteenon the second night of a back

(39:44):
to back, Will, what wasthe most encouraging thing or takeaway for you
in this one? It has tobe for me, the way the Clippers
came out in the second half firsttime definitely looks like the night of a
back to back Clips. We're gettingout hustle. I don't think it was
a lack of effort, but itdid feel like a lack of legs maybe

(40:04):
for the Clippers. But that thirdquarter where Eric Gordon overcame a pretty meda
performance in the starting lineup in thatAfternuon game against the Wizards, and then
Paul George, who got off toa rough start, basically doubled his scoring
output from the first half in thein the third quarter. So I would
really really have to see that.Overall this game, you know, Clippers

(40:27):
led wire to wire, never gaveup the lead, and while you know,
once again they are playing a teamsdown a significant part portion of their
rotation. This to be a littlebit felt like a game of what we
thought this Clippers team would be rightwith those kind of margins where even when
things aren't going right, they stillhave enough talent and enough enough depth to
kind of steamroll over these lesser teams. And it's just a bummer that we're

(40:50):
seeing it so late in the season, but it is still encouraging that those
Clippers are still there right like whatwe thought we were going to get from
from this whole season long, withthat identity and that core is really still
there. So I think that isvery, very encouraging. And while the
Blazers are a lesser team, theyhave a great, great player in Damian
Lillard. And I believe I broughtthis up on clips and DiPT but the

(41:13):
two on three connection, they havewrecked him over the years. He goes
four of seventeen, Anthony Simons goessix of fifteen, and the Clippers hold
them to nineteen points in that fourthquarter. I just love seeing the if
you hold it up to the mirroragainst what they did in the fourth yesterday,
the contrast there is very different.They gave up twenty more points in

(41:36):
the fourth to the Orlando Magic.Tonight just nineteen points to Portland. Yeah,
yeah, I mean that was greatto see another game where sort of
an offensive minded center is going off. But I believe in this one that
was definitely that was definitely by design. Huge game from Nurkics though, But
yeah, the Clippers have kind ofalways had Damian Leward's number. It makes

(41:58):
sense, you know, this teamvery heavy playing against these offenses that are,
you know, driven by smaller guardswho don't who don't really provide a
lot of resistance on the other endof the floor. Damian lid twenty one
points, I mean, well belowhis season average of what I think he
scored, like thirty a game,Yeah, thirty two. Yeah, it's
it was, and he struggled throughoutit. You mentioned Nurkis he had thirteen

(42:21):
of his twenty three points in thefirst quarter. But I think you're right
that was a guy they were willingto let get going as long as it
wasn't Dame and it wasn't Anthony Simmons, and neither of them ever found really
a hot shooting streak or a stintthroughout this one. I thought a Visa
Zubots was a big part of that. He had a well defended play against
Damian Load to end the second quarter. But overall, like we've seen recently

(42:45):
was Zoobots. He's just been sogood in the paint and really one of
the difference makers defensively for them.Oh I agree. I thought offensively too,
his foot, like his full workslooked really good, which leads me
to believe that maybe he was playingthrough something that was kind of nagging at
him and he's gotten you know,and that is he's back to full health.

(43:07):
But defensively, I mean, youknow, we talked about the Clippers
skid and how crucial, uh likethe visa Zubos was to some of those
losses and having him back, youknow, it could never be too soon
for the Clippers. This was agreat defensive game for Paul George. To
me, I thought, you know, especially with all he did in that

(43:28):
game against the Magic, you know, putting up thirty points, he still
scored near thirty in this one,just a point shy. But what he
was doing defensively I thought was Imean, I thought it was incredible,
especially on the second on the secondnight or day of a back to back
I don't know what should call it. If one is afternoon and the other's
night. I guess that's like amirror or a Yeah, I don't know

(43:49):
what to call it. The misterin between back to back or Paul George
had two of his four steals inthe fourth quarter. I agree with you.
It looked like he said, Okay, I don't have it going with
my shot. I'm gonna find anotherway to contribute, and through his defense
he kind of found a rhythm.Offensively. He had I want to say,
ten points in the third quarter alone, and he had that steal after

(44:13):
missing a couple of gimmes at therim where he took it away from Portland
and then had a two handed dunk, and I think he had a sigh
of relief. They're just like,Okay, I see the ball going through
the rim a little bit. I'mfinding my offense. And once again he
took more shots than Kawaii Leonard.That's always a good sign to me.
Yeah, yeah, definitely, AndI mean we've heard that from him before

(44:34):
too, right like plane, well, defensively when he's in a slump definitely
gets him going it, you know, it gets him into that mindset of
where he feels more in control ofthe game. It's just one thing to
say and then another thing to doit, and to do it on the
second night of the back to that. Like I said, I think it's
extremely impressive and it does bode wellfor how the Clippers can finish this season,

(44:55):
which is going to be a toothand nail dog fight to the end.
About your guy, Eric Gordon,mister basketball. Seven of nine from
the field, four of five fromdistance, twenty points, three of those
four made threes coming in the thirdquarter and then he got to the basket
in the fourth quarter. He's beeninstrumental and a lot of these wins posts

(45:16):
All Star Break early he's had hishands or his imprint in where are they
now? Five? Are they fiveand five? No? No, no,
no, this is game eleven.Now, So are they five and
six since the All Star Break?Yeah? Because they had a five game
losing streak. Yeah yeah, uhyeah, No. Eric Gordon has been
Eric Gordon has been incredible and youknow he was perfect from three in that

(45:37):
third quarter. Really helped the Clipspull away from this one with ease.
And you know what he provides defensively, like well, I'm not a defensive
store like you know Kawhi or PaulGeorge. He does have a defensive skill
set that definitely, you know,it helps to run out these leaves on
other teams. I'm really curious tosee, like how he and man fit

(45:59):
together once Norm Powell is back inthe lineup, because you have another guy
very offensively, very offensively gifted,not on the same level as Eric Gordon
defensively, so you have some sortof interesting things there. And you know,
we know that Tyler is one todefinitely play to the matchup, but
I'm curious. I'm a little bitcurious to see what that's going to look

(46:21):
like moving forward. We talked about, you know, Charles had some concern
about about Norman Powell re entering thelineup, and I don't have concern for
Norm specifically just because of how definedhis role is. I'm just curious to
see the sort of like butterfly offact around the rest of the rotation with
that, Yeah, no doubt.I want to ask you about something that

(46:42):
a caller brought up and law Murraywrote about earlier today regarding Kawhi Leonard and
the Clippers just being overly reliant onhim recently where they've only won three of
the last seventeen games where he didn'tplay, and that just wasn't the case
in past seasons. There are onlywith him missing an entire season, five
games under five hundred total without Kauai, including the postseason in the play in

(47:08):
last year, going back the lasttwo seasons, but this year they've really
struggled without him. And my pointis just this, like, it can't
just be about one guy holding youridentity together. It really can't. Because
he's not going to be able toplay forty eight minutes a game in the
playoffs. Other guys have to stepup. So I guess, how do
you see that? Well, well, I guess I do have a follow

(47:30):
up question, which would be howmany of those seventeen losses did we not
have a legitimate backup center to soakup some minutes in those? Look,
I agree, you know you can'tjust wait on one guy, although,
from what we've seen in the postseasontime and time again, if healthy Kauai
is going to be that guy morethan willing to be that guy, I

(47:51):
think that. I do think thebigger problem is having to lean on him
so much in the regular season,But you know, those seventeen loss of
three and seventeen. I mean,you take away the best player on any
team. Uh, you know,arguably what at least to top ten maybe
top five guy in the NBA froma team, they're not gonna look so
good. And I do agree,like I like I said, I think

(48:14):
that the leaning on him in theregular season could present some you know,
challenges with longevity. But I dothink they've done a really good job of
sort of ramping him back up,managing his his minute to an extent in
games. And and yeah, oncethe postseason comes around, like Kauai is
gonna ask like I don't even knowif it's a conversation, like he is

(48:37):
just gonna he's gonna be that guy. And I think seeing him ramp up,
well, it's not ideal to haveto lean on him so much.
And and like I said earlier,you know, we thought our depth was
gonna be able to wade us througha lot of these waters and these games
that you know, we've ended uplosing close ones, we've ended up getting
you know, double digit losses tosome you know, much lower competition.

(48:58):
But you know, overall, likethat that is the guy that is sort
of the on court identity of thisteam. While maybe not the vocal leader,
he's very much a lead by example. And I think you know some
of those games where guys are alittle fluggish, especially you know when we
when we have these terrible first quarterswhere teams just explode on us offensively.
Without Kawai on the floor, thereyou don't see the guys round in the

(49:20):
form in the same way now.And my point, you know, isn't
to go against the thought that obviously, you know, Kawhi Leonard is the
most important player on this team.He's the number one option. He's the
one if they win a championship thatis going to have to lead them.
My warning, I guess, isthat he's kind of been the guy since

(49:42):
January, playing otherworldly basketball like italready is the playoffs. And they're still
only twenty eight and fifteen with himthis season, and they've had multiple long
losing streaks with him playing that well, that's what's a little bit curious to
me. He's been that good fiftyfifty ninety cents January and they still have
lost a lot of games. Reallythey shouldn't with him on the floor.

(50:06):
So other guys, you know,and Paul George knows this, and he's
been playing much better as of late. But there has to be a support
system there too, and Paul Georgehas to play like a one A,
one B, like the best numbertwo option in the league. Right,
No, I agree. I agree, guys do need to take over the
reins a little bit more. AndI do feel like at times when a

(50:28):
Clipper's offense is that it's worse,it's I do feel like it's four guys
standing around watching Kauai or you know, like one past things into an ISO,
and that's just asking him to doway too much work. So I
definitely do agree with that. Ithink also there was just from last season,
you know, as excited as wewere about like what the core of

(50:49):
this was, I mean, nowa lot of that has changed post the
trade deadline, and I think cominginto it, we saw that guys were
having a lot more trouble taking overgames in the way we'd seen them do
before. Certainly Reggie, you know, even even Luke kind of went through
a slump and had some things parentsMann his you know, I think he's
in a much better place now.But I think where we started the season
and the multitude of ways he wasbeing used. I think that that was

(51:13):
really tough. But toomb you know, came into this season shooting a lot
slower than what we had used tobe seen. And I do think the
lack of a backup center is reallya legitimate thing and how difficult it was
for the Clippers to win games evenagainst lesser competition if you know, one
or both with Kawai and Paul Georgewere out. But I do think,

(51:34):
I do think that that is trendingin the right direction. I do think
around Kawai, who, as youmentioned, has been incredible since January,
Paul George is getting up there ortwo. I feel like he's definitely starting
to peek at the right time.And around them overall, I do feel
like there's guys who are a littlebit more ready to take over games.

(51:57):
And whether that just be they're beingutilized in the right way now or they're
just more comfortable on court TVD.But I do think that, you know,
if the supporting gast was playing atthe level we've seen for the most
part, you know, later inthis season, I do think that looks
a little bit different. No greatpoints, he's at will up Deck on

(52:19):
Twitter does it with the Clips andDip podcast with myself and Chuck Mockler,
and we'll have a tripod for youcoming out tomorrow. Will, thanks for
coming on tonight after Clippers win,all right. We're expecting you to come
on when they win. So Chuckisn't happy about this, by the way,
because I told him the other nightafter they lost. You know,
I hope I don't talk to youfor a few more weeks. That means

(52:40):
the Clippers keep winning. And I'mtalking to Will I don't know. He's
wondering who his agent was and Itold him maybe it was Will up Deck,
I don't know. Well, thanksfor doing this. We'll talk tomorrow,
all right, so up good Lateron eight six six ninety seven two
five seventy final phone calls after theClippers win one seventeen to one two over

(53:00):
the Portland Trailblazers in Portland where previewTuesday's game against OKAC, and you'll hear
from Eric Gordon as well. Nexthere on Clipper Stock on a five seventy
LA sports Clippers go one and oneon this back to back in our headed
back to Cali where they take onthe OKAC thunder Tuesday night tip time for
that once at seven thirty. Ilove Clippers countdown starting at six thirty.

(53:24):
Huge games, playoff implications, restof the way, every game means something.
You go on a losing streak,you can slide all the way out
of the play in tournament. Yougo on a winning streak, you can
have a top four seed. Clipperscurrently are a half game back of the
Phoenix Suns, who lost to OKCearlier today for that four spot. Clippers

(53:45):
at thirty eight and thirty four,Suns at thirty eight and thirty three.
On the year, Clippers are upon the Dallas Mavericks by eight game and
a half, Dallas trailing them inthe six spot. Golden State behind them
in the seven spot, a halfgame behind Dallas. See by the way,
they are they spot, so they'replaying for a lot right now.
You're getting that seven eight matchup.It's double elimination, so it's not gonna

(54:08):
be easy. We know how goodSga is, but they've built a really
good young team, young core aroundhim, and they beat the Clippers twice
earlier this season. Here was EricGordon though post game after he had twenty
points on seven or nine, shootingfour or five from the outside, and
unbelievable third quarter. Once again,Clippers win one seventeen to one oh two,
and Eric Gordon was speaking with ChristinaPink on Valley Sports The Wired and

(54:30):
Wired to Win and Eric a muchbetter fourth quarter performance from this team.
What allowed you guys to go ona run here late? Well, we're
just we're we woke up. Well, you know, we know what we
need to do. We just needto have better energy and early in the
game. And uh, you know, we know what we need to do.
We're a veteran group. We've justgot to continue to keep pushing in
and uh make the right adjustments.Wishes we haven't been. We just got

(54:52):
we just gotta go out there andplay. Got play. I know about
what you need to do with thatenergy. You come with him the second
half. We thought again Golden State, we saw it tonight, twenty points,
but most of it coming from youin the second half. Do you
just get better as the game goeson, Yeah, for sure, I
know when it when it's coming tome, I'm gonna you know, I'm
gonna not gown shots to try tocreate opportunities for other people, and uh,

(55:14):
you know, I spread out thefloor very well, so it should
be opened up doors for everybody else. And uh, I'm just gonna continue,
you know, do what I'm doing. You know, great position of
being and I just want to continuedoing well. Talked about knowing what this
team needs to do. You're comingoff a tough loss, it's a back
to back, and you go intoa game without your head coach. How
did you like the way this groupresponded in the face of adversity tonight.

(55:36):
Well, it's good. It's allabout just us being ready in the first
quarter when we need to do wellin the first quarter, kind of open
us up to opened up the doorfor everybody to do well throughout the game.
And that's just what we need todo. Where's shoot that day?
Man? Yeah, but yeah,that's just what we need to do.
When we have early, good,good starts early in the game, I
think it translates better throughout the game. All Right, congrats, Thank you.

(55:58):
Eric. There was Eric and twentyeight minutes had twenty points mentioned him
in the pregame show. Not justlooking for Russell Westbrook to have a bounce
back performance and the Clippers, butEric Gordon to have one. He hits
four threes. Damian Lillard just one? All right, before we get out
of here, it's our new segment. Thet's producer Katie Newton, Katie's casual

(56:19):
corner. It's because she claims she'san NBA casual. I didn't give her
that title. Actually, I thinkyou did. No, you said you
didn't watch a lot of basketball beforeyou start a worker on this show.
Is that not true? I didn'twatch any maths. Sometimes it seems like
you still don't. But Katie's aboutto give me the double little finger again.
But all right, what's your questiontonight? Here's the segment she asked
me random casual questions. All right, so this one was when you gave

(56:44):
me because earlier I was like,hey, they're number three the Pacific Division,
and you're like that doesn't mean anything, and I was like, number
three is great. So how manyteams are in the Pacific Division? All
right, let's count him because wecan talk about the Cow Cup, but
there's more teams than that in thedivision. You got the Lakers in there,

(57:05):
one, you got the Golden StateWarriors. Okay, you got the
Phoenix Suns. Get there on thePacific Ocean okay, the Sacramento Kings and
of course the La Clippers. It'sonly five teams. Yeah, oh yeah,
number three is not that good.They rearranged the divisions a few years
back and should probably just do awaywith them altogether, because it's not that
big of a deal. Everybody's oncharter flights. It used to be like

(57:29):
that back in the day, wheredivisions meant more. Now they don't anything
else. Yeah, but you saidyou didn't have the answer to this one.
When I was like, hey,what does this mean? Give it
to me, I got all theanswers. Why that's Marcus Morris called muck?
Oh no, see, oh no, you stumped me. Oh I
feel like such an idiot. Ohwhy would I let you ask that question?
Maybe so? Apparently Marcus Morris lovedreading as a child, and his

(57:55):
grandma called him muck. Book Nowit's just shortened to Muke. Well,
it's a grandma name. Talk withhim ever since. All right, it's
not because his favorite pokemon is muck. Did you know he has an identical
twin? By the way, No, I didn't know. You didn't.
And that's why it's Katie's casual corneralways. I need to get like a
read what is it? The Mariaknow it's out of it? Do you

(58:17):
want to tell people where they canfollow you? I would, but I
don't remember my past. It's Godon Twitter, it's at producer Katie Katy.
Just give him the darknet Twitter account. Just give him that one.
Just give him your burner. Doanything on Actually I don't do anything on
either because I lost the password.Now I'll recover that and maybe Tuesday I'll

(58:39):
have that. All right, you'llmake us an intro while you're at it.
I appreciate it, did see allright? Kay, thanks for the
help here. Clippers will win oneseventeen to one zero two in Portland over
the trail Blazers Tonight Tuesday night.They will see SGA and the OKAC thunder
again. Tip Off is at seventhirty. Well, the pregame show starting

(59:00):
at six thirty. Before we getout of here. I do want to
think the Clippers organization. Noah Eagle, Brian Seaman, Ralph Waller, big
Brother, Jake Corner. We'll seeyou on Tuesday, Jake, the callers,
the listeners and producer Katie Newton.You just heard from She's at I

(59:20):
love all Marvel movies, even thebad ones like The Last amp Man and
pretty much the last two of them. It was a fun movie. Okay,
that's what you say when a moviesun. It was Who's alas,
Who's entertaining? It last until Tuesdaynight with the pregame show starting at six
thirty Clippers and Thunder. I'm AdamAslin. We'll talk to you then.

(59:43):
This has been Clippers Talk, apostgame conversation about your LA Clippers with Adam
Moslay. If you like the show, subscribe to Clippers Talk on the iHeart
Radio app or wherever you podcast.This team has those championship ingredients. They
have some of that DNA. Youcan see it. This is Clippers Basketball.

(01:00:05):
Join us next time on the LAClippers Audio Network