Pregame listening.
Had my brother
@MarkJonesESPN
to hop on with Shap and I to talk Mavs / Clippers, game 2 between them, hit on a few other series, and a whole lot more. This was a fun one!
@TheLobTheJamPod
He’s averaging 29/9/5 on 51/38/89 over his last
60(!) playoff games.
Just 29 years old (30 in a few weeks)
An all time playoff performer who may have just had his best series ever.
Paul George 28 on 12/22 shooting in 40 minutes with 12 rebounds and 6ast
Kawhi 41/5/3 on on 14/21 shooting in 40 minutes
They brought it. I don't think you could have feasibly asked for more from them two.
Ty and their role players left them out to dry.
List of Chris Paul injuries in the postseason
2014 vs Golden State (Hamstring)
2015 vs San Antonio (Hamstring)
2016 vs Portland (Broken)
2018 vs GSW (Hamstring)
2019 season (Not postseason but ailing Hamstring all year)
2020 (None)
2021 (Shoulder? Neck?)
Just awful, awful luck
The Clippers through 42 games are .500
Games missed
Kawhi Leonard - 42
Paul George - 16
Marcus Morris - 21
Nicolas Batum - 19
Luke Kennard, Zubac, Reggie - All have missed time.
“They shouldn’t have to risk themselves and their livelihood to say ‘I need to meet a quota’ to be eligible for this stuff.”
@JCrossover
on the NBA’s 65-game minimum requirement for regular season awards
Reggie Jackson led the Clippers to 42 wins this year. A truly remarkable feat.
I’ve seen All NBA level players struggle to get to that number of wins as the only shot creator on their teams.
Terance Mann finished the season shooting:
60% on 2's
77% at the rim
39% from 3
Whether he starts or not, LAC needs Terance playing big, starterish minutes if they have any shot vs the Suns.
Norm Powell is having like, no bullshit one of the more efficient scoring seasons that I’ve seen in awhile from someone off the bench and I swear I’m not Glazing
50/46/90 splits
65TS%
61 EFG%
49% on Catch and Shoot 3’s
66% within 5 feet
71% in the restricted area
The Clippers should absolutely let a 29 year old wing who just avg’d 30/8/4 on 57/39/88 splits for a playoff run walk for nothing because of ‘culture.’ Yup.
The way they talk about last year's Mavs / Clippers series it's as if Dallas won and Kawhi didn't cook them.
Kawhi Leonard averaged 33/10/5 with a 64TS% in 6 games. He destroyed them.
He's averaged 27/8/5 vs the Mavs since he became a Clipper.
Every so often I remind myself that Paul George dropped 41 points on 15/20 shooting in a Western Conference Finals elimination game without Kawhi Leonard.
LOL
Reggie originally came to the Clippers via buyout
Batum originally via buyout
Zu was literally away
Terance Mann was a bottom 15 pick.
Amir was im drafted
So much of the Clippers competency can be attributed to how well they’ve worked the margins
And they have a top 3 HC
Resigned Nicolas Batum
Resigned Reggie Jackson
Serge Ibaka opts in
Lock Kawhi up for 4 years (3+1)
Good work in the draft
Winslow solid flyer
Very good offseason.
@LAClippers
Doc Rivers with Lob City - Locker Room issues, 3-1 collapse, etc
Doc Rivers first year with Kawhi/PG/Trez/LouPat - locker room issues, 3-1 collapse
Doc Rivers first year with the 76ers - locker room issues, 2nd rd collapse,
#1
draft pick demanding out w/4yrs left on deal
Seen people say Luka better than Kawhi when Kawhi is tasked with playing 40 minutes, scoring 40, then defending on the other end otherwise you’ll say he’s running from the fade
Why don’t we demand that from Luka if he better than Kawhi? It’s not like he’s 6’2?
There’s no real reason to play RW over Mann / Powell / Gordon. The 13th seed spent two years wanting to get rid of him. He’s been in the league since 08 and still does not cut, does not screen, and is still an awful shooter.
I don’t see it. We’ll see.
Paul George has been such an important Clipper, man. Repping the team whenever he can, making himself available to the team for media hits, recruiting guys to join the team while he’s been here, just has been an awesome member of the organization.
Kobe and AI were averaging 33, 35 a night with Tyrone Hill, Chris Mihm, and Samaki Walker as their floor spacers.
I can only imagine what they’d be doing with 4’s and 5’s that could positionally space
The way the national media was talking about the Center matchup was 100% proof that people do not watch Zubac / The Clippers like they say they do btw.
Zu is like that fr.
Clippers are the best team that ppl watch the least of. At least intently, they don't.
Kawhi finishes this season averaging
25/7/5 on 51/40/89
A 62TS%
The Clippers where a +12 points per 100 possessions better when Kawhi was on the floor this year
Spectacular, all nba level season from Kawhi
Reggie Jackson in the playoffs is averaging 16/3/3
On 49/44/91 lmaoooo
An eFG% of 63%
He’s shooting 58% on 2’s.
The amount of value that the Clippers have gotten out of Reggie via a buyout and a Vet Min deal almost never happens.
Honestly at a loss for words
How did this happen ‘uncle’ Shannon? That arena is SOLD OUT, In the playoffs, with NO Kawhi playing
They came to see Donovan Mitchell and Rudy?!
Cut it out
Btw this isn't a Clippers can't stop Luka thing.
He's about to make All NBA 1st team. NO ONE can stop that man.
He had 39 today. Kawhi had 41. They didn't lose because of Luka.
Their role players are playing and shooting sooooo much better than ours.