Clippers were up 14 with 4:25 left in the 4th.
Up 9 with 2:40 left in the 4th.
Up 6 with 3:04 left in OT
Up 6 with 1:57 left in double OT
They couldn't get enough stops or execute well enough when they had to. Brutal loss.
The Clippers over the last 4 games (with Paul George playing in 3 of them) have had the
#1
offense over that stretch after being a bottom 5 offense all year.
Many were either unsure about James Harden or flat out didn't want him. They thought he would wreck the team. Thought Russ needed to start. Refused to believe he could be a team guy and were pointing to that 0-5 start as proof. He's been everything the Clippers have needed & more
I never thought I would see video footage of Kawhi Leonard saying "bust their ass."
Very cool to see footage of him leading this intimate huddle dedicated to Kobe Bryant.
National media all year, "the regular season means nothing, the Clippers have to prove they are different in the playoffs."
*Clippers lose regular season game
"See, same old Clippers."
Kawhi in his last 10 games is 109 for 173 from the field (63%) and 27 for 47 from three (57%)
Find me a more efficient 10 game stretch in NBA history by a non big man....if you can.
I think Luka is already one of the greatest basketball players i've ever seen and he's still just 25, but the notion he was better than kawhi in either series when you take into account defense and you know, actually winning, is wild. This is what Kawhi did in '21 to them.
Thought this was interesting from Kawhi postgame saying, "winning doesn't always show you that you're getting better."
Could learn a lot about this team in the next 6 games with the Pels (tonight), Mavs, Nuggets, Kings, Warriors (2x) on the schedule.
Ok, this is kinda wild.
Both Kawhi and Paul George have played 10 games as Clippers vs. the Lakers.
They are BOTH averaging 24 points per game AND they are BOTH at 51/38/87 shooting splits in each of their 10 games against the Lakers as Clippers.
If the Clippers are gonna win tomorrow in Boston, gonna need to see Kawhi/PG/Harden/Powell on the floor together for some key minutes.
That 4 man lineup is +111 in 112 minutes since Nov. 17th (where they are 26-7 since)
Their shooting splits are 54.9/45.9/92.0
This is the way
@BontaHill
He had 14 points in the 4th quarter in game 6 before Ray and more than half their points in the 4th against the warriors in game 7. It's so weak how often this gets overlooked.
The Clippers are about to make it 19 wins in their last 24 games. 14 of 16 since December 1st and 12 straight with Kawhi.
Best regular season stretch of the 213 era...maybe in team history.
The Clippers have the 26th ranked offense on the year, but in the last 5 minutes of games within 5 points (clutch time minutes) they have the 2nd best offense. This is with PG playing 26 games and Kawhi 0 all year.
Pregame Jason Kidd made it sound like they were well prepared for a Clippers team without Kawhi.
After the loss postgame Kyrie and Luka made it sound like they were almost surprised he didn't play and it threw them off.
Kawhi on the court has the Clippers with a 111.1 DEFRTG, with him off it drops to 117.9
They go from a top 5 defense with him to bottom 5 defense without him.
Lakers with LeBron are 113.6 DEFRTG and without are a 113.7 DEFRTG
So that's probably why he made 2nd team over bron
The Clippers starting lineup with Mann in for Russ last night next to James shot 66% from the field and 57% from three in 16 minutes.
They had an offensive rating of 130.3 and a defensive rating of 74.2 for a net rating of 56.1
It's just 1 game, but yeah, seems good.
If you're wondering why people actually think Dallas won the first 2 times against the Clippers, it's stuff like this. Luka is amazing, maybe he gets them this time, but at the moment he's 12-19 against the Clippers and lost in the playoffs to them twice where Kawhi was better.
Maybe the nickname Chuck gave James Harden as "the dribbler" has fooled people, but he's one of the greatest passers the game has ever seen and has only leaned on this part of his game more the last couple years.
Kawhi Leonard over his last 24 games is averaging 25 points while shooting 58% from the field and 50% from three, while playing elite defense.
The Clippers have lost 3 games over this stretch.
Kawhi Leonard over his last 34 games is shooting 56.8% from the field and 49.0% from three and the Clippers are 27 and 7 over this stretch.
But he still can't get a foul call on either of these dunks tonight 👇
#KlawforMVP