The game is over all George Money in the pain, but the postgame reaction
has just begot GOHI Leonard is so smooth in the mid range. This is
Clippers locker Room, a recap of today's game and a look ahead on your
hole for LA Clippers basketball. And now your host, you, sir,
are a bad man, Adam Auslin. Clippers lose by ten as they get
outscored fourteen to four in overtime in Denver to the Nuggets. Welcome into your
postgame show. I'm Adam Oslin. Coming up. We'll get a second half
highlight, your post game box score. You'll hear from Coach Low and the
players. But first back out to Denver and back to your voice of the
Clippers in Noah Eagle, No where do you want to start? The slow
start for this team? The six point possession Denver had or the goal ten
pick take your pick, Adam, pick your poison. I'm phoning a friend.
Let's let's start, I guess with the slow start to this one,
because we've seen it all season long, and they put themselves in a hole
against such a quality club. Yeah and listen, this is what happened the
last time these two teams faced off in this building. The Clippers just got
boat raced to start the game and never recovered in that one. To me,
it was actually a positive sign the way they did recover in this one.
Down eighteen to start the game, toront Lui had to use two timeouts
within the first four minutes of the game, which is just unheard of,
and the Clippers did a good job of continuing the battle, continuing to fight,
keeping their spirits high. They ended up forcing a sixteen turnovers in this
game, and after four turnovers very quickly, they only finished with thirteen themselves.
So they took care of the basketball. They capitalize off of Denver turnovers,
but they allowed twenty three second chance points at them, and that's what
feels like it burned them when it was all said and done. Yeah,
a big three point or late off second chance points. Paul George almost hit
the buzzer beater and the shot of his life before it went into overtime.
But the Clippers absolutely fell flat in extra minutes in this one. I mean,
look, I know that Denver's on the second out of the back to
back, but they didn't play big minutes yesterday. Nicole Ki and the starters
played about twenty three minutes and then sat the whole second half. Essentially,
you're definitely the whole fourth quarter. And so yes, they're on the second
out of the back to back, but I'd argue that the Clippers are probably
even more exhausted. Double overtime game that took everything emotionally out of them,
and then a rough light getting here with some very inclement weather as we all
know in La. That that took I think a lot out of a lot
of people who are not feeling let's say one hundred percent right now. And
for example, normally you would have a shooting around when you have a full
day off in between. The shoot around was optional because guys were exhausted coming
in, so I think they ran out of gas. They took so much
effort and energy just to get back in the game to take a lead in
the fourth quarter, but when it came down to it in overtime, they
just didn't have anything left in the tank, I thought, even in a
loss like this, of course, some great performances Mason Plumbly in that fourth
quarter was magnificent. Kawhi Leonard really all throughout the second half, but he
had twelve what's in the fourth quarter was going shot for shot with Nikola Yok.
Yeah, Mason Plumbley still as yet to miss from the fields in a
Clippers uniform. Two for two again tonight, so he's still one hundred percent
shooting from the floor. Kauai is he looked like a superstar today. But
I think that eventually Denver just said, fine, let someone else beat us.
We're not going to let this guy do it. And finally they made
the adjustment. They got they got Jamal Murray off of him, they got
Cave Kentavious call Will Pope onto him, and they started doubling him and getting
it either out of his hands or fronting him to make sure he wasn't going
to get it. And that's when the offense sputtered a little bit for the
Clippers. You know, I think Toronto Luis is definitely still tinkering and trying
to figure out what he has. But now with nineteen games remaining in the
season, it's go time and he knows that. And so it's a hard
balance. We've talked about it. He said, it's a hard balance of
trying to learn on the fly with also trying to win these games and put
yourself in good playoff positioning. But this was this was a gut wrenching loss,
as was the one on Friday. And so now we get to see
what this team is made up, because you get to see after adversity hits
what you look like. And I've got my money on this team doing it
the right way. They've got a Minnesota team coming in that has disappointed themselves
over the course of this season, but they're fighting for that same playoff positioning,
and so the Clippers know that on Tuesday, they had to Golden State
the following Thursday, back to back at Sacramento on Friday, so good opportunities
for LA to gain some ground before they head to that final stretch of the
schedule this season. Tuesday against Minnesota, back and down town Los Angeles tips
off at seven. We'll have Clippers count down their pregame shows starting at six.
Noah Eagles, safe travels. Great call is always my friend, Adam.
You know, energy is certainly at a premium right now, but it
doesn't matter. I'm always going to give you a heart. He can't wait,
no doubt coming up. Second half highlights Clippers fall in OT one thirty
four to one, twenty four and Denver to the Nuggets, and you're listening
to the Los Angeles Clippers radio network. Another crushing one Clippers losing overtime in
Denver one thirty four to one twenty four. Not the Orange crush there.
The Brook goes then for Nuggets, take them down. Nikolokich finishes with a
forty spot in a forty point triple double with seventeen boards and ten assists.
Coming up, we'll dig more into the box score. We'll also hear from
coach lou and the players after a disappointing loss where the Clippers were down by
eighteen in the first quarter, they battled back to take the lead in the
fourth and it was a tie ball game hand to overtime where they were outscored
fourteen to four and just came out absolutely flat in the last five minutes.
Let's get into some of these second half highlights though, because there were plenty.
It was an unbelievable football game. As we said Friday night against the
Sacramento Kings. Problem his Clippers came out on the wrong side of it.
But Russell Westbrook in that third quarter, when the Clippers start off down eight
in the second half, absolutely helped him get back into it. Swing at
George down the right alley, bounce it inside Westbrook, Ripe blocks fifteen to
shoot, backing down on Caldwell. Pope plays it up and in with a
left hand. He rocks the baby to sleep as Denver calls the time out.
Four thirty four to go on the third and the Clippers are within five.
Picks up his dribble fifteen feet out, leave it Westbrook straight away,
five to shoot. Westbrook driving right on Schnchar gets the rim, clips at
in off the window. Russell Westbrook with fourteen, Clippers down eighty five eighty
yo, gets quickly into the front court. Leonard driving middle on Chawn Char
kick it Westbrooks swinging but two pump fake one dribble back outside Westbrook a white
bring three. Oh, he got it. Russell Westbrook from the outside and
the Clippers are back within five ninety one eighty six with a minute fifty to
play in the third Clippers we're trying to battle back multiple times. They had
it within four in that third quarter, and there was a six point possession
after they impeded the shooter. It was Russell Westbrook kind of encroaching into the
landing space there of Michael Porter Junior. He hit the three, would go
to the line for one more plus they got the extra possession there. I
think it was a Jamal Murray jumper to give him a six point possession and
went from a four point game to a ten point game just like that.
Clippers continue to battle, but they were down ninety seven to eighty eight heading
into the third quarter. Into the fourth, I should say early fourth quarter
Mason Plumley was outstanding for the Clippers, but late it was Kawhi Leonard just
going back and forth making impossible shots with Nicola Yokich Leonard right to left office
screen. It was right from Gordon Leonards rise on a right wing three bottom
Kawhi Leonard a big hit from downtown and it's one O seven, one h
five la within a duke base up eighteen feet out to drive towards the middle
of the paint, looking to get to the dotted line. Four to fight
from twelve in and out back in again. Kawhi Leonard, cool hand,
Kawai delivering. He's got thirty one Clippers one fifteen Nuggets one thirteen double team
being shaded by Yoki Juge helped back down on Jamal Murray Leonard to the dotted
line, fades away, gets it to go Kawhi Leonard ka boom thirty three
for the claw one seventeen one fifteen LA one forty two play. Kawai had
twelve of his thirty three points in the fourth quarter. All these big buckets
late. Mason Plumlilow would put them up one eighteen to one seventeen with fifty
eight point two seconds left, But on the other end, it was Michael
Porter Junior hitting a three pointer after an offensive rebound by Contavious Caldwell Pope.
Offensive boards were critical in this one. They may have decided the ball game
and could certainly make that argument now. Paul George would sink two clutch free
throws to send it into ot and actually, after a Bruce Brown missed three
pointer, Paul George heaved a sixty footer. It went, but it was
just after the buzzer. It was once twenty y'all heading into overtime and the
Clippers would end up losing one thirty four to one twenty four in Denver to
the reigning MVP and the Nuggets. Coming up next, we will preview Tuesday's
game and get into more of this box score tough on Clipper Nation. We
got Clippers stock coming up on M five seventy LA Sports eight six six ninety
eight seven two five seventy eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy Or
get to be at follow Adam A on Twitter because they lose again in overtime,
not double this time, but they lose by ten in Denver, and
you're listening to the Los Angeles Clippers Predio Network. Clippers lose in overtime one
thirty four to one twenty four to Nikolo Kitchen his forty point triple double and
the Denver Nuggets. Welcome back into your postgame show. I'm Atam Moslin coming
up just a little bit here on AM five seventy LA Sports. We'll have
Clipper stock for you. Eight six six ninety eight seven two five seventy eight
sixty six ninety eight seven two five seventy is the phone number, or get
to me at follow Adam A. Clippers ended up shooting a respectable forty nine
percent from the field. They did start to go colder from the outside,
finish it just thirty three percent from distance Denver at fifty one percent from the
floor thirteen of thirty nine. That's thirty three percent from three. Now Denver
beat him up on the board something fierce. They had fifty rebounds, the
Clippers thirty eight, but the real telling number was five more offensive rebounds,
and I believe the number was twenty one second chance points, including that big
three pointer by Michael Porter Junior at the end of the four quarter to put
him up by two. Paul George would send him into ot hitting a couple
of big free throws. He finished with twenty three on six of thirteen,
shooting oh four from distance, though win eleven of eleven from the line.
Kawhi Leonard masterful performance once again, twelve of nineteen after he started oh for
four, so after that he was twelve or fifteen. He would miss just
three shots the rest of the way. Unreal. He had thirty three,
but Yokich has forty and the Clippers lose by ten in overtime where they just
got blitzed. They just got ambushed. They just looked to run as steam.
It was a seven oh run very quickly, and turnovers would haunt them
throughout this one, even though they were better after the first quarter. They
still had one late from Marcus Morris that kind of put this one away,
put Denver up by ten. Tough on cliber Nation. They gotta get back
after it Tuesday against the Timberwolves. Every game down the stretch, when there's
just nineteen remaining in the Western Conference, with how close things or things things
are in the standings, every game's so meaningful. Tip time for that one
back on Crypto dot com Arena at seven, we'll Clippers count Ander pregame show
starting at six outside of Los Angeles. We are leaving you until then.
Coming up next here on a M five seventy l A Sports, We've got
Clipper Stock alright, all flow out, all right, Welcome into Clipper Stock.
There's a new sheriff in town. You won't be able to deny it.
If you're going to go to the NBA Finals. I can believe it
in my heart. This is the best team in the history of the franchise.
I am all about the 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, the stars and looking ahead to what's next. To hear
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Now your host of Clippers Talk. Here's Adam Osway Stop me if you've
heard this one before. Clippers lose in overtime, this time in Denver to
the Nuggets, one thirty four to one twenty four. Welcome in to Clippers
Talk. I'm Adam oslind eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy eight
sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy's the phone number coming up. We'll
have Chuck macklron from Clips and Tip. You'll hear from coach Lou. You'll
hear from the players. I said Friday night was tough. One of the
toughest losses any team has ever had happened to them. Considering you score one
hundred and seventy five points and you lose. This one feels worse in some
ways because you wanted to see them bounce back, but they came out flat
to start the game, and then they came out flat in overtime. And
in between there there was some great basketball. Kawhi Leonard was incredible down the
stretch, going shot for shot with Nikola Yokichlerini MVP Mason Plumley played his heart
out, was unreal in the fourth quarter, going against his former team.
Bones Highland gave him some great minutes in the first half, and the Clippers
battled back down eighteen to somehow have a lead in the fourth quarter, and
they had multiple leads, but it would head into overtime after their Achilles heel,
at least in this ball game and throughout some of the season, just
pulled on them. An offensive rebound leading to a three pointer for Michael Porter
Jr. With about thirty seconds left. That was the play right there.
You want to talk about the gold ten, fine, the Clippers certainly didn't
get the benefit of the whistle on this one. But I don't adhere to
the logic of well, the Clippers would have won if you just add those
two points on in regulation one twenty two to one twenty. Look if they
had gotten the gold ten and it was one on Thomas Bryan on Eric Gordon
earlier in the second half, that changes future possessions. You don't know how
the game plays out, so it's not that simple. There is a butterfly
effect thing going on there. I don't like to just dumb it down to
well, just tack it on at the end, and they should have won
this ball game. There's other ways they should have won and get an offensive
rebounds with one of them, and Cantavius called well. Pope was able to
come down with one. With the Clippers up one eighteen to one seventeen,
with thirty one seconds left for Michael Porter Junior to eventually hit a long three
pointer off of a Jamal Murray assist. Clippers continued to battle as they did
in an uphill battle, down by eighteen in the first quarter. Paul George
was fouled on the other end. It was an if he call that if
Denver still had their challenge, they probably would have used it. And Paul
George, if he doesn't get fouled there, he had shook Contavious Caldwell Pope
to the point where he would have had an open shot along to ur he
could have stepped back for three. Now he did knock down two clutch free
throws. He went eleven of eleven from the line that tied it at one
twenty. They got the miss with Bruce Brown on the other end and Paul
George, what do we have the end of this zac because Noah Eagle had
an amazing call and I almost fell out of my chair because on first glance,
it looked like Paul George just hit a sixty footer to win the ball
game. Unfortunately, it was closer to what we saw from Joe l Embiide
just yesterday against the Boston Celtics. Here is the end of the regulation.
Murray with ten seconds left, leave it for Brown left wing with eight seconds
left to Yo gets to the free throw line. With six seconds left,
yogets with it back to George outside Brown, a left wing three is up.
It's too strong rebound. George puts it up at the horn behind half
court, fool put George puts it in, but they call it off and
they got the call right. The ball was in both hands as the buzzer
sounded. What could have been there? What could have been? I hope
this season doesn't come down to that mantra for this team. They still have
nineteen games left to play, but they have lost far too many of these
close games. It hasn't just been the last two and they've had a lot
of self inflicted wounds, and it really begins with just not starting games strong.
We've wanted to see that. It's been one of my keys to game
that I've used it at nauseum. I don't know what it is, because
after getting Russell Westbrook and them starting faster against Sacramento, I suppose I thought
they would have had a little bit better energy, a little bit more punch
from the opening tip. Instead, at one point it was twenty to four.
They got down by as many as eighteen in the first quarter. And
when you put yourself in those spots where you always have to come back against
quality competition, no less quality is an understatement. Denver's the best team in
the West. Even when you get back to having the lead late in the
ball game, you can run out of gas because you had to expend too
much energy just to fight to battle back, and you come up lifeless in
the fourth quarter in overtime, which was the case tonight, where they just
got well, they were da you could say they're down seven nothing immediately.
Couple of three balls, a couple of broken defensive plays. Jamal Murray hit
one, Michael Porter Junior hit one. The defense seemed to be out of
source, guys weren't in position. It was hard to watch quite frankly because
of how well they played just to get it into overtime and then to lose
ot by ten. It just felt like it was over before it began.
So now the Clippers, and I'll update you on the standings coming up.
They've lost two in a row coming out of the All Star Break. They've
lost both games with Russell Westbrook, and I'm not putting it on him by
Amy's he had a great third quarter that helped him get back into the ball
game. I don't know if he played again after that, but he had
eleven points in the third, finished with seventeen four assists to two turnovers.
Okay, not huge there, but five steals. Some of it was right
place, right time, but he played with great effort out there, hit
a big three. And in a game like this, there are a ton
of things you can point to for how they lost. And I've been saying
that too much lately. But when you're down four in the third and Denver
comes up with a six point possession off of Michael Porter Junior hitting a three
in Russell Westbrook's face, who encrouched on his landing space, I forget the
exact terminology they want to use. For this, but he impeded the landing
space there. It's a dangerous play. At first it looked like Michael Porter
Jr. Was severely hurt, but then he kind of, you know,
strugged it off real quick and made it known that he was just faking it
to exaggerate the contact and to hopefully get the call. And he did,
and they reviewed it and according to the NBA, that's the right call.
But he goes to the free throw line, he hits that they get the
ball back also and Jamal Murray hits a two pointer and you go from being
down four to down ten in one possession. Tough to overcome. I set
it on Twitter the four straight turnovers they had when they had a fourteen point
lead against the Kings on Friday night. I think that more than anything was
there undoing tonight. Maybe it was the six point possession, a dead where
I think we'll get back up by about fourteen in the third, And in
fact they won the third quarter. After the Clippers had to within four,
had it to within five, multiple times, had it to within six,
they were still down by nine going into the fourth, after they were down
by eight at a half. So they lost the third quarter. Somehow it
was tough after starting the third, by the way, with a different lineup
where they inserted Nicholas Batoum. I love the move and it worked. It
was wicked smart. They went small. They saw they had something with Nicholas,
with Nick Batoum in the first half against Jokich, they wanted to pair
his minutes against him to start the second half, and for the most part,
it worked. At one point, you know what, I don't even
need to say that, because Nick Batoum ended the game a plus ten in
a game they lost by ten. I was gonna say at one point he
was a plus eleven in a game they were down by ten. He ends
up still a plus ten in a game they lost by ten. And I'm,
for the life of me having a hard time understanding how he never got
back into the ball game after they took him out late in the third quarter.
I was a little bit surprised by that. I thought they'd go back
to him. I know, Mason Plumbly played really well, really well early
in that fourth quarter. From late in the third early into the fourth,
he was taking over the game. To start the fourth quarter, he had
an unbelievable rejection on Thomas Bryant. He had a dunk in an inn one
to start the fourth he had a pass to it was Terrence Man for a
huge throwdown. He was controlling the ball game. I didn't think Nicholas Mattun
was coming in for him. I thought there was a chance maybe one of
the guards he came in for. Terrence Man started things off in the fourth
quarter. He was taking out five fifteen mark for Marcus Morris on the fourth.
Morris has been struggling. I still have faith in him, but he's
been struggling, to say the least over the last month now. Defensively,
teams have been picking on him more. And he did hit a jumper at
about a three minute mark. But I know because I'm seeing all the incoming
on Twitter, and I can't avoid the elephant in the room when everyone is
going after the Marcus Morris move. I can't avoid it. I can defend
it to a point, but I can't totally avoid it because I thought Terrence
Man or Nicholas Patum would have been the guys to go with. I love
that Eric Gordon was out there a vet. I know he went over for
four in the ball game, but he's secure with the basketball for the most
part, makes smart decisions. I like seeing that next to Paul George and
Kawhi Leonard. But this was a game that I mean, how many of
we said the Clippers got to get one of these big wins against the top
team at a call last night or two nights ago Friday? When are the
Clippers going to beat a team that's ahead of them in the standings when they
were in the four seat. We'll update two in the standings coming up now.
They have beaten Sacramento once. It was early in the season, but
Denver goes four no against him, and to be fair, they haven't played
Memphis yet. They got three games against them, so a chance to prove
themselves. Clippers is coming into this one though third toughest schedule remaining. Nothing
is guaranteed, and by that I mean you can talk about the postseason,
but are you talking about the playoffs or the play in Because the Clippers are
dangerously close to being in the play in. Everybody is you slip up and
go on a losing streak down the stretch, You're gonna have a fight just
to make the playoffs. So yeah, a little fired up tonight. These
games matter, and that's a good thing. That's certainly what the NBA wants.
There have been just a slew of great games coming out of the All
Star Break, coming out of atrocious showing by the league in the All Star
Game, but I you know, I can care much less about that than
actual gabs dobbed the stretch that all seemed to matter right now. There were
a couple of game winners tonight. Milwaukee had one with Drew Holiday, Trey
Young had one with Atlanta. Dame Dolla win Admiral with it had a David
Robinson esque seventy one point game, his career high. I have to qualify
it with that because you never know what Dame. You could thought maybe he's
gone for that before. No, I think it was sixty one. Unreal.
But as much as these have been great games the last two games with
the Clippers taking much away with moral victories, here you're trying to secure your
spot in the West, to secure home court in the first round, and
it's going to be up in the air the rest of the way it is.
Every game is going to be a dog fight. It's great, makes
for great ball games. Clippers gotta pull some of these out, though they
lose an overtime tonight in Denver one thirty four to one twenty four to the
Nuggets. Before we break here, we'll go to the phone call Javier and
Lahabra Heights Javier Eric Clippers stop without him? Awesome, Hey, what's up,
Adam? Thank you for taking my call again. I you took towards
out of my mouth. You said it earlier, so I don't know what
to what did I say what you said to me, because I remember remind
you the lives five minutes you said, why was Beato not playing? Or
I just don't see how he's here. Here's my question with Pat, Here's
my question with the two. He was good enough to start the second half
to make that move to take out plumbly, but then when he gets taken
out of the end of the third quarter after doing a good job, he
never came back into the ball game to my knowledge, I could be wrong
about that, but I'm pretty sure. I'm looking at twenty one minutes at
the end of the third quarter and twenty one minutes in the final box score.
That was just surprising to me, especially because he had hit a couple
of big threes. Obviously, He was hot against Sacramento from the outside.
It continued against Denver, and his defense was phenomenal at times, even when
guys scored on him. He was right there. Yeah, and the audacity
is to have Marcus Morris and Eric Gordon claimed the last five minutes. I
mean, I don't mind having Eric Gordon out there at all, to have
another ball handler out there that is secure with the basketball. I like that
move next to Paul George and Kwai Letter to make life a little bit easier
for them. But but then again, okay, I'll give you that,
but let's say the last what thirty five seconds when uh what's his name Murray
shot that fifty footer and missed it. Nobody boxed out, you know,
if you wouldn't have no, no, no, no, no, no
no. It was a long rebound. It didn't end up right underneath the
basket. It was a long rebound that got tipped out. That's just oh,
that's just a frantic thing. That's that's almost that's just a fifty fifty
ball. That's it's hard to say that old guys in box out there.
I mean, I told you this a while back, and I know you
said earlier about you're getting a twitter about Marcus Morris. I told you it's
a while back. I told you this all year. I told you this
in the trade Dan Lane, I go, you know, and you said
I'll be nice to him. I told you, Adam, I don't think
I ever said nice to anyone. But you ain't gonna be nice to me
either. I mean, it's just I'm just lost the words. I mean,
I just I'm just let me tell you something that was with the wife.
Earlier. I drove from Lahabra Heights to Inglewood to take care of some
business and we passed by the stadium and oh my god, it looks nice.
I mean, it started to shape up. And I'm thinking to myself,
Adam, this game is gonna look so beautiful, and you're going think
you the keys of the palace to Tylo. Are you kidding me? That
cannot happen? A look, I still believe in coach Lou because of his
track record of playing the right guys and the best guys and the best five
when it matters most. I still think that's going to happen, and Marcus
Morris can still step up and get out of this funk. Maybe that's what
he was counting on, a big game experience. Marcus had seven three pointers
in that game, seven against Dallas. They don't win without him. He's
had huge games for the Clippers, game winners over the Lakers, and this
was a big game and he wanted to go with the guy he trusted.
So I get it. There's rationale there. Clippers on fortunately fall though again
in overtime, and it stings and his brutal and I've been saying those things
since Friday. This feels very similar. Friday was almost I called the black
Mirror game because it was so surreal to watch teams put up one hundred and
seventy points. You almost get caught up in that and aren't thinking as much
about the win or the loss. Tonight though, against Denver, with you
expecting the Clippers to be even hunger because they lost that game Friday. I
know Clipper Nation was feeling the same way. Gotta have it. Haven't beat
him. They've won six straight against the Clippers, now nine of ten.
They beat a lot of teams. It's not just the Clippers. They're number
one in the Western Conference and they have the two time ruining MVP, who
may win his third and Kawai met him there at the top of the mountain
of best players in the game in the fourth quarter where they went back and
fourth with tough shot after tough shot, and I thought they were gonna pull
it out. Didn't happen. Clippers losing o T one thirty four to one
twenty four, one thirty four, one twenty four to the Denver Nuggets.
More Clippers stock coming up next right here on AMPI seventy LA sports. This
is too wild and crazy, guys in Burbank. After the Clippers lose one
thirty four to one twenty four in Denver to the Nuggets. It's tough on
cliber Nation. So it's Friday night. There's a lot of frustration and aggravation
out there, and I'm seeing it all over Twitter. The good news is
still there's nineteen games left and we have seen in Spurts, granted in losses,
some fantastic play at times. Coming back down at eighteen on Denver to
take the lead in the fourth is not easy. What Kawhi Leonard's been doing,
playing at an all time high for himself in the regular season is impressive.
Russell Westbrook has been good in both games, not the reason they have
lost. They gotta get off to better starts. They got to engage,
lock in focus, stay there for forty eight minutes. And that's been the
problem all year, lack of consistency. Coach Low, I don't know how
else, sir, how many ways he can say, we got to start
with the defensive mindset. It's not getting through this team. I posted this
earlier today, but after they started off the season a top five defense throughout
the first couple of months, since December first, they're twenty in defensive rating.
They've fallen off a cliff there, and there's reasons for that. And
how many of those games had Kawai and Paul George I can't tell you,
but they've had enough guys that if they're buying in, they're talented enough and
they have the personnel to be a good defensive team to be better than bottom
ten. Yeah. Not having zoobots tonight, just like Friday night, it's
a killer, make no mistake. That is a huge loss because then you
have zoobots on Yokis, who has done a decent job. I know Yokis
gets his no matter what, but you got to make them work for it,
and you could also throw a plum lee and botomb Adam that could have
changed things. It doesn't matter though they lost. They got nineteen games left
to figure this thing out and build some momentum heading into the playoffs, where
all season long, it's seems like this team has certainly had one eye on
the playoffs. They're geared towards that they get in the playoffs. They're healthiest
seven game series, they can beat anyone, and I still believe that,
especially because Kawhi Leonard is back and then some. He's on one of the
best runs of his career, maybe the best regular season run he's ever been
on. Let me give you the numbers as he was my player to watch.
I know that's cheating to go with Kawai, but last time out he
was two for seven against Denver when they got blown out in Denver. Since
January seventh, and this is only going to go up now, he's shooting
fifty three percent from the field, forty eight percent from three, and ninety
two percent from the free throw line. He is damn near at fifty fifty
ninety splits. That type of stuff is remarkable coming off at ACL regardless of
you're coming off in a cl I told you this before. I think he's
the only player that has major injuries and then comes back and gets better somehow.
It's it's wild to see. Okay, we're gonna hear from coach Lou
in just a moment. But first, Damien in LA, what's up?
You're on Clipper stock with that, I'm awsin triple A. Man, another
tough loss, bro. Like you said, it's stings a whole lot since
we usually go next level. Man, Let's get into the psychology of it
a little bit. Let's try to figure out why we start so slowly all
the time. I think, and I'm not trying to put it on anybody,
but I know the coach Lou has more of a feel approach to his
coaching and sometimes but he also quotes analytics. He also is very aware of
them and filters that in his decision making. Definitely, I think. I
think the bigger point that I feel is like you have a lot of guys
on there that are very marterial that way, you know, they kind of
work off of how they feel, and maybe because of the talent that we
have on this team, you know, and the fact that we can just
turn it on and turn it off. That gets us into trouble, you
know, because I'm thinking that, bro, if we don't start, you
know, fifteen to two in the first quarter, this isn't a game,
you know. And we continuously let guys play with us because we're resting on
our greatness a little bit too much, you know, and I think it's
biting us in the butt because we're not realizing. I'll say this, I
think coming I think this season, Damien, that at times they have felt
like they were good enough and their margin for error was wide enough that they
could experiment and still win ball games. And that just hasn't been the case
very often. Yeah. Yeah, what I what I missed from the team
is that they don't seem to have that spearhead like you were talking about out
on defense from the jump, Like we used to attack people and now we're
a little bit more reactionary, which is fine. You know, that's still
a great defense to be a reactionary defense. But you know, and I
don't want to say, like, you know, it's Patrick Beverley that we
missed or whatever, but when he was here, we had attacks and we
would attack people on defense. We had a lot more full court press going.
There were times last night that are Friday, that I thought we should
be full court pressing. There were times tonight where I thought, you know,
maybe a full court press and a little bit of change of pace on
defense might help us out. And we just don't seem to be getting that
message. And I'm having a hard time putting, you know, another finger
on what it might be. Just that the fact that maybe Coach Lou has
given these guys a little bit too much leash. Yeah, I don't know,
it's an interesting thought. I appreciate it. Damien eight six six nine
eight seventy eight six six ninety seven two five seventy let's hear from coach Lou.
After the Clippers lose one thirty one twenty four and Denver in ot to
the Nuggets, I thought just playing small kind of helped us out offensively,
was able to spread Joker out a little bit. And then I just thought
just being the swishing picking rolls to keep my out of that trigger, which
was good for us. And so I thought Mason would have been better with
that second unit because I thought Norman and Bones needed a a roller in that
second unit to run our plays and run our sets, and so it worked
out pretty good, you know, and so you know, unfortunately we didn't
get the win. But I like some things that we did. Concerned about
the rebound stretches with Mason Emily, Yeah, I mean he did a good
job. I thought his hustle plays, I thought, you know, rolling,
getting getting to the rim. I thought I did a lot of you
know, really good things for us. And so, like I said,
rebounding has always been a achilles heel of ours. And like you saw on
that last shot, you know, were up one marriage used a half court
shot. You know, it hits the rim and they get offensive rebounding,
get a three point shot and go up too. So just those little things
like you know, but the biggest thing for it's just the way we started.
You know, you can't get down fifteen sixteen points to a good team
like this and then you gotta fighting clawback. But overall, I liked our
grind, our grid. You know, I thought Rust did a good job
tonight. Probably should have play him little bit more. Well, we got
we caught a good rhythm and a good flow. Kind of took the lead,
and so I kind of took what stuck with our guys there was coach
slew post games and probably should have played Russ a little bit more. Maybe
you played well. I just between Nicholas patum starting the third quarter and playing
well there against Yokich as he mentioned they went small, they liked it,
and then not playing again in the fourth. That was just surprising to me.
But he's right, Mason plum Lely was very good. I guess I'm
coming from a perspective of can you play him and plum Ly at the same
time when you're getting beat on the boards. I would assume so, because
on offense, Nicholas Patoum can certainly hang around the three point line. But
I'm not coach and I trust him. Coach lou Clippers lose one thirty four
to one twenty four in OT to the Denver Nuggets, another aggravating one Clipper
Nation. Right now, people, we're gonna be down tonight. We'll get
back to your phone calls coming up. We got more positives for you.
I'm with you eight six six ninety seven two five seventy eight six six ninety
seven two five seventy. You're listening to Clippers stock. You're on eight in
five seventy ELI Sports over time here on Clippers Talk as we take your past
the top of the hour. Welcome back in Clippers lose in Denver, one
thirty four to one twenty five in ot, I'm atam oslin to eight six
six nine eight seven two five seventy eight six six nine eight seven two five
seventy is the phone number coming up? Charles Mockler will still be here from
clips in dipp But first, Ryan and Burbank own Clipper stock. What's up,
Adam? What's going on? Man? Always loved talking with you.
But here's the thing, Man, And I'm just I am. I'm Avid
on Twitter with some of the you know, some of the Clippers fanatics and
you know, being in some spaces with some guys talking about the team,
and and and Adams. You brought it up earlier, man, But Marcus
Morris was a minus seventeen tonight six points off, two of are, three
of six or three of seven, shooting, one assist, three rebounds in
thirty three minutes. That's unacceptable. It's unacceptable. You're you're telling me that
our starter got three rebounds, that's it. And and and you're telling me
what we're talking about this you're telling me, Covington can't get in the game.
Really, he can't play at all. He can't do that. I
just I and Adam, here's the thing I'm not. For the most part,
I like Tyler. I think that he's a very smart coach. For
the most part, this kind of reeks to me a little bit of like
I have. I have my veteran guys. I want to see them shoot
out of their current slump. But Adam, the West is so tight,
they are running out of time. The runway is getting much shorter, and
you're just again, Adam, you're just telling me again. You're telling me
from a coach's perspective, that you cannot put anyone else in for those minutes.
And here's the thing, parents Man could play a little bit more minutes.
That's who Marcus came in for five mark of the fourth quarter for Man
right, and again, what is I just wanted to reiterate. He had
six points with three reb and had a brutal shot against Nicola Yokich that was
very well defended. I'm not sure why he put it up. I don't
think it was at the very end of the shot clock, but in the
far side corner from three yeah, he had a he had a rough rough
night, and he's had a rough month and and Adam again. I just
the problem is the microscope is so high because you see the rest of these
pieces and you're going, yeah, this could all work here. But again,
when batumb is playing that well, and he's and and he's he's finally
finding his stroke from the three point line, and he's got good defensive measurables,
and he doesn't play again, it just it doesn't make sense at him.
It doesn't. Well, the part that doesn't make sense to me is
he was good enough to start the second half. You put him in the
starting lineup in front of Mason Plumley, who yes, came back in the
fourth quarter and was awesome. But it's just strange to me that Batoum never
gets back into the ball game after he starts the third I just I was
surprised by that. Well and again too, Here's the thing. I was
critical initially of the Westbrook signing because I thought what we've seen was like,
Hey, this isn't gonna work. Westbrook has not been the problem at all.
No, he's really very good the last two games. No, No,
he's injected a ton of energy he's making for the most good passes.
He's actually his open shooting. I mean you can see him. He's not
even wanting to really take those open threes as much. He's like, I
want to pass and addition, but a couple of times he's made him I'm
like, good man, that's good. That's great. That the fact matters.
There's gotta be some combo that works against these elite team because this is
Look, Denver, let's just be honest at him. We know adding many
Clippers fans and this this is the worst matchup for us in terms of just
the guys on the floor, Ryan, who is it a good matchup for
just one of just what the actual the Clippers can throw out there, and
look, we miss Zue tonight. But in terms of like what these centers,
what these what are hype guys? We don't have the hype guys that
can really match up at all with Yokich atlist with like the Lakers. You've
got Davis, you've got Lebron, you've got some note I actually think the
Lakers would scare Denver. I agree with you there. Yeah. Well,
and I want to point out too, Adam too, the bench our depth
is our biggest strength on this team, because the bench really got us back
into this game. And look, Denver starters, I want to point out
three of those guys playing close to forty plus minutes tonight. I mean,
that's a lot we're talking about. These These are these starters are playing all
these heavy minutes because their bench is not that deep and they're not gonna be
able to keep these guys leads. So look, I agree with you.
We got nineteen games left. The Clippers can still make a run at this
thing. But is these lineups, Adam. We gotta find a way to
not minus seventeen in the game. We can lose by ten, like,
that's just it can't happen. I mean it's fair, but it's also you
know, the plus minus. I often like to use it when it works
for me, and then I like to discount it when it doesn't because it's
tough in a one game sample size. It's got to match the eye test
to me as well. I mean, Paul George was a minus eighteen,
but I still want him out there in the game, and he sunk two
clutch free throws and put it in overtime and almost hit one of the craziest
game winners you'll ever see. No, and look Paul George, he's actually
been fantastic aside from the turnovers against the King's game. I love his clutch
FreeFly and he had a bad turnover in the fourth quarter of this one off
the steel by Eric Gordon. He tried to get it back to him.
It was I'm not saying it was crippling, but those ones they have to
stop, like, you have to take more care of the basketball than the
Clippers have, because that is how you lose games in the playoffs, giving
up extra possessions, And that's how they lost that game against the sacrament Or
Kings. Without those four straight turnovers, they win. And Paul George had
two of them, and they were live ball turnovers. And look at him.
Let's just be honest. Wasn't the entire I mean, at least some
of the point of getting a veteran point guard so that Paul George wouldn't necessarily
have the ball in his hands in those situations, Well, the ball ended
up in his hands on kind of that broken place steel. It had to
be in his hands. He didn't have to give it up. He was
trying to press the break and get them in transition going the other way.
But he and Eric Gordon weren't on the same page. But you're right,
no, and and look, I agree with you. I'm fine with Eric
Gordon being out there because he's a veteran. He handles the ball well.
But again, when it comes to some of these lineups and the way that
we're playing teams, I love the adjustment that lou made when he put when
he put the two men, I'm like, yeah, the same solid defender
and a Sallid shooter. But again, when we when it's run time and
we need to stop, we need a rebound or we need a shot that
we know, it's like I mean, look, look the last two games,
they couldn't get a stopper aboard when they needed to. That play to
Malik Monk, there were eight seconds left, there was a timeout called by
Sacramento. And I've heard a lot of people say, well, why are
Russ and Norn Powell out there on the court when you had a timeout?
Why not put out your best five defenders there get one stop, win the
ball game or and I mentioned a post game. It's not an easy decision.
I know everybody thinks it is to just foul and send them into the
free throw line because a guy could put up a shot then, and if
he hits it like Michael Porter Junior did and he's going to the line for
four, you can lose the game instead of them just tying it or going
to the line for an and one on three pointer, which would be a
four point play. It's not easy, but I get what you're saying.
I want to belabor it too much, though, Ryan, We we gotta
keep moving. We gotta keep moving, my friend, I trust coach Lou
like Lawrence Frank recently said to put the best five guys out there when it
matters most of the playoffs, because I've seen him do it before with the
Clippers and with the Cleveland Cavaliers. So let's let's hope for the best.
And I love you, man, and I love the optimism, and I'm
suring for us to hopefully make a run here in these last nineteen games.
So we'll see. I'm with you, my friend. One more art in
la art. You're on clipperstock. Oh yeah, Adam, I want an
unknown. I'm missed some kultroso calm down. And yeah, we we had
some technical issues. We'll have it for you on Tuesday. Okay, good
goods to know that, don't Oh, he's great. Press on the North
and the point the point of the Point of Sist that's had a version called
jump too went on with Van Halen and uh, who's the other band?
Sorry? H who's it? Who's the band? So the point of Sist
this got you, got you, got you because he loves the music during
the jump ball. Yeah, I'm in hops of pain. Us Russell injured
in the fourth quarter because North said that he fell to the floor. I
don't know that. And coach Luke came out post game and said he could
have played him more or he should have played him more. I'm paraphrasing.
I'm not sure the exact quote, but I don't think it was an injury
issue. Uh. He played twenty five minutes at seventeen and five steals.
Absolutely was one of the engines to help get them back into this one.
So was Norn Palett time, who I haven't talked about enough. I know
he only had nine points and he missed a layup ar it looked like he
was tripped and ended up being a five point swing because there was a three
point or made on the other end by the Denver Nuggets. That hurt him.
But I liked his energy bones Highland in the first half. His energy
was infectious and he was going up against his former team in Denver. I
just want to get a couple of other guys names in there tonight, because
there were a lot of good performances even in a loss, as well as
Nathan. He was great. Yeah, no criticized Nike, but two.
But the loss of Sacramento the night they were down by one and he shout
at three, Oh, doesn't it strike you as on you and Hill.
I didn't think they were down one on that one. I have double check
on that. I don't believe that was the case. I appreciate the phone
called though, Art, Okay, gotta get out of this break, or
get to a break and get Chuck Mockler in here. Clippers loose one thirty
four to one twenty four and ot in Denver. Second straight loss in overtime.
In Sacramento it was double overtime. These Clippers have lost four in the
last six. Now, it looked like they had a lot of momentum.
They had one ten of fourteen heading into the All Star break, they bring
in Russell Westbrook. He's played well, but they haven't had the wins to
show for it. Against good competition. Yes, but if they're gonna be
in the same picture and talked about as a contender as well, you have
to beat other great teams, and the Clippers haven't done a good enough job
of that all season long. They believe, I believe they only have eleven
twelve wins at the most against teams above five hundred, and that's one of
the worst marks in the West. Lord Clippers stock next with Charles Macklin from
Clips and Dip right here on seventy Sports. Clippers lose one thirty four to
one twenty four in overtime in Denver, and I just went to Zupprter film
through the long rebound the Denver Nuggets got that eventually ended up in the hands
of Michael Porter Junior for the three to put them up too for Paul George
hit two free throws a tied to go in overtime. Cantabious Caldwell Pope made
a health of the play. Mason Plumley was there. It was a long
rebound off of half court shot by Jamal Murray. I don't know how KCP
got that ball, but if you've called Aaron Gordon a Clippers killer in the
past, oh, KCP might have made the play of the game. Welcome
back in. I'm Adam Oslin's tough one. I know Clipper Nation their next
game coming up on Tuesday back home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. More on that,
but first let's get out to Chuck Mockler from Clips and Dip Pod does
it with myself and will Updyke Chuck. Where would you say this game was
lost? Because it's one thing to say, Okay, you can lose a
game in the first quarter, and I do agree with that, but they
were up to they had a lead, and they weren't able to close things
out and up to is not a big lead, but they battled all the
way back and had their chances. Did you see it just being that offensive
rebound that I just mentioned, Well, I think that offensive rebound while it
definitely didn't help, you know, it's you want to go to golten what's
your theory on goaltend? Because for me, that happened in like the nine
minute mark of the fourth To say you can just tack on two points at
the end and say, well, the Clippers would have won one twenty two
one twenty. I think that's a little thing. I think that's a little
flimsy of an argument, because the point total affects how teams play down the
stretch and what plays they run. One play affects the next. So if
they did get those two points, then we don't know how Denver would have
responded, right, It's a butterfly effect with the goaltend. I don't think
you can just you know you're right, add those two points and then play
the game exactly like it was. The climber's end up winning. I think
there's a big issue right now with the power forward position and the defense you're
getting from that position when Marcus Morris is on the court. It's been tough
the last couple of games. Obviously, you know, against the team like
the Kings of a couple of nights ago, would you have Jared Pox difficult?
And then would you have a team like Denver It's even harder. So
I think there's some rotation issues, tear it's made and did not getting enough
time and clutch minute, not getting any real minutes in overtime. I know
he was in there, but it felt like he just put a bit after
the game was kind of out of reach. So there's got to be something,
you know, kind of reevaluate, I think with Marcus Morris's But it's
when it comes to closing for this team right now. And I could see
Terrence Man in a position like that for a board like that, all of
Patrick Beverly, who taught all smaller players how to pick up clutch rebounds latent
games, especially to keep a team away from getting one. But I mean,
do we think that's that's going to change. I get the frustration.
I've gotten multiple calls on it tonight, and I was a little bit.
The reason I find it more curious in this situation where Marcus Morris ends up
playing thirty three minutes is because Nick Batoum started the second half. There was
enough faith to start him. It worked. It always works with Batoum.
He's never a negative. He was a plus ten in a game they lost
by ten, but he never played again to my knowledge, after he went
out at the end of the third quarter for Plumbly. Now, I get
you keep Plumbly in because he was playing great in the fourth but could bread.
But toom find a spot in the last twelve minutes somehow next to him.
I don't. I don't know. I hope he can. I mean,
I think at this point the two answers to why would two was it
are some kind of soft that it's restriction, you know, where they're just
kind of keeping his as healthy as the game before the playoffs. That might
be a thing. He only played in eight minutes against Phoenix at that game
before the All Star break. Yeah, that's interesting, I mean because other
than that, the choice under than health is that he's just not in the
closing rotation, which I don't think Clippers said would really want to here right
now, right given how we've seen this team before games recently. So typically
he always is this is somebody who has closed out postseason games with them like
it's he is one of the guys that you'se a lot next to Paul George
and Kawhi Leonard when you're talking about death lineups and who you want to see
out there, Normally it starts with those three. I totally agree. But
we've we've hit him a seemingly very hard reset with twenty one games left,
is when they decided to kind of hit the reset button and figure these things
out. I thought it was good how Tayloo managed Russ's minutes tonight. I
thought that was good. You know, he wasn't in the closing lineup.
I don't think anyone thought he really should have been, so you know,
you like to see that. But there's still now we have another kind of
lineup stickler going on, which is these Morris minutes and sub minutes distribution with
the tube and Terra's man. So we have a lot to figure out in
nineteen games. I think. I think we've talked about it on the Pond
before. It feels kind of like where a game one again. It felt
like that at the trade deadline, and then it feels like that a couple
of games after the trade deadline. So I mean, time is money right
now for the Clippers. You mentioned Russell Westbrook, and I thought they manage
his minutes well, and I thought he was part of this comeback. In
the third quarter he had eleven of a seventeen points. He hit a big
three pointer. He has too, I think the surprise of a lot of
people, he's been very good in both games so far. In no way
was he the reason he lost either the Clippers lost either of these last two
games. Yeah, that third quarter was great tonight. I don't know if
I would go out on the limits say he's been very good. His decision
making has been great. I think we've seen the good and bad from Russ.
Right, We've seen him blow a couple of layups at the rib.
We've seen some soft turnovers, but we've also seen him jump start in the
transition game and make the right reads. I think in that third quarter,
as you mentioned, you know, they kind of gave him this mid range
shot. He just took a couple of steps in and hit a floater,
And that's exactly what you want to see from Russ if you're a Clippers fan.
So it's been pretty solid for these first two games. But I mean,
he's evidently going to have a starting role in the playoffs, it seems
like. So just just more things from the clips to get figured out.
I guess the one thing that you can always depend on what this team since
the start of the new year especially is Kawhi Leonard and just his otherworldly basketball
savvy and brilliance to go back and forth like he did late with Nikolayokich.
That was art that was a thing of beauty. Put it in the getty.
I was so impressed. Once again. I don't I don't know why
I keep being impressed. I guess it's just because of the injury and to
see someone who looks better than ever coming off in ACL I that may be
historic. I don't know. I can't remember a case. But it almost
makes it all the much more frustrating when you're losing games with these performances by
Kauai. You know, Yeah, we saw this last year with PG in
the year before that when Kwai was out. Would there it be these games
where your superstar plays exactly like you need him to play, and he's been
so good at his job lately. He's been at the elite of elite,
you know, level wise right now, and it just hurts to squander these
kind of performances. Paul George came on late too, which was nice,
but no, I mean it's just another one of we should have won this
one. You know that that overtime period was brutal. Le we score two
points or something like that, just not just not everyone else's night. But
thankfully, you know, Kawai showed up. Yeah, and I don't want
this to turn into it would could have should a season when you have Kauai
at the peak of his powers like this, and Paul George overall playing well
enough, playing like an All Star. He was an All Star, and
he's had huge games and huge moments like the recipe for success is certainly there
with this team, but seating matters so much, and right now as I
look it up, after they've now lost two in a row coming out of
the All Star break and two just you know, absolute gut punches are like
an elbow to the gut. Whatever Kawai gave Yokich that he tried to exaggerate
there at the end and then realize he wasn't getting the call and jumped right
up to see Kawash show that emotion too, like cobad Man, what do
you do it? But the Clippers, the Clickers, right now their game
up will being out of the seventh spot currently held by the Golden State wars
these games, you know, it's a double edged sword because as exciting as
they're going to be down the stretch, they are also so meaningful. And
when you lose ones like this and Friday Night, you can just slide down
the standings like David Vassey, I don't know if you saw that what Park
was? That was it Miller Park? Yeah. With the Brewers, it's
it's just crushing to lose some of these games in this fashion and the implications
of what happens afterwards. But on the other hand, it makes Tuesday's game
a huge deal too. Yeah. Right, it's all gonna be interesting.
At this point, you'd almost you know, I know, Clippers fans are
talking about trying to avoid the Phoenix Denver, you know, back to back
series, which would be great. One of the ways you could maybe do
that is playing the Kigs in the first round, which I know doesn't sound
fun, but it seems easier than playing Phoenix and then Denver. So we
don't. This team kind of cares about seating late. We all remember the
Daniel Oturu game against the Thunder and things like that, so it's I don't
there's so many things that can happen over these next tight teams. Is Charles
Mackler from Clips and Dip does the podcast with myself and William Updyke, and
we're gonna have a tripod coming up for you tomorrow night. Oh, it's
gonna be tough one. All right, Charles, thanks for doing this tonight
after the Clippers lose by ten and ot to Denver, my friend. Yeah,
here's to a fun one next time. All right. Before we get
out of here, I do remind you Tuesday night Clippers back Home taken on
the Minnesota Timberwolves. You can just see these glimpses of greatness, as the
song says here by photo ops at the end of every show, it's there
ingredients. They just haven't been able to put it all together for their masterpiece
yet. The hope is it's still yet to come, and they peek at
just the right time. And the time is now, with nineteen games left,
Tuesday Night's game, where they're hosting Minnesota, tip time is at seven.
We'll have Clippers countdown starting at six. Before we get out of here.
I do want to thank the Clippers organization, Noah Eagle, Brian's Seaman,
Ralph Lawler, big brother, Jake Warner, ahead engineer, producer,
Zacho Quality doing good work. And for Katie Newton tonight, who we hope
feels better. The callers, the listeners, the tweeters appreciate all of you
till Tuesday with the pregame show starting at six. I'm Autam Moslin. Let's
talk to you then. This has been Clippers Talk, a postgame conversation about
your LA Clippers with Adam Oslay. If you like the show, subscribe to
Clippers Talk on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you podcast. They have the best
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