It's game Date, Game Date, double Saltier, Adam Auslin, post clippertowndown,
the halftime show, the postgame show, our NBA insider joints. Us
Hey, you know who called in post game the other night after the Clippers
big Game one victory. I heard this. I heard him about it.
Rodney Pete. What a guy? What are you gonna do that for me?
Huh? He made me feel great the other night. It wasn't even
about the Clippers win, just the fact that Rodney Pete called in the Clippers
top post game, big time rating spike because we had a simulcast going.
At least you had a call f you Fred. Oh, the people were
pretty fired up. That's why I called in. I was getting into the
height. This is going, Fred. This is exactly why I get calls
postgame like, oh, I'm just glad the Clippers won because Fred picked against
him. He had the Lakers in that last game of the season. This
is why people come after you for comments like that. I'll dare you,
Freddy. All right, well, let's let's start with this. I said
the other day at him that of all the first round playoff games of our
teams in the market, I thought the Clippers win was the most important of
all of them because of the Phoenix was the favorite. I mean, and
I think in the minds of many people to win the Western Conference now,
and the Clippers just did not back down, just basically punched them right in
the mouth. I felt like coming into this series, even though the odds
were stacked against them on paper, and the betting odds were for Phoenix to
win the series, you'd have to bet six hundred just to win a hundred
bucks, So the Clippers were pretty heavy underdogs. But I tried to tell
people they match up well in a few different categories. Number One, Phoenix
is the only team you could say in the playoffs that has even less continuity,
even less built up chemistry out there than the Clippers. They also play
at a slow plotting pace. The Clippers like that they are more methodical team,
more of a half court team. Going up against Sacramento that would be
a completely different type of series out there. But the Clippers have the best
player in this series, I think in Kawhi Leonard, and if they go
on to win this series, I never want to hear again that Kevin Durant
is better than Kawhi. That argument has to be OVA. It's OVA,
ladies and gentlemen. If Kawhi, Leonard comes through and wins him this series
regardless, if if Paul George comes back for the last couple of games,
and that might happen, it's a possibility. I don't know. If you
guys saw the tape earlier today, him shooting around, it wasn't just him
shooting around. He was moving. He was going through a lot of different
movement drills out there, and he looked spry, he looked good. So
we'll see what comes about with that. But I wouldn't be shocked at all.
I said before the series, I think Paul George could come back midway
through it. It could depend on how much they need him and where the
series is at, and if it's tied up after tonight. Coming back to
Los Angeles for Game three on Thursday night, it's gonna be a huge home
game for the Clippers. We'll see. I think that would be too early
for PG to come back, should he return in this series, but it's
on the table at this point. But the Clippers have a lot of advantages.
The Suns are also the only team you could say in the playoffs.
That is even less athletic and less explosive than the Clippers. The Clippers are
an older team in that way, but the Phoenix Suns they just take a
lot of jumpers. They're a jump shooting team and to win that math battle
well, the Clippers. They're one of the best three point shooting teams in
the league. So while the Phoenix Suns maybe hitting fifty percent of their twos
in the mid range, if the Clippers are out there knocking down three pointers
and they hit four more than the Phoenix Suns in Game one, you can
make up for that. There's a lot of different ways the Clippers can win
this series, and that's why we saw him win Game one the way they
did. They also matched up very well on the defensive ent Russell Westbrook played
great defensively against Kevin Durant. He was amped up. I think that's part
of the reason that he went three for nineteen from the field. But you
watch him make the winning plays late in the game, knock down two free
throws, knocked the ball off of Devin Booker, who was too busy arguing
the call to actually snatch it from him. That was an amazing second half
or down the stretch fourth quarter from Russell Westbrook to knock down two free throws
when you're three of nineteen and not a good free throw shooter. It's crazy
how clushed that was for him to hit both in that situation and after he
got into it with the fan at the half in the tunnel. All right,
so let's do all of that. Let's do all of it. I
just did, no, but I have some thoughts on it, thank you.
My first thought is at the end of the game when he made that
great defensive play to me and I said this, Erodney, that showed a
sense of entitlement by the Suns and really a lack of maturity by Devin Booker.
The game is in play, you're down, the ball is alive,
and instead of doing something, your reaction is to turn immediately and complain to
the official. Westbrook had presence of mind, So I thought that was a
sense of entitlement by the Suns. The other thing was, and we've talked
about this, when Westbrook went back out into the court and that little skirmish
with the fan. That was not on Ross. No, that was not
and everybody wanted to vilify him that was not on Rouss. That was on
the Phoenix Suns for allowing that kind of thing to happen, To have somebody
walked right through your living room to go back on the court. Yeah,
going through the tunnel and going through the shoot, it looked like best of
the best two with Eric Roberts were coming out in that underground battle. You
know, it made no sense to have it worked that way. Yeah,
I thought it was really poorant I'd be shocked if they allowed that again today.
Yeah, without you know, without security there, it's it's it was
absolutely ridiculous, Adam. You would think, you know, the Clippers went
in without Paul George that everybody went off right. Oh, they just shot.
They went crazy from the field free though they went to the line all
this time. Russell Westbrook he played great and defensively and the hustle and all
that, but he was three for nineteen. Yeah, Eric Gordon didn't shoot
the ball well. Kauai was fantastic, yes, of course, but it
wasn't like the Clippers were just playing lights out to get to win. They
got the win because they out they outplayed them, they out hustled them.
It was more heart, but the Clippers can play better. They can play
better than what they did. And if they go out and I told you
this on the air when I called in, is that give me a give
me a healthy Kawhi Leonard. Give me that guy over anybody right now,
because he can get anything he wants, He can do anything he wants.
And I'm with you. But that being said, you gotta know Kevin Durant's
coming out with gangbusters this game, right He's gonna come out with everything he's
got. They're gonna feed him. He may get every shot the first eight
minutes of this game. What did the Clippers do to be ready, because
obviously they know that too. Yeah, Coach Lou said it yesterday talking with
reporters. We know Kevin Durant is going to be much more aggressive in this
game. He only put up fourteen shots in game one. That's not gonna
happen again. Now. Part of the reason is they loaded up on him.
They loaded up on Devin Booker. They said, Tory Craig beat us.
He went nine of twelve and had twenty two points. That was his
playoff high. But you're taking away shots in keeping their superstars out of rhythm
for when they need to hit big shots later in games if you're relying more
on Tory Craig, and he shot a very good percentage because they played off
of him. But you survive a game with a role player that you know.
In a series like this, you could have a role player go off
one night and that could swing the series. Somebody who didn't expect to have
a big game the Phoenix Suns got it from Tory Craig, who started by
the way over josh A Kogi. I thought that was interesting because while he
is the better player in my opinion, he's bigger, he's a better defender
on Kawhi Leonard, He's a better three point shooter than Joshua Kogi. What
it told to me was, Mommy Williams was already showing some of his hand.
He already played a move in Game one that now he can't go to
again should they get deeper into the series. And I thought there was a
critical mistake made by him as well, where you should always have two of
your best four players on the court for the Phoenix Suns, two of Devin
Booker, Kevin Durant CP three, and DeAndre Eighten. At least two of
those guys should be on the court. End of the first quarter, it
was just Devin Booker and role players out there. End of the third quarter,
the same thing happened, and the Clippers took big advantage of that.
So the coaching advantage is also I think in the Clippers favor in this series.
But there weren't any outliers that they needed, to your point, Rodney
Pete for them to win that game won. They didn't get twenty five points
from Bones Highland or something crazy like that. They didn't shoot that high of
a percentage from the outside. They can still play so much better than they
did. I thought coming into the series they would have one game in Phoenix
that would be close that they had to win. They would have another game
where the Phoenix Suns would just dominate them and have a hot shooting night.
Now I'm thinking that margin for air may not be as slim as I thought
it was coming into this series, because the Suns have only played nine games
with Kevin Durant and they look a little bit unsure of themselves still offensively.
And Chris Paul he looks his age right now at thirty seven. Now he
may bounce back. He may have a much better game, but he doesn't
look like a guy he was two years ago in the Western Conference Finals who
closed out the Clippers in that Game six. And I'm gonna give you a
lot of credit here, Fred to two of your points. One thing you've
been saying for a long time about DeAndre Eighten where he just doesn't impress you
as much as he should. Some of that is on the Phoenix Suns not
getting him involved as much as they should. But I think i Viza Zubots
is the better center in this series, and I think he was in the
twenty twenty one Western Conference Finals. Two people forget I Viza Zubots got hurt
midway through the series. It wasn't just not having Kawhi Leonard. I Vitza
Zubots went out with a knee injury. I think in Game three that greatly
affected the series. And I thought he was the more impactful player in Game
one against DeAndre Eighten. Even though he had eighteen, they didn't feel like
a big eighteen points. They didn't stand out to you there. And a
lot of his shots are also jump shots. This is a team that took
seventy percent of their shots outside the restricted area in Game one in the Phoenix
Suns, but that's kind of who they are. They have to hit those
mid rain shots, and they do, but they still won't account for two
points as impressive as they are. Meanwhile, the Clippers one of the best
three points shooting teams over the last three seasons. They can win that math
problem, and that is one area I thought they were going to be able
to beat them in something else you said Fred earlier, the Suns just don't
seem that likable, and I think a lot of the league has turned on
them. You mentioned how entitled Devin Booker looked on that play. They remind
me a little bit of the Lobs City Eric Clippers, where teams didn't like
them because they acted like they had already won something. The Phoenix Suns haven't
won anything yet, but they act like a team that already has that championship
pedigree out there at times and it rubs guys the wrong way. And I
thought that play from Devin Booker was an indicator of that. So for Chris
paul tonight probably not good news. Scott Foster is one of the officials.
Don't don't what do you think? I mean? They just don't He doesn't
win. When Scott Foster officiates the last fourteen games, Scott Foster is officiated
CP three is oh and fourteen. That's like you want to talk about outliers
or just never tell me the odds type of stuff. That's astronomical. How
could that be with a player of CP three's ilk who's been on very good
teams. I don't know if that's just the last two seasons. It could
be a sample size that big those fourteen games, so it's probably just CP
three on the Phoenix Suns, but it's it's kind of nuts. I don't
understand it. And Scott Foster, Look, he was a guy who had
phone calls back and forth with Tim Donahey before and after games. Fred.
It's a fact a lot of people have suspicion over this. I'm not saying
there's anything fishy going on, but there is a perception and as you would
say, the optics don't look good when he's out there. He seems to
inject himself into the game. And when you have a bunch of fans that
are pointing to this and Scott Foster's trending right now for all the wrong reasons,
that's not a good look for the NBA. I'm not saying he's doing
anything wrong. He is apparently rated one of the better officials in the NBA
when it comes to making the correct calls. But the perception just doesn't look
good when he's out there, especially in a game against Chris Paul. There
shouldn't be some subplot or underlying story that, Oh, it's also not just
the Clippers versus the Phoenix Suns, it's Scott Foster versus Chris Paul. I
don't I just don't like that. It's a distraction from the game and the
players out there on the court deciding things. But on the other hand,
Kevin pointed out earlier, when Scott Foster works, Kevin Durant does very well,
something has to give. Speaking about give, I mean, that's what
you know. That's the actual reason they brought in Kevin Durant, just to
counter the fact that Scott Foster seems to single out CP three to balance it
out. What do you make of the stomp heard around the world at him
and Draymond Green and Sabonus. You know, to me, okay, yeah,
it's Draymond anybody else. It's not the reaction that everybody's got right now.
But overreacting by Sabona, I thought he was playing Premier League soccer the
way he was rolling around on the ground. All come on, come on,
Fred, come on, Yes he was. He was. He was
rolling around like he had somebody like he just got punched by Tyson. All
right, Sham's reporting. By the way, it doesn't look like he'll be
suspended, but it will be. Shouldn't beat That makes sense to me because
Sabonis also got a technical for grabbing Draymond Green's foot, and it looked like
it was intentional there, and they got into it at the end of Game
one where he and Sabonis got tangled up on a rebound before the Kings closed
things out in Game one there. So there's, you know, that built
up tension and aggression going on between those two guys battling out there, and
it's going to continue throughout the series. I still expect the Golden State Warriors
to win Game three, and they could win both back at home, and
this thing could be tied up at two games apiece. I still think it's
going six or seven. As good as Sacramento has been, and they have
been great, especially with their pace. They're kind of beating the Golden State
Warriors at their own game, at least how they used to be. They
used to run teams ragged, and they used to get up all those three
point shots. The Kings weren't even that great offensively, but they got so
many possessions last night because they're playing at such a fast pace, and they
wore down the Golden State Warriors, whose guys are a little bit older now
with Steph Curry, with Draymond, with Clay Thompson. They need Jordan Pool
to be much better than he had play. Where'd he go? That's what
I'm I want to ask you. Where's Jordan polk cart That got all that
money, Yet he's got to play much better. He was being a cheerleader
on the sidelines. That was like his most important role yesterday. He has
to play because he was good during their finals run, during their championship run
last season, it looked like this is what's going to create a larger Yeah,
he's going to create a larger window for Golden State to continue to win
because you have him, because you have kaminga Wiseman's now been traded, but
also Andrew Wiggins. He hasn't looked right. He'd hit that three point off
the side of the backboard late in the game last night, in Game two,
and it's somewhat understandable. He's still finding a rhythm coming back after missing
time for so long. But they are vulnerable. The defending champs are vulnerable
to a team that hadn't been the playoffs since two thousand and six, and
all that talk of well Sacramento doesn't have the experience. You know, they
got the short end of the stick, drawing the Golden State Warriors in the
first round. Right now, the Sacramento Kings looked like the team that's much
more composed and playing with you know, some of those championship traits where they
just look unphased out there. Even when Steph Curry does hit a big three
on them, they come right back, all right. What time do you
go to work tonight? Tonight? Six o'clock? What time you call him
post game? You know what you want me to call it? I would
love it. I hate to have to beg for it, Fred, But
after Rodney Pete called in, why not let's do it? Rogan and Rodney
advertising coming up. Clippers talk later tonight with Fred Rogan love it. Okay,
I think that might be a point, because you're down two bottles of
wine by the time I get on at ten thirty. Is that gonna be
the problem? Oh, you're gonna have to actually watch the game tonight?
Is that the problem? Fred? I watched the whole game the other night.
I know you enjoyed it. I watched every second of it. I
did enjoy it. This is gonna be a great series. And by the
way, you're gonna give me some credit. Who came on this show two
months ago and said, if the Lakers draw the Memphis Grizzlies in the first
round, they're bouncing them. Guess what they're bouncing them? Well, I'll
give you more credit. Would you've been right about a lot of stuff you've
said on this show? A lot of stuff? Broken clock right twice a
day? You know, Blind Squirrel finds a not all those all right?
Clipper countdown the Saltier Adam Austin six o'clock tonight, Adam, have a good
show, all right? I love you, guys, Brogan and Rodney A
M five seventy LA Sports And you'll hear Adam on AM eleven fifty starting at
six that's where we'll have the Clipper game tonight, right down the hall,
on a Patriot