Welcome in, folks. If you're joining us, we're doing kind of a
surprise live here. We're coming at you the day after the Clippers below a
twenty two point lead in what ended up being a forty point turnaround in favor
of the Minnesota timber Wolves. We've had a little bit of time to sort
of process. I guess as much as we can what really happened, what
really went wrong with this Clipper team. But we're also just curious where everybody's
at. You know, it's the it's the next day. We want to
know how you're feeling about this Clippers team. So go ahead and comment.
But Adam, let's let's just start off. I mean, where do you
think things went wrong? Well, when you're up by twenty two and I
was kind of getting the temperature of the room last night on Clippers Talk.
You came on with me and did a fantastic job after a difficult game like
that. But there's blame to go around, right. This isn't one person,
This isn't one guy, This isn't one issue. It's not just the
coaching staff, it's not just the players. But the one thing I would
start with is PG and James Harden needing to be better than taking just six
shots in the second half. I believe, and this is a fact.
I don't even have to believe it. Paul George had more turnovers than shot
attempts in the second half of that ballgame where they knew they did not have
Kawhi Leonard being able to return. And people are coming in now and flooding
in as we're doing the live and impromptu surprise surprise. I'm happy about that.
Even Chuck is wondering what's going on. Oh, by the way,
in the live because we're gonna try to spin things in a positive manner at
some point here, I hope, and this is positive. Best comment in
the comment section here, you win this new logo Clippers sticker, we'll send
it to you. I don't know how we normally get their address. I
don't know if it's through YouTube or what or on Twitter. But best comment,
I'll send you the sticker of the Clippers new logo here, just to
try to entice people to come in. But and going back to Paul George
and James Harden, I just don't understand what the stake's being that high in
that ball game, being up by twenty two and then completely falling apart towards
the end of the first half. And look, I'm understanding to being deflating
the fact that Kawhi Leonard and there was so much uncertainty surrounding what was going
on with him for about a half. I don't buy that. I don't
buy that. Like, I'm sorry, I don't. I don't buy that
that effect encore performance. It affects him not being there, affects the team.
But I don't buy for a second that It's like, oh, everybody
was so worried, we just, you know, how can we maintain how
can we possibly maintain a twenty two point lead with so much worry about Kawhi
and his backspasms. That's that's ridiculous, that's bunk. I just don't buy
it. Uh. I'm not saying it's a good enough excuse. It may
have played a small role, but when you're up by twenty two, there's
really no excuse. Then, yes, it can be distracting. You're seeing
Russell Westbrook go back to the locker room, multiple people go back there,
and there's just this dark cloud over the ballgame. That's the biggest of the
season to try to get back into the hunt for a top three seed,
and people are wondering what's going on with Kawhi who has had his injury issues
obviously over the years with the Clippers, and everybody's kind of on edge,
and I do think some of that could affect the game and affect the players,
But you also have to have your leaders step up, rally the troops
and rescue a team from falling apart for the third time in the span of
a week and a half. How many lessons do you need to know this
can't happen again. You gotta put your foot down and say no, not
tonight. We're not gonna let Minnesota gain confidence and gain momentum and get right
back into the ball game where it's an eight point game at the half and
you've just relinquished what looked like And I know in today's league it's easier to
come back because of the three point shooting, of course, but twenty two
points at home in a game of that level of significance, that just is
inexcusable. It can't happen. It's your fourth game against them, you just
beat them in their house. You're very familiar with this team, and you
knew it was on the line, and you know, or at least have
an idea. As much as that uncertainty with Kawhi could affect guys, you
probably have an idea you're not coming back tonight at some point. So therefore,
I mean, I'm sure they knew us that he left, Like I'm
sure they knew before us that he had left the building after or at least
if he's gone for that long, at some point, you go, yeah,
he's probably not coming back. He's probably not gonna be available for this
game, right, totally. Well, I I just don't want to understand,
Yeah, And I just want to clarify one thing too, Like,
it's not it's not giving up a twenty two point lead like in a vacuum.
That's pretty understandable, right with how quick scoring can go. Obviously,
the way that it happens some of those runs, some of the long stretches
without any Clippers scoring is is a little troubling. But it's not just that,
right, Like the Minnesota Timberwolves are a good team. If they had
gotten back into that ball game and it was a back and forth sort of
battle that I can understand, but like for it to be a for it
to be the turnaround that it was, and for you to see like it
just feels like getting hit by a slow moving train, like you just see
it coming the whole time. It's the Austin Power steamroller scene exactly. It's
exactly that. And I'm glad that you brought up the tension because you know,
I don't know how Qui's injury affected things, contrary to what I did
say earlier. I mean, I guess when you see a guy sort of
go down, maybe you do think about your immortality. But there is a
problem with this Clippers team and tension or pressure, they are not really able
to rise up to the moment. They really clench up, and we see
sort of the same bad habits, the same poor execution that we've seen time
and time again. And I mean, you just really got to wonder,
like, at what point are they gonna get past this? Okay, I
think that's a great point and there's more to dig in there. And you
just brought up the comment I wanted to see on the big screen here from
Jeremy Mormon. He said, we used to be the comeback clips. See
if you can follow this train of thought that maybe going off the tracks a
little bit. But I was thinking late last night about something you said early
on in the season. I texted you this too, But during I think
the six game losing streak, you said something to the effect of something is
rotten at the core with this team. Something is wrong. There's some deep
seated flaw that is keeping them from getting to that ultimate level they should be
at given the talent, given the level of talent that they have. And
granted, they responded and they went on a twenty six and five run in
thirty one games. It looked like the best team in the league. And
we're going through a moment for this Clippers franchise, which was the best performances
that we had seen the regular season ever. Really, they looked that dominant
in that consistent, you could say, for a long stretch of time offensively,
especially the defense. It was still a little bit up and down at
times, but it was good enough when you're that potent offensively. But here's
what I'll say, and here's kind of my theory on what you talked about
in that quote from earlier in the season and what you just brought up here
of why the Clippers seem to especially right now when they get punched in the
face, just fold and collapse and melt down. That's what we've seen over
the last week and a half because they were the comeback clips for so long.
So here's what makes it difficult to get a beat on this team,
and understanding of their identity, you can certainly say part of their identity in
the two to three era is being resilient because of all the comebacks more than
any other team in the league thirteen comebacks since twenty nineteen, of being down
twenty points or more and them rising to the occasion when a player is down,
a player of significance like Kawhi Leonard being down and them still overcoming that
and getting to the Western Conference Finals. But I'm wondering now, I hope
it's not true, but I'm just trying to figure out why this continues to
happen right now with these letdowns and taking their foot off the gas. Is
that resiliency a double edged sword? Has it become that for this team where
they've had so many comebacks that it's almost built up this false confidence that they
can step on the gas when they need to, that they can flip a
switch out there at times because they have done it time and time again before.
But it's brought in these bad habits of choosing when to play hard,
choosing when to have a level of professionalism that it needs to be at effort
wise, because Paul George called them out for that last night. We have
to give better effort consistently from not just game to game where it seems to
lack, but quarter to quarter, possession to possession has Maybe they're great strength,
that resiliency been has led to this weakness that has developed over time of
them being so inconsistent because of the false confidence of oh, we can come
back, we'll figure it out eventually, we'll get them next quarter, and
it's become a real issue with them having these letdowns like we're seeing right now.
Like Denver gets the benefit of the doubt when they're hanging around the five
seed because they've won the chip, they've been there and done that. They
have that ability. Star break is the opposite. It's the polar opposite of
how the Clippers have looked coming out of the All Star breaks. But none
of us are surprised by that because they were kind of lying in wait.
They had Jamal Murray out for a month. At one point they were treading
water, look like of the elite teams in the Western Conference, and now
they see an opening for the one seed and say, okay, it's time
and they just choose to attack this part of the season because they can get
the one seed. The Clippers, they haven't won the championship yet, they
haven't earned that. They haven't had that built up equity to be able to
say that, Okay, we're gonna take over. Now we're gonna do our
thing. But they play like that at times. There's almost like an entitlement
because of all the talent they have, the embarrassment of riches like, no,
you haven't won the championship yet, you don't get the benefit of the
doubt like a team like the Denver Nuggets to just flip a switch when you
feel like it. That's yeah, I worry. I mean. And here's
the thing is, like these games are like kind of a microcosm of what's
been happening in the season. Right Like we went on that Grammy road trip,
we had a nine game winning streak, like it felt like we were,
you know, up up twenty two in a quarter on the season,
and now we're watching it kind of slowly slip away. This has been a
five hundred ball club essentially since the Grammy trip, and I just I don't
understand, Like each new slap in the face, I'm kind of like,
this has got to be the thing that does it right, Like this is
the wake up call, and they're still asleep, and it's just the exact
same things that we're seeing again and again, and the quotes are even kind
of the same. Uh, you know, we gotta be giving more effort
consistently, you know, it's it starts on the defensive end. We gotta
lock in all this stuff. And yet on court, I mean, I
thought in that Timberwolves game in that third quarter, they were kind of sleep
walking through it, just assuming that if they hung around they would be able
to close it out in the fourth and it just wasn't the case. And
I don't know, I don't I you know, I saw through it is
almost kind They had nine turnovers in that third quarter. They made four shots
and had nine turnovers. That's yes, how yeah, it's I mean,
it's absurd. Uh, And I just don't know, because it's across the
board, right, Like it'd be one thing if it was just Paul George
who did not have a great perform Rmans. If it was just James Harden
who has played a lot. We've talked about that. I don't know what
it is. And to your point about the resiliency too, you know,
I talk about this sometimes with players, how they're sort of like cumulative knocks,
right, Like you take a bunch of little bumps and things all season
that in the moment aren't really that big, but it adds up. It
adds up by the time you get to the playoffs. You know, you've
just already been through so much that you don't have the legs that you once
did. And has been like being in these difficult so often also just led
to sort of like a I mean, because there's the positive right where you
think that you can come back from it, but also just being in these
situations all the time, like the way that they tense up in it,
you would think it would be the opposite, right, Like when we think
of when we think of good clutch teams, obviously it's not great if you've
played a lot of games in the clutch, but teams that are good at
it ten like they tend to relax, they relish in the moment a little
bit more and just not seeing that from this Clippers team when they start to
let go of the rains a little bit. And look, they're clutch.
Numbers overall this season are very good. But I was just running the numbers
against teams of five hundred above five hundred, I should say, And they're
twenty and sixteen since that six game losing streak, the first five games with
James Harden, when they found their footing, they're twenty and sixteen against teams
above five hundred on the season. But over their last ten games now against
teams above five hundred, they're two and eight. So how many games are
they winning against the best in the league. They're three and seven against the
top three teams, the teams right in front of them. They are what
two or one and two against the Pelicans right now with one more game to
go. You mentioned having those wake up calls. I thought, if there
were gonna be games that were gonna get up for and rise and meet the
challenge against this squad because of playoff implications, because you just don't want to
be pushed around anymore as they have been in the past. That first game
coming out of the Grammy trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home where they lost
by twenty one would be one of them. And then the first game coming
out of the All Star Break against okay See on the road Grant would be
one of them too, And they were doa They were missing for large stretches
of both of those ball games. So if they're not, if that's not
enough to wake you up, you brought up a couple of You brought up
a couple of key losses. And that's been the thing too, Right,
Is it's one thing to have a regular season loss. A lot of these
have been you know, it is still the regular season, but there's implications
that kind of go beyond just one of eighty two. You know, whether
it's a tiebreaker, whether it's a chance to move up into the standings.
But what in your mind so far has been the worst loss of this Clippers
season. Is it this Timberwolves loss? Is it the Lakers loss? Is
it something else? How are you feeling like what was the most egregious to
you that should have been the wake up call? I mean, there's different
ways to look at it, because now we've had a pattern of them blowing
leads since the Lakers loss. So if that's become a trend because of that
one game where they blew a twenty one point lead, if that's the origin
of these new bad habits or them starting to feel the pressure of oh no,
here we go again, then that might be the worst loss of the
season. I thought it was at the time. I thought it was worse
than losing to Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan and the Denver Nuggets team that was
completely depleted and somehow beat the Clippers at home. But they righted the ship
after that. That did get their attention. That was the next game was
the first game where Kawhi went into god teer mode where he was playing basketball
at such a high level that yes, he should have been in the MVP
conversation h and at a much I guess a little bit more of that chatter
should have been surrounding Kawhi Leonard. But the loss last night, considering how
big of a game that was now and even without Kawhi and you can say,
well, that's you're out, It's not the worst loss because they only
had him for one quarter, But just seeing the temperament of the team and
then give in again, for the third time in a week and a half
and give up a big lead like that. It's very disappointing. It's very
frustrating. And I've seen this joke now multiple times. I swear Adams harrigets
for games on when the PG does lately, will it be the winner of
the new Clippers' logo sticker? I don't know, but I think last night
it's I don't think it's just recency biased, because I think last night's loss
confirms some of those fears that we've had that oh no, they're not pulling
out of this tail spin where they're seven and eight post Grammy road trip.
It's continuing right now. And then when you add in the injury concerns with
Kawhi and James Harden as well. He's questionable for tomorrow's game against Chicago with
the left shoulder injury, It's like, yeah, this is this is a
gut check time. This is a crossroads for this Clippers team with eighteen games
left before the playoffs. So every loss is important, Every game is important,
Everyone is important, but they are more magnified at the end of the
season because you would assume what we're seeing from the Clippers now is more of
what we'll see in a playoff series because we're closer to the playoffs than what
we saw two months ago from the Clippers. You know, yeah, well,
I mean it's it's I do think that there's something to the momentum thing,
right, I mean, it's one thing if your team has sort of
earned the right to coast a little bit at the end of the season,
like as I think of like the Denver Nuggets last year where they had the
one seed locked up. You know that, you know, Yokic didn't end
up winning the MVP because they kind of took it a little bit easier in
the in the in the latter third of that of that season, they earn
the right, you know, we have you know, we have nothing of
the sort. And to see the team crumbling at this time of the year
certainly feels a lot more concerning than the encouragement that I felt, like earlier
in the season, that I felt at the that I felt during the Grammys
road trip or the or the nine game win streak. Like it's it's really
really discouraging at this time of the year, especially after like after the rest
and stuff, which I can expect a couple of rusty games, but you
know, the schedule is not a cake walk and they have multiple games coming
up in a very short time to figure things out. Now, sometimes this
can, you know it, sometimes this can put put the team together.
You know, when they do have these sort of focused stretches, it forces
them to be a better version of themselves. But I mean, if they're
in a nose dive and if they're unable to turn this thing around, I
mean, falling to five is really like, I just I can't understate how
big the difference is between four and five, given like what the Western Conference
looks like right now, and I mean I talked about it last night with
you, but the inevitability what it feels like Denver is one of the easiest
schedules remaining that they lock up the one seed. I just don't know what
you expect, like if you get out, if you get out of a
first round series from the five seed and then you have to play in Denver,
Like, I just don't do you think you can flip the switch then,
because I haven't seen it. I just haven't seen it for a long
enough time to believe that that is in any way possible No, they haven't
earned that level of confidence that they can flip that switch and beat the defending
champs on the road in a seven game series. Right now, everyone should
be rooting for the OKC Thunder to continue to win and Denver to lose.
And they're taking on the Miami Heat right now in Miami like it is time
to do some standings. Watch because as you mentioned, you end up in
the five seed in less one of those bottom dwelling teams, and it could
happen upsets one of the top teams, one of the top four seeds.
You're gonna be on the road the entire time. You're not gonna have home
court the entire the entirety of the way through the playoffs. Who would have
imagined that just a month ago when we were talking about, oh, this
could be the first Clippers team to grab the number one overall seed. You
know, I see Veronica say there's no accountability players and coach, no heart
or pride. I'll say this when you mean when it's rotten, That's what
I mean when I say there's something rotten at the like at the core of
this team. Oh look, we got a we got a very special night.
Hey, what's up, Fellas, Just popping in before I head to
a little birthday dinner. Just just wanted to say, you know, after
the loss last night, I woke up, showered, went to work,
had an okay day at work, took a couple walks around the block type
thing to clear my head, and it changed absolutely nothing. It changed absolutely
I didn't hatch this ship. It's rotten to the core. That's just how
it feels, like, Adam, I loved what you were saying, like
that Lakers loss might be the worst loss because that's what get us, gets
us into this scenario now right where we're like seeing leads go away. But
I don't know, man, they gotta figure the shit out soon, like
in six hours or something like that. Because Kawhi's with the team, which
is great. I don't think he's gonna play both back to back, both
games with the back to back, I don't want him to at this point.
But it's tough, man. This might be the lowest I've been all
year, which I think makes sense. I think most people are right now.
Doesn't mean it can't go back up, but well, it's difficult too,
right because in some ways this feels even worse than the six game losing
streak, just because that was like, it's so bad, it's so bad
right now, we know, like this can't maintain. It can't be this
bad forever. This team continuing to play like a five hundred team. I
mean that feels a little bit more within the realm of possibility right in a
very scary, very sad way. Yeah, and the schedule coming up,
it's not easy. We got those two games against Portland and then one against
Charlotte. Other than that, I'm like, I don't know, it feels
like a coin flip for the most part. Friday, I'm terrified for I
am a little bit encouraged from what coach lu said postgame last night. He
was he almost swore about five different times, but specifically regarding the thing that
bothered the most was the lack of mental toughness out there and them getting punk
like that when you have a twenty two point lead against a team that has
called you old and then made you look old. With the Anthony Davis in
that possession defensively against Paul George who early on the ballgame, when Kawhi was
out there in the first quarter, I mean, they were picking on nas
Reed when he came in, he had that baseline dunk on nas Reid.
He looked good. He looked like he had pop, he had juice.
They were ready, everybody. I mean, it was a well oiled machine
the first fifteen minutes, first sixteen to eighteen minutes the ballgame to build up
that lead. Again, Kawhi was out the entire second quarter. They only
led by thirteen heading out of the first. So they created that twenty two
point lead without Kawhi a lot of it in that second quarter, and then
they just gave it away. And the third time happening like this in over
a week and a half. How can you not have some alarm bells like
you're building bad habits at the worst time of the season right now. And
I think it just goes back further to me again, I wonder if it's
a double edged sword with all those resilient comeback victories that have created this false
narrative, and that strength actually has some downside to it. It can be
a weakness if you just expect it to happen like that continually when it's not
going to because you have to play with effort for forty eight minutes against the
best teams in the league, or else you will get run. The talent
disparity isn't wide enough for the Clippers to not be locked in for forty eight
minutes against Minnesota, even without Karl Anthony Towns. It's just not especially if
you look at the last after the starters. ESPN today was talking about how
the Clippers have such a deep team that they'll be Okay, we don't really
like, we don't have you know, we don't have nine guys vying for
eight playoff spots or something like that. We have seven guys who can play
in the playoffs, and then after that, we don't know when Russ is
going to be back. We have no idea what Mason Tyson's minutes looked like
in the offs, right, Like, this isn't a deep team. It
is if you think about really good players, and that's where you stop again,
starting five good to go. Well, here's the thing. They looked
deep to me Sunday against Milwaukee when they didn't have Paul George and Kawhi Leonard
because everybody stayed focused because they knew they had to the only shot they had.
Being in a talent disadvantage like that, was playing above their heads to
some degree. Some of those guys I mean terrorists man and a mere Coffee
both had sixteen points on very good efficiency. They rose to the occasion,
the cardiac clips, the stay ready clippers. They looked the part against Milwaukee
and almost pulled that game out somehow when they had much less talent out there.
Why can't we get that when they're fully you know, when they're fully
loaded, and we saw it in the first quarter. That first quarter was
so encouraging against Minnesota because oh they're not losing the first quarter by five points
and sleepwalking and just being lacks of daisical and the way they enter this ball
game and their approach. They hit the ground running, they played like it
was a damn near playoff game. And then Cowhi's out and then the five
thirteen mark or whatever. They're up by twenty two in the second quarter,
and by the time they reached the end of the half, they're only up
by eight. It it's just baffling that they can let go of leads like
this the way they do. Do we need to trick them into thinking none
of the stars will play and then we say, surprise, a tip off
the starting five is the actual starting five and then that way everyone's locked in
has that sense of urgency right from the jump, right fake injury. Urgency
is the word, Like, I don't understand, it's urgency. It's a
level of what does Brian Seman always say competitive integrity. I like that.
It's just holding up for forty eight minutes with the same mindset the entire time,
and that is what drives you and carries you. I mean, guys,
we talked about it when Kawhi Leonard was going after this team after a
win against Detroit. What did he say? We're getting by on talent too
much right now and not execution. And now the chickens are coming home to
roost because they're gonna be missing some of that talent, and some of that
talent is tired in, worn out, and they don't have execution or great
built in habits to fall back on to get by against better competition, while
guys could be missing or just are gassed. Yeah, I mean, and
the talent thing is also do The talent thing is also a double edged sword,
right, because I mean, if that's what you're relying on to pull
you through, you know you're gonna you're gonna have at least one PG or
I mean James Harden or even Kawhi game where they come up short. Uh
and it you know, like, what is the plan around that? You
know, we certainly don't have the skill level at death like the death of
skill that we've seen at this Clippers team before. So what you know,
like, what what's the plan? Then? I mean and I will say
too, I will say too because we should we should time stamp this uh
as as as March because on the flip heads on the flip end, not
saying that they should do this, but like I mean, we are we
are a playoff mode Kawhi away from being dragged deeper than this team has any
right to be with how they look right now. Sure, as of this
moment, I would one hundred percent agree with that. That's fair because they
didn't look good heading into the playoffs last year. They didn't have a ton
of momentum, they didn't have Paul George. And then in that first game,
everybody that Phoenix Sun's team had their attention. You could see it out
there. They looked different than they had throughout the regular season, where we
said, what's their identity they're consistently inconsistent, they're up and down. You
never know what you're going to get. And then it was as simple as
oh, they're giving effort now every possession. But I just feel like,
okay, you can do that, but if you're the five seed, that
still may not be enough to get out of not just the first round,
but the second round, because you just put yourself in a terrible position where
even if you're playing the right way, then it's too little, too late
because that path of least resistance is not there. They're actually having to go
through a gauntlet now, Like you can win or lose a championship, I
believe based on seating and having easier road and having having the right matchups.
Like it's not just you were the best team. There was a little bit
of luck good fortune along the way, and maybe you made some of it
by making sure you had home court advantage at least in the first round.
Yeah, I mean laughed so hard. This is a strong This is a
strong contender, I think for the for the comment of the of the stream
so far, I hope Adam is keeping a running on it. What was
I gonna say? Uh, yeah, I forgot Sorry, I got thrown
off by this comment, this great comment by case. I Actually I do
have to head out. I hope. I hope you guys have a great
rest of this live. I hope it gets a little more relaxing. I
don't think it should, because the Clippers need to work on a lot of
ship. But hey, well, I hope we can do a double dip.
Actually, I hope. I don't get it do a double dip because
that means they lost tomorrow. That's no. I want to be on for
the big I want to be on for the big win over the Pels.
Me too, buddy, I want you to be on for that win too,
all right, I fellas good stuff. Check Rock was saying, I
think we can beat Phoenix. That's great. I think they can too.
If it takes seven games and then you're taking on Denver afterwards. Who dismantled
a team in the first round in five games? Does that put you in
a great spot? Well? Fail? So I will say, if you
get if you get Phoenix in the if you get Phoenix in the three six
matchup, in the unlikely scenario that the Clippers are able to vault over the
timber Wolves, and assuming the Nuggets get to one, that's a pretty sweet
path. But know that a lot of things, Like here's my issue with
with with that stuff in the standings is, uh, you know, we've
seen the Clippers try to get cute before. I still firmly believe that in
in their seeding to kind of cherry pick their matchup. I think that that
is something that can backfire on you, and it just assumes a lot of
things that are out of your control, right, Like I don't like to,
you know, as much as it's fun too, like as when we're
talking in broadcasting, like imagine different matchups or how things could plan out,
if that's your team strategy, I think it's really poor to depend on a
lot of things that are outside of your control. So I don't think that
that's really the thought. But if they got Phoenix. That being said,
if they got Phoenix in the three six and Denver is one, I feel
like that's a pretty good that's a that's a pretty good route for them.
Show me how they're getting the three seed right now because they're technically Minnesota,
but it's not three, it's four. Because if they tie, the tiebreaker
goes to Minnesota. They have to jump ahead of them by a game.
Very true. That's why last night was so meaningful in all the wrong ways
for the Clippers. You needed that game. Not only do you close the
gap, you get the tiebreaker, or at least likely would have had it.
And now it's the same thing with the Pelicans, right, I think
we're looking at the same scenario coming on Friday, because correct me if I'm
wrong. They have played three times so far. The Pelicans won the first
meeting one sixteen to one oh six in La. Then the Clippers demolished them
on the road. That was one of the best wins. That was the
most current best win of the season at that time. They won one eleven
to ninety five and it wasn't even that close, and they look dominant.
That's one of the best wins of the season. But then, h you're
coming out and I'm trying to see, Wait, was that the last time
they played? No, the last time they just played? Yeah, they
just played and that was yeah, one seventeen to one to six on February
seventh. M hm. So it is the same thing. If you win
this game, the head to head tiebreaker then gets booted down to which team
is actually winning their division, just like it would have been if they won
that game last night against Minnesota and the Pelicans. Here's a problem. They're
currently two and a half games up in the Southwest on the Dallas Mavericks,
So the Clippers don't have the big advantage like they had against Minnesota, who's
third in their division. The Pelicans are at the top of theirs in the
Southwest. Well, I mean trash can that's a trash division. It don't
matter if they win it in terms of divisions though, that their conference record
versus the Clippers, which is what it would go to. Then they're at
twenty four and eighteen. The Clippers are at twenty five and seventeen. So
they're right there. They're right next to each other. The neck and neck.
Oh my god, money made me numb. Sorry to interrupt, but
just just kind of brought up something haunting. They said. Kaw I saw
the vision early. Remember like two weeks ago. He said, we're just
trying to be a top six team. That's not exactly what he said.
It's not exactly what he said. No, he said, for sure be
a top six seed, six seed just meaning we're not a playing team.
It wasn't like six is just as good as three, which is how a
lot of people have interpreted it. That's not what he said at all,
and that's not what he was asked. I think there's a lot there's difference
there, there's a nuance to it. Kawhi does eliminate top players. Kawhi
at his best in a playoff series, that's one ray of home. That's
right right now. Yeah, Like if he's like a top ten player in
a playoff series of all time, now what I'm talking about, top seventy
five player of all time, when he comes to the playoff series, the
seven game series, there may be nine guys I would take over Kawhi Leonard
in the history of the league in the seven game series. Maybe, Well,
it depends on era too, I guess, because like I mean,
Kawhi is so like versatile, so I think it. But yeah, top
ten, we've dealt with the nineties. You're right, we've dealt with the
nineties. We told someone was asking any word on Kawhi, which just just
to update everybody. He did leave. He did leave the game against the
timber Wolves back spasms. He's expected to travel with the team still know,
Yeah, he's he's with the team, still listened as questionable. Well for
the game against the Bulls. We'll see how that goes with it being a
back to back. My memory served me well finally, because when he left
the ballgame, the first thing I thought of was I was watching him once
pregame And this was in twenty twenty one, in March, so three years
ago, and he grabbed it his lower back at the free throw line and
walked to the locker room, and it came out that, oh, he
was a late scratch. It was backspasms. He played the next game.
Doesn't mean it's going to happen this time, doesn't mean it's a perfectly a
perfect analog to what's happening, but he is at least traveling with the team.
Adam, I feel like I was talking about this with Chuck yesterday,
But I mean, I can't imagine what it's like for an athlete, but
just as a person, as you get up into your thirties and forties,
back pain becomes of just a very real part of your life. Well,
I mean, Aviza Zubats had backspasms earlier in the season, remember, and
he's twenty six. But the point is he overcame it very quickly, looked
fine, and have one of the most crazy playoff runs we have seen percentages
wise in that twenty twenty one run before tearing the ACL. So I'm hoping
he's at least available for the Pelicans game on Friday. If this Clippers team
it was playing the right way and building the right habits and being more consistent
out there, you'd say, oh, without Kawhi Leonard, even against Chicago,
they'll be fine. They don't need him for that one, save him
for Friday. But you can't take any team lightly with the way the Clippers
have looked recently. That game again, so I agree, I agree with
you. I agree with you one hundred percent. I still think that we're
at this point in the season where like, yes, stacking wins is important,
Yes, optimizing seeding to the best of our ability is I also think
that there's something to be said about building championship habits, and I think that
that happens against better competition. So if Kawhi only goes in one of these
games, I would still prefer it to be in the against the Pelicans.
And that's not to take Chicago lightly, because they could still beat us.
Uh. It's it's just even if you lose that game against the Pelicans second
night of a back to back, totally understandable. I'd like to lose it
building upon the foundation that you know that we should be at, like getting
to the end point where we need to be by the time this season ends
and in playoffs roll around, which is in a month. So like,
regardless, if he only plays one game, I would really prefer it to
be the game that isn't a guaranteed win. If if anything, it's it's
maybe closer to a guaranteed loss with it being on the second night of a
back to back. But for the sake of getting this team to a destination,
I think that that's the one that he needs to plan. You know,
we talked about this last night, Like this, if you want a
chance to bounce back, if you want a chance to snap out of this
funk and show everybody, show the league something, show yourself something, show
me something. Show it in this New Orleans Pelicans game. Show it to
me. On Friday. The Pelicans are two games behind the Clippers right now.
It's very close to a must win to hold on to the four seed.
Winning that game against the Pelicans. I'm with you. Honestly, the
punishment for the way Paul George and James Harden played after Kawhi left should be
you guys got to figure this Chicago game out without Kawhi. Yeah, make
it happen, because maybe Paul George can catch a rhythm maybe coming into a
game and if he knows off the bat that, okay, we're not gonna
have Kawhi. This is how I need to play. I have to be
in attack mode the entire way through. Those two combining for twenty one shots
just is not going to get it done against Minnesota. It won't get it
done against Chicago either. Paul George has to put up seventeen plus James Harden
near fifteen. I want to see both those guys deliver because they're freaking Hall
of famers, and Paul George has to be for them to reach the ultimate
goal. The second best player, at least the second best scorer on this
Clippers team, and that means you have to be a number one option at
times like against Chicago. I agree. So let's let's close out on this
because we got to wrap this up. But Rock brought up a great comment
one verse one isn't the issue, and I think that's kind of where we
both land on Kawhi Leonard. That's the one silver lining, right, Do
we trust R two and R three to be better than the other team?
And I think for me in a vacuum, the answer is yes. Uh,
in terms of what we've seen lately, highly questionable. Where are you
at with this, Adam, because I think that that is the issue with
the depth, right. I think in past years we haven't seen as much
still a lot, but we haven't seen as much of the high tier,
high name, high recognition talent. But we've seen more you know, skin
old players across positions. Sometimes it's overlapping, so there's sort of you know,
it's not always optimized. But the drawback with that is, you know,
this team is only deep when those three are playing like they need to
play. Well. Let's just take the Pelicans for example. If they took
them on in a playoff series, who's their number one? Brandon ingram or
Zion Number three is CJ. McCollum. They match up pretty well against them,
they do, even playing the way they are right now, I wouldn't
feel terrible about that. Be careful what you wish for. They're gonna have
to scheme against Zion, build a wall against him, like they weren't able
to for the most part. Against Giannis. They had their moments, I
trust you with some of that. But against Phoenix you look at oh,
their number two is Devin Booker, who plays like a number one all the
time. Paul George has to be like that if they're gonna match up well
against them, because Kawhi can cancel out KD and I think get the best
of him. Paul George, his biggest nemesis is Devin Booker. He has
gotten up for those games in the past. He played well against Phoenix in
that playoff series without Kawhi. He has to match Devin Booker. That's not
easy. So no, I don't feel great about it right now. And
then you're talking about James hard and Bradley Beal, who has more production there
they don't have a true point guard. But yeah, these guys have to
play to their capabilities otherwise they're just stars in name only and the talent.
And look, Paul George, I know, I'm sure he's not one hundred
percent right now. I think that's pretty obvious. The groin than the knee
injury. But he's got to dig deep. He just has to, because
what I worry about with him is mentally, if he's feeling like I can't
do some of the things I used to do, I worry about what that
could do to Paul George mentally. Now. He tried to dunk on Gobert
last night. I almost had it, probably should have. It's not easy,
but I thought that one was going in. He tried to dunk on
Chet. Recently, he's had some explosive plays here and there where he looks
like himself. It's just that third quarter and that possession against Aunt was hard
to watch. That was in real time and making his case that the Clippers
are old and slow. Are they old and slow or are they just a
little bit gas right now? And Paul George can be at the same level
he was through a two month stretch playing off of James hard and to Kawhi
Leonard when the Clippers were rolling, he was perfect. He was exactly what
they needed out of him. He was as justin Wilson would say, a
rich man's Michael Porter Jr. The way he was playing and fitting in and
catching and shooting and making quick decisions and just being an uber efficient scorer out
there for the Clippers, that's what they need. Maybe not against Chicago.
He's got to be the number one option, but that's what's being asked of
him. That was always the deal when you brought him in, So be
that guy. We'll see what happens against Chicago with this team, because they
can't overlook them before getting to the Pelicans. But if Kawhi's not there,
you know, there's still no excuses. If James Harden's not there, they
can still win that game. With Paul George and guys stepping up around him,
they can. They need to agreed. Agreed, Yeah, I think,
Yeah, I think we're gonna have to get out of here. Who
are you feeling comment wise? I don't know if I've been paying attention close
enough. Who do you think is in the running here? Rock has been
pretty good. Yeah, give it to Well, let's give it to Rock.
He's been consistently good. What we're looking for is consistency from the Clippers
in the comments section comment Okay, okay, Rock, you want it?
You got to hit us up in the comments section on Twitter. Just confirms
you. I'll send you to the sticker. I hope you dig it.
This is the new world right there. Thank you everybody for tuning into the
stream. Hopefully we're coming back at you at some point with some some more
positive uh some more positive stuff to go off of. But uh yeah,
this is just kind of where we're at right now. You can listen to
this podcast where you get your podcasts, subscribe to us over on YouTube dot
com. That's at Clippers Podcasts, And yeah, Adam, you want to
send them off with one one little positive thing. They win the next three
games, a lot of what's happened over the last two weeks will be forgotten.
Forgetting that's a lot to ask. But Kawhi Leonard travel with the team
and we all speculate, oh it's a bad back. Can you get on
a plane right now? And he is with them, So that is great
news right there. They got their shot because they have Kawhi Leonard with them,
and I'm assuming he's going to play at some point on this road trip
hopefully. But yes, this marks another edition of CND Live. We appreciate
all of you, guys, We love you. Get to us at Clippers
Podcast on the YouTube at Clippers Pod on Twitter, and as William and Chuck,
you guys always say it out the right way. Do it, do
it? Do it? As our co host Charles marcl always says, let's
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