How The LA Clippers Prevented The Matinee Mishap

How The LA Clippers Prevented The Matinee Mishap

The LA Clippers had one of those dreaded mad a games on Saturday afternoon against the Detroit Pistons and just like the recent game against the Detroit Pistons it wasn’t the most straightforward win but the Clippers got it done why was it so complicated to get the win and so hard against the team

With such a losing record and how about the performance of Paul George in the win going to be talking about it all on today’s lock on Clippers you are locked on on Clippers your daily Los Angeles Clippers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day e

Yes sir you are locking in with the clips thank you for making locked on Clippers the first listen of your day your team every day I’m your host Darren vizeri born and raised in LA and in my 19th season as a Clipper fan you can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram

@ dim dropper pod And subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper for even more LA Clipper content and locked on Clippers is free and available wherever you get your podcast including YouTube or I want you to let me know what you thought of Paul George’s performance do you have any concerns

About the game mean the Clippers got it done the small ball lineup I’m going to be talking about in this game is what helped us get it done and PG-13 was the standout for me and I got to give a shout out to Amir coffee because of the

Way he played as well but going to be talking about the game as a whole Clippers winning this one 112 to 106 extending their undefeated Mark when I do not attend games this season at or don’t attend 10 home games of course to 7 and0 it was my seventh Miss game of

The season Clippers with the win are now 20 and5 at home 35 and6 on the season which makes them 32 and9 in their last 41 games and 207 wins out of the last 33 the Clippers despite the fact that this was not a very straightforward win

They had to play hard till the very last quarter and it was not a blowout or anything of that nature they got it done and that’s all that matters at the end of the day you’ve got to find a way to get it done and the reason why this game was tough I

Mean I don’t know you could point it to a number of reasons one being the early start but I don’t like making excuses for that the youth and athleticism of the Detroit Pistons seemed to give us some problems particularly for the second time this season jayen Ivy who since Monty Williams has started

Empowering him and giving him the minutes that he deserves and put him in the starting lineup he has shown how good he can be and he was not you know able to be contained in this game he was getting to the basket at will and then Jaylen Duren was doing

A good job on the glass I just thought as a whole the Detroit Pistons played very well in this game in the first half they were shooting 44% from three now for the game they completely cooled down in that regard and shot 30% from three

For the game they went two for 14 from deep in the second half but that seven for 16 Mark they were in the first half and in addition to that the Clippers weren’t necessarily World beaters on offense I mean we shot 39% in the second quarter and the Pistons who outrebounded

Us on the offensive boards 14 to zero in the game had an 11 to nothing Advantage at that point at halftime in the offensive rebounding department so we just got completely outworked you look at the Pistons team you say okay is it because they have a lot of size because the

Clippers weakness is size in the front court but they were starting Mike McCalla at the four like assar Thompson I will say he is a fantastic young offensive rebounder but the fact that they got 14 off of rebounds to our zero I thought a lot of it and Mike forell

Even said it in commentary a lot of it was just effort you got to put up we play smaller lineups so we have to do a job individually the players have to do a job individually of boxing their guy out even if it’s not their guy for

Example if you get switched on to someone new and it’s not an ideal matchup for a rebound it doesn’t matter you need to gang rebound you need to at least box out and make the ref call something or make the guy grab it over your head this was just a simple oh with

The Pistons it’s early game I’m not feeling it you know it was that kind of vibe in my opinion now in this game Terren man started out guarding Kade Cunningham kawhai on assar Thompson zoo and Jaylen Duran were matched up against each other Harden on mcalla and on the

Other side Jaden ivy on James Harden yet again remember James Harden on the road trip when he played Detroit he shot one for 10 in the game assar guarded kawhai and Kade guarded PG of course both teams switching one through four and I thought it was interesting that you know Jaylen

Dur was in the high drop our bigs were in drop for the most part plumbley and Zoo’s always in drop for the most part plumbley was in drop as well we got no Tyson this game but what I thought was interesting was that the Clippers were targeting their guards more so than

Durren a couple of times Duren switched late you know he was in drop coverage he the Clippers didn’t get the ideal shot that we wanted and then he would switch on the perimeter to guard hard in or kawhai and he showed me that he could move his feet pretty well and he’s

Fairly agile on the perimeter now I probably need a bigger sample size to confirm that but from what I saw in this game that was the case and we weren’t really creating the advantages that I thought we were create that we probably expected to create putting the big in

The pick and roll like we always do like James Harden always is able to create so we started targeting their guards you know guys like Kade to guard Kawai and these kind of things and I mean we did score enough to win the game but it was

Not the smoothest thing in the world Kawai would get doubled in the post at times and I have to say I would double Kawai a lot in isolation or in the post if I were another team because it seems as though at times he takes a little too

Long to pass the ball when teams are loading up or doubling on him just an observation I think think he needs to do a better job swinging it quick but for the most part he’s good now what I thought took over this game because the Clippers we were up 3130 after one but

In the second quarter as I said we went ice cold and the Pistons outscored us 28- 18 in the second as I said we were shooting well but we were not hitting our threes while the Pistons were playing very well Jaden Ivy was able to get to the rim with no

Resistance uh Kade cunning was walking into jump shots we weren’t doing a great job getting back in transition so it was tough it was tough and James Harden in the first half especially in the second quarter I don’t know what he was doing he was just turning the ball over playing really

Lazy he couldn’t get by anyone in the first half he couldn’t even get by muscala and I have to say the last couple of weeks he has not been getting by guys the same way he did like in December I don’t know if I should be concerned about this but I’ve called it

Out for a couple of games now and he did have those great games against Miami and Atlanta but a lot of that was his three ball was just falling and I don’t want it to just be that if his step back isn’t falling he’s not going to be great

In what he does in the pick and roll and all that getting the step cuz if you get a good drop big that can potentially switch and then a good pick and roll point of attack Defender which you know that combination a lot of teams don’t have but the really

Good teams might and then we might be in trouble with Harden but again I’m hoping that the All-Star break gets him some Rejuvenation because even though he played a little better in that third quarter I mean let’s look at his line for the game 14 points six rebounds

Eight assists so he almost you know he almost got a double double but he had five turnovers five turnovers on four for 11 shooting two for eight from three four for four from the line in 36 minutes so just wasn’t a very good game for him I thought defensively had a

Couple of nice rotations but there were also some times where he was very lazy getting back second quarter it was just wild the one thing I will say is though it shocks me that he played 36 minutes because in the first quarter Harden came out with seven minutes to go in the

First so he really only played the first five minutes of the first when before Russ came in so I thought that was going to be an effort to play him less but it really wasn’t and if I look at his minutes distribution per quarter first quarter he played not even five 4

Minutes and 49 seconds second quarter he played 9 minutes and 47 seconds he was playing badly so they put Westbrook in then the third quarter he played 9 minutes and 39 seconds and then the fourth quarter he played the entire quarter as did Paul George and I got to

Say what turned the game around for us was the small ball Daniel Ty didn’t get minutes in this game uh no comment on that for now we might save that for for another episode but as I said it looks like plumbley is being preferred to Ty now now that zoos

Back I don’t think it was detrimental or anything like that but Mason plumbley didn’t even touch the floor in the second half we went with a small ball lineup and I don’t think it was cuz zoo was bad or getting killed in pick and roll but I think it was because he

Wanted to space them out a bit uh have a little bit of speed on the court scramble and not only make them cover ground defensively but also switch so we can make them play more isolation one-on-one basketball and we were up by 10 I’m sorry we’re down by 10

7262 with 4 minutes and 34 seconds in the third and then we had Russ Norm Kawai and then a combination of at first it was Harden then Amir then Terren all these guys one of those three with those with Amir I’m sorry one of those three

With Russ norm and Kawai to end that quarter and Kawai started getting going to end that quarter with eight points he cut it down to five he had a dunk an N1 and a three and for the rest of the game the Clippers were small Paul George was

Cooking in the fourth quarter we had James Harden out there Norman pal Amir coffee and Paul George and then Russ and then kawhai came in for him sadly Norman pal took a nasty hit he was gushing out blood he said he’ll be fine he’s a tough guy I’m hoping he’ll play

Against Minnesota and it’s nothing too serious but we went small the rest of the game I think it worked you know we stayed in front a little bit better got a little scrappier and then Paul George he really was unbelievable in this game two straight threes in the fourth

Quarter to put us up 107 to 94 which kind of sealed the deal but that small ball lineup really unlocked us I just think it was it shouldn’t have been this hard but at the end of the day it is what it is we got the job done James

Harden didn’t play well but Paul George did and coming up going to be talking more about Paul George what made his performance so special and what started turning the game around for the Clippers going to be talking about that coming up I got to tell you a little something about Linkin

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Channel now on Amazon Fire TV all right Clippers winning this one 112 to 106 on those dreaded afternoon weekend games at the Staple Center of course this is our last year so I don’t want to say enjoy it but you know enjoy the fact that it’s not

Going to last very long and we’re going into the in Dome next year and we’ll have priority with whatever we want to do schedule wise damn right but the Clippers got the job done and that’s the most important thing and they wouldn’t have been able to do it without Paul

George who has been struggling a bit of late so it was really great to see him just absolutely cook he was hooping in the second quarter and then those big shots in the fourth knocking down catch and shoot threes but also just in his bag one-on-one and he was great the

Entire game and I also thought he did a good job defensively bodying up fighting over screens and just being the Paul George that we know he can be on that end of the floor taking Pride guarding guys one-on-one and getting active getting the ball loose balls in this game

Offensively he had 33 points five rebounds three assists three steals so there you go that doesn’t mean you played a good defense though but I’m just saying it matched the ey test three steals just one turnover he really shot in this game and it was okay with me 14

For 24 from the field for PG 4 for 13 from three so he was 10 for 11 from two oh my God it just shows that PG doesn’t have to settle so much but I get it he’s shooting so well from three and he has so many different ways that

He can hit threes you encourage him to take it more for the math again I’ve always been Pro Paul George get to the basket get closer to the Bas B you really are a special talent but hey I’m not on the coaching staff I think a balance is necessary but he’s better

When he’s aggressive Point Blank end of story I’ve watched him now for five years he’s got he still has some bounce like that dunk he had in the second half I was like that actually made me jump out of my seat I was like you know he

Still has this stuff it’s all in his mind in my eyes everyone’s talking about the groin this the groin that is the groin still injured listen that groin it’s it’s a lingering injury it’s a groin injury it’s not going to just go away all of a sudden maybe in the all he

Made it to the all-star game so he won’t get that much rest but he will get some rest and the All-Star game’s coming up at the end of this week so we’ll see I’m hoping it’s healing which it probably is but I don’t think it’s that much

Different than the last game he played I think he was just better in this game so good for PG as far as the no big thing it’s not that I don’t trust Tyson plumbley but there are just going to be some times where is going to want to go

Small and it just comes down to everybody else doing their part as PG said after the game like she’s got to get Scrappy got to get physical and take pride and I think guys like Russell Westbrook are really good for that and Russ you know he started out the game

With a bad three in my opinion then a jump pass that ended up in a turnover passed out of the shot but overall I thought he was pretty good got to the Rim made some plays defensively had a buzzer beating three to end the second quarter which gave us a little bit of

Nice momentum going into that second half but I thought he was pretty good overall haven’t even seen a statline till right now 13 points three boards two assists and a steal just one turnover so it was on that pass out of the shot but he T took care of the ball

Otherwise which is great and he shot 50% from the field and three and he followed the rule he was one for two from three and he shot that third one and he hit it 5 for 10 from the field for Russ two for four from three in 28 minutes and he was

A plus 10 which was tied for the highest on the Clippers with Norman poell who I thought was very quiet in this game and then you couldn’t miss and when the blood was gushing out that looked bad but one of his quieter games he played 23 minutes and was just one for three

Didn’t get a three-point shot off or a free throw off two points so a rare very quiet game for Norm we played our regular ninan rotation but Mason plumbley played 12 minutes all in the first half he had six points and five rebounds on one for two shooting so he

Wasn’t bad in his minutes but again Tai saw what he saw he went small and it worked we outscored the Pistons 20 7 to 23 in the third but in the fourth it was our best quarter 36-25 and I haven’t mentioned anything really about Kawai so I’ll mention it

Now I thought he was pretty good again he was getting doubled here and there so he didn’t get as many shots off as Paul George he had some solid stretches in this game but there was a long and I want to see what he shot in that second

Quarter because it felt like he could not hit at that moment yeah 0 for three so there you go but in the game he was seven for 18 so not the best shooting night for him three for seven from three though and Seven for seven from the line

He finished with 24 points four rebounds five assists two steals three turnovers the Clippers turned the ball over 11 times he had three of them James Harden I’m sorry yeah 11 times he had three of them James Harden had five of them so between those two we had eight

Turnovers if it’s zubot he played 20 minutes he was a minus 11 but I think it was just that the Pistons starters were playing really well I actually thought he had some good moments in drop covers before he came out for the rest of the game in that third quarter he had six

Points five rebounds two blocks on two for three shooting in 20 minutes but yeah we did not play centers that much just 20 minutes for Zoo 12 minutes for Mason but again when you have contributors like Paul George playing at the way he was playing and then the guy

I’m going to talk about coming up in Amir coffee how well is he been playing going to be talking about him and looking ahead to the Minnesota game coming up I got to tell you a little something about Nissan are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little

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To 90 or 112 to 106 over the Detroit Pistons they are now 35 and 16 on the season through 51 games 20 and five at home and let me tell you some Kawhi Leonard’s played 47 of those 51 Paul Georg played 48 of those 51 Russell Westbrook’s played every single game

This season and James Harden has played 46 and I’m still knocking baby yeah let’s go I am just in Wonderland right now I guess you could say but just taking it one game out of time and appreciate seeing these boys play consistently for the first time in five

Freaking years consistently and I know that might be harsh about the 2020 and 2021 season I really don’t care when kawhai was doing load management or we were doing load management for him whatever you want to talk about with that conversation it was tough when you

Just knew during a backtack one of your stars wasn’t going to play this is different and I love it and it doesn’t matter if we have ugly wins we won and you know one of the guys that’s really been helping winning lately and has always helped winning when he’s gotten

The chance the brew master the fulger soldier Amir Cofe who has been vital in the small ball lineups of late his defense has been good and to be honest he might be having a better season than Terren and that’s no problem for me even though teren Mann is my favorite player

On the team there’s no problem if Amir coffee is having a better season than Terren they’re both Clippers that were drafted by the team and I love them both Amir 12 points one rebound uh one steal one block as I said active defensively as usual but the thing that’s been

Putting him over Terrance for me potentially this season is he’s been shooting the three ball with more confidence and he’s been hitting it two for five from three for air in this game three for eight from the field in 27 minutes and I thought one of the big

Sequences of the game was in the fourth quarter when we went small well we were small we hit air Amir coffee hit a three then we got a steal and Norm had that layup with his left hand to make it 9692 that was Norm’s only basket of the game

So after that happened I knew we were going to walk away or W I say walk away with it not run away with it because we didn’t run away with it they still made a little run at the end even after we went up 13 and cut it down 107 to 102

They went on an 80 run but we got the job done and that was important even with fono who was hot you know he had a good game let’s read some of the lines for Detroit honestly fonu had 20 points and it was his first game as a piston

And then Ivy had 23 and Cade had 22 points six Wards and 10 assists listen that guy’s good both of them are good but Kate is really good to me he’s a great pick and role player he’s starting to really get that jump shot that mid-range down so you can’t really go

Under the screen and in drop coverage you could kill he’s a good passer that can see over the defense at his size as far as Harden I thought he made some good passes but he wasn’t very good he made some good passes though and I think

He did he was much better in the second half let’s look at his second half stats compared to the first because second half he definitely contributed to the win second half he had 11 points three rebounds two assists one steal and one block on three for six shooting and

Turned the ball over twice so much better I mean that was basically almost all the good stuff that came from his stat line it was all in that second half because in the first half he had three points six assists and three turnovers on one for five shooting and all of his

Shots were threes so definitely performed better in the second half Paul George is really a standout but Amir coffee he has been really good you know attacking the basket attacking Closeouts knocking down the open three and playing D now the Monday game again I won’t be

There so you know what that means we got a good chance to win Minnesota Anthony Edwards this is a huge game for the standings huge it would be really nice to get a win here because we lost to them last time in Minnesota and it’s only our second time seeing these

Guys I’m really disappointed I won’t be there coaching exploits but anyway I think that the team is going to do do this and we need to do it let’s see how we combat their size I would like to see James Harden have a better game than Detroit and

Minnesota and hopefully Kawhi Leonard is the best part on the court and we’ll see if we go small against them I’m very curious to see how much small ball we go versus having Zoo anyway you follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Dime dropper pod subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper

For even more LA Clipper and LA Sports content and locked on Clippers is free available wherever you get your podcast let me know what you think give me some predictions for the Minnesota game and let me know what you thought of Paul George’s performance anything from the

Detroit game but Monday will be fun the ageel proverb continues go Clippers

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