Ballmer's Brunch Boys Even Series

Speaker 30s - 22.5s

For the ones who work hard to ensure their crew can always go the extra mile, and the ones who get in early, so everyone can go home on time. There's Granger PERSON, offering professional-grade supplies backed by product experts, so you can quickly and easily find what you need. Plus, you can count on access to a committed team ready to go the extra mile for you. Call, clickgranger.com ORG, or just stop by.

Speaker 122.94s - 25.32s

Granger PERSON, for the ones who get it done.

Speaker 325.32s - 38.24s

What is going on?

Speaker 138.34s - 41.86s

It's the Ethos Clippers podcast coming at you here Sunday evening.

Speaker 342.32s - 43.62s

Not for Los Angeles Clippers ORG.

Speaker 143.96s - 46.14s

Even up the series of two games

Speaker 546.14s - 61.56s

apiece without Kwai Leonard PERSON. Goodness gracious, was that a ballgame? I'm your host, Brandon Marcus PERSON, joined by my co-host. Matt Madd-Woran, back on the Ethos Clippers ORG podcast. Matt PERSON, how are you, my friend? It's Ethos Clipper Nation ORG.

Speaker 261.68s - 81.18s

Brandon Marcus PERSON, how the heck are you? You know, the roller coaster ride continues. Great ballgame, like you said, highs, lows, and what turns out to be just a fantastic win in the end, thanks to a few factors, which we're going to get into big time.

Speaker 581.18s - 183.06s

Yeah, man. So I was able to watch probably half the first quarter, put my kid to sleep, paused it, about halfway through the first, and then was able to catch up. And my kid literally slept for his nap from the start of when I came back to the TV to watch and catch up all the way into the final buzzer. And when the final buzzer sounded, he literally woke up like 10 seconds afterwards. So it was perfect timing. Shout out to my child for letting me watch the entire ball game.And I didn't even scream or yell. So I didn't wake up, wake him up. It was just he woke up on his own. And man, it seems like he did the opposite of what PG PERSON did. You know, PG was sleeping towards the end. And he was on fire to to start and James Hardin PERSON was very good at the start and then boy was he fantastic in that fourth quarter I don't even know where to start with this ball game because there's a lot of stuff to hit there's the Luca PERSON and foul trouble that he and Harding PERSON got into early on and how his defense was very poor there's the refereeingeing, which certainly played a role in this game, hence the foul of trouble.There's PG going nuclear in the first half and then just disappearing in the second half until one of the best shots that you'll see in a clutch situation. There's Hardin PERSON who just completely put the clippers on his shoulders at the end of the ball game. And of course, there's Kauai Leonard PERSON, who we predicted would probably not play if he was not healthy. And the Clippers ORG were somehow better off again without him.And you wonder where this series would be if the Clippers ORG would have held Kauai Leonard out for the first four games. But man, where do you want to start? Because there's a lot that we can hit.

Speaker 2183.92s - 188.3s

So definitely shout out to your kid for having the perfect timing.

Speaker 5188.48s - 188.76s

Yes.

Speaker 2188.88s - 214.52s

Shout out to my kid who is still unborn, perhaps waiting to the end of this series. I'm not quite sure. You know, but I did kiss my wife's belly and rubbed for good luck. So I think she had maybe a little bit to do with it too. I'm going to give the unborn kid a little bit of credit here. Where to start? You're right. There's so many places to go. I mean, that's, do you want to start at the beginning?

Speaker 5215.44s - 218.48s

What's that? Do you want to start at the beginning with the foul trouble and how, like,

Speaker 2218.6s - 223.42s

and PG PERSON just going nuts? I was going to, I was going to say let's, let's give the people what

Speaker 5223.42s - 245.26s

they want and start with PG. But yeah, let's do sort of a mix. we'll start from the beginning there okay so Paul George immediately gets the basket early and then goes goes absolutely nuclear from three he ends up making a three to make it 36 14 at one point six of nine three of five from downtown the clipper started O for five from field, 13 for the next 15 from the field.

Speaker 2245.38s - 252.34s

They made 13 out of 15 shots, absolutely nuclear. And Kwa, or rather, PG PERSON had more points

Speaker 5252.34s - 319.28s

after nine and a half minutes in this game than did all of last game. So you and I had a major back and forth. One of the major disagreements we've actually had on this podcast where I said that PG PERSON has to be one of my least favorite players because he has all of the skills in his locker. All of them. He is an absolute gifted score, but he will disappear. And it drives me insane.Hence the seven point performance last ball game. You don't see that from big time stars. And here he is, a guy who's going to try and get paid, and he just has not been showing up. But boy, oh boy, he showed up big time in the first half and was absolutely spectacular. At halftime, he had 26 points, a 9 of 14 shooting, 6 of 9 from downtown. Unbelievable performance, Matt. And he certainly needed it because Hardin got two foulsfour and a half minutes in. Zoo had two fouls in the first eight and a half minutes or so. And the clippers needed to rely on PG to do a lot of the scoring early on. And he really was

Speaker 2319.28s - 328.98s

fantastic. I mean, he was lava hot. You mentioned 26 points in the first half. He had as many points in the first quarter as the Mavericks ORG as a team, right?

Speaker 5329.06s - 330.48s

He matched them scoring.

Speaker 2330.64s - 376.06s

He was unbelievable. Open shots, contested shots, drawing and won, getting into the paint. He was so aggressive. And in the postgame interview, James Harden even mentioned, he was asked about Paul George's first half performance, and he said he was aggressive. And that's what Paul George said he was going to do at the beginning of the season. And what he did from time to time, but you're right, it hasn't been consistent.And you want to talk about the second half, that's when it wasn't consistent. But he was so nuclear in that first half that, of course, the Clippers ORG don't win this game if he doesn't have that type of performance and he hit like you said one of the most clutch three as you could imagine and I don't want to you can overlook theblock from behind he had on Kyrie PERSON too

Speaker 0376.06s - 382.12s

that Kyrie was also La Jolla PERSON Hot coming in after that second half and

Speaker 2382.12s - 409.44s

the second quarter third quarter fourth quarter but he had a block on kairi PERSON that was huge and a huge three you're right you're going to talk about how much he disappeared he's still not one of my least favorite players to watch he's one of my favorite still but that first half was unbelievable and the clippers obviously don't get this game without that performance well that's why he one of your favorite players, because he's capable of doing what he did in the first half.

Speaker 5409.54s - 585.04s

I mean, that was a hell of a performance, man. And what we've all been begging him is to shoot the three, because he's a very good three-point shooter. He was able to create for himself. He was hitting basically everything, contested jumpers. He was getting to his spots, and he was fantastic. And you have to give credit to him, and it's funny because I mentioned fouls.Well, his name wasn't there when I mentioned the guys that got into foul trouble early. And the reason why, because we were talking last game, how he's basically been averaging five fouls during this series, they came out before the game, and they said PG will not guard Luca and Kyrie due to his foul trouble issues because he just continues to struggle against those two guys. And the Clippers ORG changed up their defense. And it's funny because PG PERSON was able to just shoulder the load offensivelyand not need to work as hard offense, or rather defensively, in that first half. And it surely showed because he led the Clippers to a 31 point lead. I mean, shades of that first game where the Clippers built a huge lead and then Dallas ORG started to come back. Except this time, Dallas came all the way back and gave the Clippers ORG a huge fright, but they were able to come away with the win. So shout out to PG for an unbelievable first half. And now we'll go into the second half where he was absolutely a disappearing act. And you wonder, how is that possible?That is what drives me nuts about Paul George PERSON. He can be as good as he was in that first half. And you would think that he would be aggressive and want to continue going in that third quarter. He didn't take a freaking shot for like the first nine or ten minutes of that third quarter. And it just, you look at what happened.And in the third quarter, I believe these are the numbers. He had three fouls in that quarter, three turnovers in that third quarter, and three field goals attempted. That was courtesy of Law Murray, the NU on Twitter. Just what? How do you be as good as you were in that first half? And I get you're not going tocontinue to be as good. You're going to have regression to the mean. But this is an unbelievably terrible regression beyond regression to the mean. To have three fouls, three turnovers, only three field goals attempted, and the Clippers only scored five points in the final six minutes of the third quarter. And so as much praise as you want to give PG for that first half, Matt PERSON, you have to give him a ton of blame for that third quarter because in this situation, he is the number one guy.He is the dude that's supposed to carry you to a win. And he just completely went behind whatever you want to call it. He went behind the blinds, whatever. And he was a disappearing act. And that's what frustrated me about this game, is that he could be as good as he

Speaker 2585.04s - 737.14s

was in that first half and then just disappear. I mean, I don't think Houdini PERSON is famous for disappearing. I think it's getting out of messes, but I can't think of another magician. David Blaine PERSON, whatever disappearing artist is. I can't think of a magician who's famous for disappearing, but that's kind of what he was doing, and you're right. You know, we were texting back and forth, and you were obviously lamenting about how can a guy who played this well and was this aggressive in the first half disappear like this. And I said he needs to demand the ball and just to, you know, he's got to force the issue at times. And that's what you do as a superstar.But to be fair, because we're going to get into James Hardin, how brilliant he was in the fourth quarter. I got news for you. Paul George outscored James Hardin in the third quarter because Hardin had no points on one field goal attempt, if I'm reading my numbers correctly. So it's not as if in the third quarter anybody for the Clippers ORG really played all that well. They only had 16 points as a team, the same amount that Paul George had in the first quarter. So it's crazy that he'll disappear like that,but it sort of was the old third quarter malaise that the Clippers ORG can fall prey to. So yes, he deserves blame for the third quarter and for the fourth quarter as well, except, you know, he had some huge plays, like we superstars do and that's how you that's how you win games and we always say the reason you get james hardin is if one of paul george or kawai get hurt which is often happens and kauai is now hurt then you have another superstar like james harden to step up which he did and so Paul George PERSON, you know, you have that safety blanket for the clippers. But as much as we would like to focus on Paul George's propensity to sort of disappear, you got to look at what in the first half. He's got to realize, and you know he will, that there's no way that he can perform.You can't have this check on height of the first half. You're absolutely amazing. The second half, you have a couple of plays, but you disappear. He'll realize that we're not going to be the only two to talk about it.Tyloos PERSON hopefully should get in his ear, his teammates, his people, his podcast, partners. Paul PERSON, you got to play like this for the entire game. And that he was able to play that way, that he has it in him, should actually make us pretty optimistic about the series moving forward, especially now that home court advantage is back on the clipper side.

Speaker 5737.7s - 880s

Yeah, and listen, it's as much as we want to blame Paul George PERSON. I mean, you got to blame Tyloo as well, because it's up to the head coach to get your star player looks, design plays for him, and he clearly wasn't doing good enough job. But listen, the Clippers wouldn't have been in this spot without that incredible first half. And then it's funny because Paul George PERSON could have easily been the goat. I mean, it could have been the guy you blamed in the fourth quarter because the Clippers led 104-100. And Zoo ORG comes out of the ball game, which, by the way, I mean, I don't want completely go past this because we have so much to talk about. But Ty Lou PERSON nearly cost the Clippersthe series there. I mean, how many times have we talked about how Zoo ORG continues to come out of the game in big spots unnecessarily? When the clippers have a lead. Yeah, unnecessarily. When you have the lead, you want to have your best defense out there. And he has this thing where he wants to have guys that can switch to defend the perimeter.But the issue is, you need to actually get rebounds as well. So he has Zuck PERSON come out of the game, and what happens? Kairi hits a three over Paul George where Paul George PERSON has got to know how much time is on the shot clock and he has got to come out and contest that shot by Kyrie PERSON.Because he didn't. Kairi drains the triple, makes it a one point game and then Kyrie PERSON gets a shot at the rim with three guys there that he's able to make and guess who one of the three guys was not. Evita Zubats PERSON.He needs to be in that ball game because guess what? Kyrie does not do that if Zhu PERSON is at the rim. And so you need to have Zhu PERSON in the game late for rebounding and interior defense. And it nearly cost the clippers. But then, Zhu PERSON comes back in. PG, it's that ridiculous three.So PG is to blame for that Kyrie PERSON triple. I mean, Kyrie shot it from way downtown, but PG has got to contest it. But to hit that three in the corner where J.J. Reddick, an absolute sharp shooter, even he was really impressed by that shot that was basically behind the backboard when he got rid of it. To hit that three, and then for Hardin to get the N1 to go up 110.10,.10.10. That was all she wrote. So Paul George PERSON was terrible in the second half, but he hit the shot that mattered. And the Clippers ORG would not have been where they were tonight, or rather this afternoon, without Paul George PERSON. So shout out to him, but a very bizarre sequence at the end of the ball game. Very bizarre. And I do want to mention,

Speaker 2880.1s - 920.96s

and you're right about that one Kauai 3, but I just want to reiterate the block that he had from behind, if you remember when Kyrie PERSON was on fire, and who knows, maybe that could have swung the game in any other direction. So he also did have a stellar defensive play as one block of the game was huge. Also had four steals. And you mentioned JJ Reddick being impressed by the three.That's the news to me because I had the... I mentioned to you at halftime that the announcing crew was just annoying me, pissing me off. So I put it on mute. My wife, by the way, and I'm sure my unborn daughter, they think that I am crazy because I watched the entire second half on mute.

Speaker 1921.38s - 932.2s

The only sound in the room was the sound of the fan going and me making noises and cursing. But I didn't have the sound on for one second of the second half. And it must

Speaker 2932.2s - 942.12s

have looked really strange. And there's somebody knocking at my door, probably some kids in the building. But it was super, I was here in complete silence watching that second half. It was very

Speaker 5942.12s - 985.16s

bizarre. Yeah, it's, I get what you're saying about the crew. They continue to, continue to talk about that 31 point lead. And it's one of those things where as a broadcasting crew, you have people coming into the game at different points. So you kind of need to tell the story of the ball game. And at this point, the story of the ball game was the clippers blowing the lead. And so I get why they continued to mention it. That was obviously a big gripe that you had with Mike Breen PERSON and how they continue to talk about it.But it really was a story of the game. I mean, if I was broadcasting a game like that and the Clippers blew a 31 point lead and all of a sudden it was a couple of possession game, you got to keep mentioning it. So I understand your gripe with them, but whatever. Luckily, the Clippers ORG were able to win the ballgame.

Speaker 2985.7s - 1001.72s

And it was, it was just a gripe at the moment. And then the reason I left, I left, it was more superstition than anything that I left the sound off. I was like, you know, if I turn the sound on, they might lose the game. So I just, I just kept it off and I guess I was better for it.

Speaker 51001.72s - 1178.66s

Yeah. Listen, the Clippers ORG ended up winning, so it's fine. All right. Let's talk about James because you and I spoke about this when the trade happened. And you know how in favor of the trade I was. And I said, you have got to do this trade because PG and Kauai PERSON just don't stay healthy. And I said the Clippers don't have a chance anyways to win at all if they don't have all three healthy. But you really don't have a chance if one of those guys goes down and you don't have a third player. And so they trade for James Hardinand he just raises the ability to get wins when one of your stars is out. So here we are. Kauai is out with the inflammation in his knee and Hardin was very good in that first half and unbelievable in the second half. I mean, you look at in the first half, he had 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting, 4 of 4 from downtown. It's funny because you made a big point to talk about how upset you were with how many minutes he was playing and how you thought he might get worse during the series because of how tired he was. Man, that was not the case today. Goodness gracious, he was tremendousnot only in the first half, but in the second half as well. And yes, he did not do anything in that third quarter, and that's part of the reason why Dallas ORG came back. But vintage hardened, man, it's funny because because he does that step back three so often on the perimeter, defenders don't know how to guard him because they think that every time he starts to go towards the paint, he's going to take a couple steps back and fire a three. So they have got to kind of stay with him on the perimeter.But when he decides to actually go towards the cup, those guys are so late because they think he's going to stay on the perimeter. He blows past him, and the rotation is is slow and he gets those floaters. And he was just absolutely sensational. There was a stat I saw from Tim McMahon PERSON about his floaters. And here it is.So, James Hardin, today in the clutch, Tim McMahon, 13 points, 5 of 6 from the field, every field goal attempt was a floater. Harden by shot today, Ong-Young-Mas-Uk PERSON. Floater, 5 of 6, step back, 5 of 5. Drive 1 of 3, pull-up 1-3.Those first two are really important. Step-back, 5-5. Because he was so good with the step-back, you up one of three. Those first two are really important. Step back five of five. Because he was so good with the step back, you had to honor that. And that opened up the floater game and allowed him to just thrive in that fourth quarter. So the guy that was one of four on floaters through the first three games of the series, ends up with five for six all in the fourth quarter.So shout out for James Hardin, doing what he need to do to get the Clippers ORG the win. But the floater thing is certainly interesting, but it's because he was able to hit so many of those threes. If he wasn't hanging those threes earlier in the game, I don't think that opens up the floater game latein the fourth quarter, but it did, and the Clippers were able to thrive.

Speaker 21179.66s - 1326.48s

I mean, he's, you're right, and the beard, he's one of the greatest offensive players of all time. Sometimes we forget that because he's a little bit older of course i was concerned with the minutes i will always be concerned with a guy like harden playing over 40 minutes but he did obviously very well in those minutes today and you know i was thinking about it i was trying to come up with something like and something where like paul george paul george's PERSON gamebut par george had a floater in game three, but the floater from James Harden wins the game in game four. It's a little vulgar. Or like this is the modest mouse game, we'll all float on. I was trying to think about it because the floater was so apparent that that was just killing the Mavericks ORG.And you're right. The instinct to know how to do that is just that speaks to James Harden as one of the greatest offensive players we've had in the last couple of decades. And if that three is not going, then you're right. But you're going to have to respect James Hardin PERSON from behind the line anyway just because of his body of work. And it reminds me a lot. I mean, he gets compared to Luca a lot, or the two of them get compared together because of, you know, they're so heliocentric in their play.There's a lot of ISO, the step back and all this stuff. And you see Harden, or excuse me, Luca PERSON going into the paint quite a bit as well. And it's because you do, you do have to respect that three. So there's a lot of similarities between the two of them, but he was so, so clutch down the stretch in that fourth quarter. You know, like we said, you don't win the game if Paul George doesn't have that first half,and you don't win the game, obviously, if James Hardin doesn't have that fourth quarter. So for all the bemoaning about how the clippers came out of the gate after the James Hardin PERSON trade, and then the chemistry that he had was Zoo and just galvanizing the team and getting them together on that big run they went with, at the end of the day, like you said, the main reason that you trade for James Hardin PERSON is because he is this offensive force, and he is that next guy up, if one of the other two superstars, if one of 2-1-3 goes down, and obviously this year it's Kauai PERSON.So kudos to him. And, yeah, I have no problem with the minutes tonight, obviously. All right, let's talk a little bit more about this game, but first let's take a quick break.

Speaker 51330.52s - 1334.28s

For the ones who work hard to ensure their crew can always go the extra mile,

Speaker 21334.72s - 1338.04s

and the ones who get in early, so everyone can go home on time.

Speaker 31338.46s - 1350.28s

There's Granger PERSON, offering professional grade supplies backed by product experts, so you can quickly and easily find what you need. Plus, you can count on access to a committed team ready to go the extra mile for you.

Speaker 11355.44s - 1360.06s

Call, clickgranger.com, or just stop by. Granger PERSON, for the ones who get it done.

Speaker 31365.34s - 1365.42s

All right, so obviously, I mean, the minutes, you look at his minutes today, by the way,

Speaker 11368.6s - 1369.06s

and we're going to talk about a certain Terrence man in a second in his minutes.

Speaker 31374.14s - 1374.24s

James Harden played 40 minutes, and 40 minutes and one second, to be exact.

Speaker 11378.88s - 1379.02s

And this is actually the second most minutes he's, or second fewest minutes he's played in this series,

Speaker 51382.86s - 1462.2s

third most, whatever you want to look at it as, well, you want a glass half full or glass half empty. He was at 4355 last game, which is crazy considering how bad the clippers were. Forty-153 in game two, 39-26 in game one. So 40 minutes, 33 points, 12 of 17 from the field, 4-5 from downtown. And it's funny because he was four or five. He didn't hit a three in the second half. Six rebounds, seven assists to steal in a block. So he was really, really good. And yeah, man, he certainly is the reason why you're able to win a game one series, because you trade for a guy likeJames Harden. And as pessimistic as I was after game three, you certainly have the blueprint of how you beat Dallas. And it's very good shooting. I mean, the Clippers, I think, hit, what, 18 threes today? And they hit 18 threes in game one as well. And that's how you win. I mean, you got to get hot from three because this is a team that is not a great just jump shooting team. You have a couple of guys that can, but with no Kauai Leonard PERSON, it's more just you dumpdown low as zoo or you shoot threes with Hardin, P.G, Norm PERSON, team, man. So you've got to be good from three. And the Clippers ORG were able to get to the cup today, get a couple of easy baskets. And what that did is that open up the spray game. And the Clippers were able to kick it out. I mean, there was one play that I remember vividly when Terrence Mann PERSON drove to the cup. He got caught in the air and you're like, oh, no,

Speaker 01462.52s - 1478.5s

kicked it out to an open shooter for a three ball. I think it was PG. It's just one of, that's the type of play that wins you games, is that you're able to get to the cup, you collapse the defense, you pass out to an open guy. And in this case, it was PG and the Clippers ORG were able to win that game because they're able

Speaker 51478.5s - 1546.04s

to be so good from downtown. And that's going to be the key going forward. The Clippers ORG are going to have to take a ton of threes, and that's today's modern NBA ORG, is that you have to be good from three-point range, and I feel like that's the blueprint. You do that, plus you lock in defensively, and you have success. And it's funny because I mentioned Luca Donchichand how terrible he was defensively. I think Joey Lynn posted that the Clippers were 10 of 15 when defended by Luca PERSON. So all this talk about how good Luca was defensively after game two, and he picked up two early fouls, which did not help the cause, because he was basically a revolving door at that point,because he didn't want to pick up his third foul in the first half, and that helped the Clippers ORG get to that huge lead. But he was a guy that just didn't really impress defensively. He was whining after every single basket on the offensive end or every single miss. He thought he was fouled. He is just unbelievable and unbearable to watch. But listen, the Clippers ORG were able to take advantage of a guyin Lucca on the perimeter, and that's how you win. You take advantage of the poor basketball players defensively, and you make threes. And I think that's kind of what the Clippers ORG need to do going forward.

Speaker 21547.78s - 1700.9s

So, yeah, you talked about a lot, and a few things. We'll start with the threes, and that definitely is the reason that the Clippers ORG won this game. They made 18 to 11 three-pointers, so that's in favor of the Clippers ORG. So they would have lost because the Mavericks ORG pretty much played them even or had them beat on all other statistics. Like you look at points in the paint, it's negligible. The clippers only won by four and they won the game by five.Okay, so I guess that makes sense. But fast break points, dead even. Points off of turnovers, Dallas scored 23 to 12. So they killed them off the turnovers. It was 17. And then the clippers even had less turnovers,but Dallas ORG scored way more off the turnovers. All the other blocks, assists. I mean, everything is kind of dead even if you look at this, except for offensive rebounds where the Dallas had 14 to 5, so they killed them on the offensive glass. But were it not for that three-point barrage, and especially in the first half, the Clippers lose this game. So being hot from downtown, and it it not for that three-point barrage, and especially in the first half,the clippers lose this game. So being hot from downtown, and it's not just PG PERSON, who was killer, but like you said, it was hardened, but it's also Norm who hit three three-pointers. T-man had three-of-a-zone. So the three-point shot really got them going. Westbrook even got in the mix and had a three-pointer. Really got them going Westbrook even got in the mix and had a three-pointer So that was really the thing that the great shooting from beyond the arc I mean look you shoot 62% you make 18 of them you got a good chance of winning And then you and then you talked about how you were pessimistic about this gameBut you also called Balmer's ORG brunch boys how about the matinee miracles that we've been having lately? You said it's, maybe kind of in jest, but they win the two matinee games. How unclipper-like is that? So this series is all over the place,roller coaster ride, but they win both afternoon games, which is great. And we'll see what happens moving forward. But T-Man, like you mentioned him as well, and I just said he had three-three-pointers. So Paul George being taken off of Luca means T-Man PERSON needs to guard him more, and that meanshe's playing 35 minutes as compared to what was 21 or whatever he played in a previous game. Him on the floor and just him defensively and his energy, like we've mentioned a million times before, so happy to see him get those minutes. And of course, Kauai PERSON being out has something to do with that as well. But I thought Team Man ORG, despite the box score,might not tell the story, but he was phenomenal, I thought.

Speaker 51701.5s - 1701.92s

Unbelievable.

Speaker 21702.38s - 1705.02s

He was outstanding defensively.

Speaker 51705.3s - 1811.76s

And it's funny because at halftime, I tweeted this. After playing just under 39 minutes in a game one win, team A went on to play 20 minutes and 42 seconds in game two and 22 minutes and 46 seconds in game three. He was at 2149 in the first half. Okay? He had one less minute in the first half of game four than he had in all of game three. He played more in the first half of game four than he played in all of game two. It's not a surprise. The clippers were good. Team Anns ORG defenseis very important in this series against Luca and Kyrie. Cairo did not score for the first quarter and a half. Luca PERSON has not been shooting well at all. Luca today was 10 of 24. Last game, Luca was 7 of 25, 11 of 26 in the first two games of the series. He has not been shooting well. He's not been going nuclear like he did the last couple of times these two teams played in the postseason.Team Ann is very important what the Clippers ORG do. His plus minus was only a plus four and a five point win, and he didn't do a whole lot offensively. He had a couple of huge threes, though. He was three of six from downtown and continues to be an amazing three-point shooter in the postseason. But man, his defense is so critical in this series. And it's funny because this is where Kauai PERSON playing hurts theclippers because you limit a guy like team man's ORG minutes. Team man playing is critical because of the defense and what he can do is a three-point shooter as well. Whereas Kauai wasn't hitting a single three, team man can't hit those threes. And so that is why you see the clippers have success in game one and game four is because team man's defense and the ability to contribute on the offense event and i i i know that lucca PERSON is so

Speaker 21811.76s - 1878.14s

annoying to watch in his complaining and is and you know every play is a you know he's he's been murdered on the floor but i love team man on him because for some reason and this has gone back years and years and years team man just i mean of course he gets in his shorts and he he plays him really well but he also just pisses Luca PERSON off and I like seeing a frustrated red-faced Luca PERSON rather than a confident I'm gonna take every shot Luca like there was he he he got that tea it was you know he maybe could have had one or two more but he's justbarking at the refs and he just gets really frustrated. And I think, of course, that benefits the Clippers if he's not playing to his maximum level. But so a couple of things to get into then after Team Man ORG. You mentioned Kauai PERSON. We should probably just talk about Kauai PERSON a little bit,and what we think is going to happen moving forward, if the clippers are better served for him just sitting and then also mentioning Luca PERSON and his red-faced crying to the refs you mentioned the refereeing earlier too something else we can get into

Speaker 51878.14s - 1978.36s

yep those are the last two things I want to talk about so you you hit the nail on the head there let's hit on Kauai PERSON I don't think we see him again in this series. I'd be very surprised if all of a sudden he's able to get that inflammation down to the point where he's able to cut the way he wants to cut and be confident in landing after a dunk, which apparently has not been the case. The Clippers, this series, maybe if it goes like seven, maybe we see him. The spacing has been somewhat kind in that the next game is not obviously until Wednesday, and then the following game is on Friday.I find it very hard to believe that he'll suddenly be ready to go on Wednesday, and if that's the case, then I don't believe he'll be able to go again on Friday because it's a couple days after, because it's my theory again. If he's not ready to go Wednesday, why would he be ready to go again on Friday because it's a couple days after because it's my theory again. If he's not ready to go Wednesday, why would he be ready to go on Friday? So I would be very surprised if we see Kauai Leonard again this series. And frankly, the Clippers ORG are probably better off for it. If they lose because he hasn't come back, that's fine. But they need a fullyhealthy Kauai Leonard PERSON in order to have a shot at winning the title. And that's why you do this, Matt, is that you want to win the title. And if you bring back Kauai PERSON, and he again is not completely healthy, and he has another setback, then you're screwed. And so you're better off trying to win this without him. If you do, great. If you don't, then it's what it is. And the clippers just have bad luck again. But you have to try and win this series without him because then you can incorporate him hopefully in a series two or rather a round twoseries and that's where you have a shot to go ahead and try and win the whole thing so that's where i stand on is i don't think we see him again for this series what about you

Speaker 21978.36s - 2092.02s

i don't think there's any chance you see him for the series and i wonder if now because we mentioned this before you know if kawai wants to play then it's hard chance you see him for the series. And I wonder if now, because we mentioned this before, you know, if Kauai PERSON wants to play, then it's hard not to play him. But I think after those two games, games two and games three, I think that decision may have now actually been taking taken out of his huge hands. I think now the team, Tyloo, Lawrence Frank, and the rest of the crew realized, look, this is just for the good of the team, because how many times did they mention how tentative he was, even landing after a dunk he was concerned. So there's no reason to play him for the rest of this game.Like he said, T-Man on Luca, on White Claw, but when he gets mad Red Claw, Red Face face claw, you can win this series without Kauai PERSON, but moving forward to face possibly an OKC and then ultimately you would think a Denver GPE in the conference finals, you're right, that's when Kauai PERSON is going to be necessary to win that. So to see Kauai PERSON for the rest of the series, I think, is incredibly unlikely. Rehab the knee.See if he can get up to 100% because, you know, and I was probably wrong just saying, if Kauai PERSON can play, you have to play him. Maybe that's not the case. I was probably wrong on that because it was proven today and it was probably proven in game two and three when he did play. It can be a detractor as you know, turns out. So I don't think we see him as much as we as Clippers ORG fans are desperate to see aKauai, a fully healthy Kauai Leonard PERSON on the floor. It's just not what we're going to get, especially like you said, in two days, or three days from now, and then a couple of days after that, I don't see it happening either.

Speaker 52092.32s - 2100.14s

Yeah, and listen, Lawrence Frank said before the game that Leonard's not dealing with an acute injury and that Leonard believes...

Speaker 22100.14s - 2113.34s

It's definitely not cute. And that Leonard's very frustrated and that every movement was very restricted. And it boggles my mind because you bring up a really good point that the decision has been taken out of his hands.

Speaker 52113.56s - 2160.62s

For a training staff that has been so cautious with Kauai Leonard the last several years, so weird that after they go up one game to none, they decide that's the time that they want to bring him back. Why don't you at least go one more game and give the Clippers ORG a chance to maybe go up to a without him and give him even more rest and see how it kind of goes game by game. There was no reason to bring him back for game two after you stole game one. If it's one one, so be it.And that's what it end up being. I just don't understand why a training staff that was so cautious, let Kauai PERSON make the decision that he can come back when he clearly wasn't 100%. And he actively hurt the clippers for two games in a row. It's just a decision that truly makes no sense to me.

Speaker 22161.44s - 2203.12s

Right. You're like Operation Ivy. Caution is a word that you can't understand. C-A-U-T-I-O-N is a word you cannot understand. But was it the training staff's decision or is it going back to that Kauai PERSON said, I'd like to play and they bend to the will. I don't really know. But it seems like that's what I'm saying. I think the decision was in his hands. And as much as the clippers want to say, we're going to do what the medical staff says, I think Kauai PERSON's a little more pull or a little more say than maybe we might think. And that's just me. I mean, I have nothing to prove that, but I think that might be the case. Yeah. So we'll see what happens.

Speaker 52203.34s - 2250.84s

But yeah, I don't expect to see him back. And by the way, if he does come back, he won't be 100%. And I think that he may be actively hurting the clippers again if he does come back. So we'll see what happens the rest of the series. That's our prediction on Kauai PERSON. Now, the final thing we want to talk about, and you and I actually don't talk about this at all on this podcast. And so credit to us for not being those fans that blame refs because I just don't see the refereeing is usually a big problem. But in this game, man, you look in that third quarterwhere PG and Zhu PERSON were both clearly fouled, especially Zhu, where he was hacked going up and they were able to challenge and the ball went off of him, even though he's clearly fouled, that was just nuts to me.

Speaker 22250.96s - 2253.5s

Hacked in the arm, swiped in the arm so clearly.

Speaker 52253.96s - 2305.02s

That's how you go on a run, is that you get those types of calls. And so between those two no calls, and then Hardin and Mann PERSON, both get four fouls with four minutes left in the third quarter, and then Zhu picks up his fourth foul.It's like what is going on? The refs had some sort of motive to limit the most important players for the clippers. Harden, man, Zhu, all pick up four fouls. And all of a sudden, the clippers were in big trouble because those guys may have stayed on the floor, but it limits what they're able to do. So I thought the referee was really bad in this ball game. And it luckilydidn't hurt the clippers, but it was a major problem throughout. And I thought it was on both sides. And the first half, if you're a Dallas ORG fan, you could make the case that something was not going your way. But they were really bad in the third quarter towards the clippers. I mean, you mentioned, you tweeted this out. And I just agreed with, Zoo gets. not going your way, but they were really bad in the third quarter towards the clippers.

Speaker 22308.3s - 2364.54s

I mean, you tweeted this out, and I just agreed with, Zoo ORG gets one of the worst whistles just kind of across the board, and you're right, we don't talk about it all that often because, I mean, how often does refereeing really decide games? And it really did it in this game, to be perfectly honest with you. But you have to mention it because, man, it was, it was a strange showing. There were, there were fouls that weren't called. There were strange fouls that werecalled. And you're right on both ends, but to talk just on the Clippers ORG side of it, because this is indeed a Clippers podcast, that one challenge where they, they were reversed possession, even though Zew ORG clearly slapped on the arm. I mean, that was crazy. Yeah, Harden at four. Team Man had four.I mean, you look across the board. The only one you can kind of look on the box score and be like, yeah, I get it. Is that Plumley had five? You're like, okay, well. And by the way, Plumley, who we didn't mention, he was actually kind of exceptional in his 14 minutes.

Speaker 02364.84s - 2370.2s

I thought he had some great plays. So we shouldn't leave Plumdog Millionaire WORK_OF_ART off the ledger here.

Speaker 22370.4s - 2384.92s

But the riffing was just, it was bizarre. And ultimately, I don't know if it really swayed the game one way or the other. But the point is that maybe it could have. I don't think it did, but it could have.

Speaker 52385.48s - 2389.12s

Yeah, a couple huge plays from Plumley in that fourth quarter to help the Clippers ORG get

Speaker 22389.12s - 2390.14s

that lead back to 11.

Speaker 52390.32s - 2393.64s

And it's funny because you just said that it could have made a difference.

Speaker 22394.08s - 2398.36s

Well, it really could have made a difference when Dallas made it 71.

Speaker 52398.8s - 2467.4s

And then T. Liu challenged a foul on Paul George when P.J. Washington PERSON swung his elbow into him and they called PG for the foul. T. Liu PERSON ends up winning that challenge. It was ruled an offensive foul, and team man hits a three to make it 74-61. If for some reason that didn't get overturned, Dallas all of a sudden could cut it to seven or eight, then this could be a totally different outcome.But because Ty Lou challenged that play, which was a very bad call in the first place, when PG got elbowed straight into the chops by PJ Washington, rolled an offensive foul, and then the other way Terrence Mann had a three. So that could have been a five or six point swing. And so a big time challenge there by Ty Lou PERSON that had a huge impact in the game. And that's where the refs almost cost the clippers. But luckily, Ty Lou PERSON was smart enough to challenge that play.And it could have been the difference, Matt PERSON, but luckily it did not. And we're sitting here talking about the refereeing and how poor things went. I mean, Dallas fans could have a gripe that Ty Lou, or not Tai Lu, that Luca PERSON had a couple of fouls early on, even though Luca does commit fouls, but yeah, the refereeing was not good.

Speaker 22468.26s - 2482.14s

And just so quickly, is there any reason, and you definitely believe this because he tweeted out, why does Zoo ORG just get such a, they swallow the whistle? I mean, time and time again, not just in this series, but throughout the season and

Speaker 52482.14s - 2484.34s

kind of throughout his Clippers ORG career.

Speaker 22484.6s - 2488.72s

I'm glad you asked, and it's funny because as someone that broadcasts basketball,

Speaker 52489.42s - 2519.68s

I'm a little bit closer to the floor, obviously, because I'm courtside for these games, and you hear what coaches are saying. It's very hard to referee big men. And if you're an NBA ORG ref, that's not an excuse. Just because a guy is big, you cannot have guys get away with destroying them in the paint. Like, you looked the other day and you saw Zhu backing down at Gaffer. Those two guys are going back. I mean, you're backing down,

Speaker 02519.78s - 2523.58s

backing down. It's just two big guys going. Yeah, two big guys banging down low. Like,

Speaker 52523.58s - 2584.22s

they're doing it to each other. But in this case, like, if Zoo ORG's going up and he gets hacked, like, for some reason, referees think it's a lot harder because they're bigger dudes. They think that for some reason, they don't need to call certain plays because the guy got more of the ball or that he, for some reason, he, the physicalnessness went both ways it's just one of those things where it's very hard to referee big men and sometimes you call fouls on big men when they're not fouls because you think that you know what that's you know what it's a bigger guy and he was went into a smaller guy and it's like it's not a foul it's just he played defense but the other way it's like you get hacked and for some reason it doesn't get called. So it is much tougher to referee big men.And that, listen, Shaq PERSON used to get hacked all the time. Granted, Shaqs PERSON are bigger dude. But nonetheless, it happens with Ambide PERSON too. Even though he goes to the free throw line a lot, it's just, it's a lot hard to referee big men. And that's the story of that one.

Speaker 22585.72s - 2644.82s

Yeah, it's crazy. It's like you get penalized just for your size, really. Either you get the benefit of the doubt or you don't. You're right. I mean, Embed PERSON lives at the line. Like, if Embed were to be healthy for a full season,he would rival the Joker PERSON and now, of course, Wembe Njama, for the number one pick and fantasy because he's so good at the line and he goes like 12 times a game. I mean, it's crazy how much he goes to the line and Zhu went twice tonight. Not that he's, not that he's Embed, I'm not comparing the two, but I'm just saying. So, yeah, it's wild, and that's a great perspective. I'm glad.I'm glad you're able to elaborate on that because it's interesting to know. And it does make sense that refs would have trouble sort of officiating these bigger guys and what to do. But you can't just swallow the whistle all the time.

Speaker 52645.04s - 2698.62s

Yeah. Listen, we're almost, we're 43 minutes in, but there can't just swallow the whistle all the time. Yeah. Listen, we're almost, we're 43 minutes in, but there's one last thing I want to hit on, and we can do it very quickly. Where are you right now on how much Russell Westbrook PERSON should be playing? Because as much as he can be an impact player on the defensive end, he is actively hurting the clippers on the offensive end.He was, what, 0 for 7 last game, two for eight today. His misjumpers basically are turnovers that are live ball turnovers that result in baskets the other way. It just seems like an out of control nature is something the clippers can't have in a series like this. I mean, if you're down and you need someone to change the tempo, I get it.But, man, he was not good at all again today. And there's got to be something where his minutes start to get limited if he's hurting the Clippers ORG. Because 22 minutes is a lot to give a guy that is right now making the Clippers play five on four on offense because

Speaker 22698.62s - 2772.76s

of his inability to hit a shot. I think he's in a, and I'm, I will defend Russell Westbrook PERSON. Obviously, you know this at this point until the day I die, but I think he's in a, and I'm, I will defend Russell Westbrook, obviously. You know this, at this point until the day I die, but I think he's like a high teens guy at this point because you're right. On offense, there is nothing happening. And he had, you know, he misses the free throws and then he gets that steel and it doesn't really turn into anything. And so great, he does bring some great energy off the bench i think it's going to it's really going to be entirely his court here to figure out when the injection of energy is needed because that'swhat russell westbrook is bringing some defense a little some rebounding of course but there's nothing there's going to be nothing on offense so if the clippers look a little stagnant if you need an injection of energy if it's iso ISO ISO like you and I alwaysalways hate and it's my turn my turn or something like that and you need to get the you need to get the juice going maybe you get Russell Westberg PERSON in there at that point but if you have the lead if you need you can't depend on him as an offensive player right now.It's just not happening in this series. So I think he's going to be sort of an energizer bunny kind of guy.

Speaker 52773.14s - 2775.64s

And that's what his role needs to be moving forward.

Speaker 22776.28s - 2776.48s

Yeah.

Speaker 52776.78s - 2781.84s

It's just you can't have this in the postseason where everything is so large.

Speaker 22781.84s - 2785.16s

Every series, I mean, every minute, every quarter. Every second, every play. It's like everything, everything is so large, every series, I mean, every minute, every quarter.

Speaker 52785.22s - 2786.18s

Every second, every play.

Speaker 22786.42s - 2788.8s

It's like everything, everything is boiling down.

Speaker 52788.96s - 2791.52s

I mean, like, you know, we're clenched on all of this.

Speaker 22791.52s - 2796.68s

And you're right. What do you think his role should be moving forward?

Speaker 52796.84s - 2849.74s

Yeah, I tend to agree. I think that you just need to limit him into the role of being a huge help defensively, and if Hardin PERSON's going to play big minutes, I just don't think there's a need to have those two guys on the floor a whole lot. So I'll be curious to see if the clippers do expand the rotation, maybe bring in Bones Highland PERSON.Probably not. I feel like the clippers are going to stick with this eight, but certainly watching Westbrook PERSON will be key, because if he can't shoot the basketball, like he basically has a quarter and a half to figure it out. If he doesn't, then you've got to ride the pine because you can't limit the clippers'offense. And as good as the clippers were in the first half, he certainly hurt them a lot in that second half with stupid turnovers and just dumb fouls and big misses that lead to shots on the other end. So we'll see what ends up happening with him. Anywho, that will do it here for this podcast. I have a review to read, though, before we say goodbye.

Speaker 22850.34s - 2853.54s

It's from Kyle M-4711.

Speaker 52853.98s - 2892.8s

That said, Great Clippers Podcast WORK_OF_ART. That's the title. And the message he wrote, it's the perfect mix of banter, nerdiness, hoops talk, prediction, and reality. I appreciate all the work you all put into the podcast. Go Clips. Bingo! banter, nerdiness, hoops talk, prediction, and reality.I appreciate all the work you all put into the podcast, Go Clips WORK_OF_ART. Bingo! So shout out to Kyle PERSON. Appreciate that review. You too can leave a review over wherever you listen to your podcast. Give us that five-star rating.Currently have 68 ratings. Let's see if we can get that to 75 by the end of the postseason. Give us that five-star review. And if you, or rather, five-star rating, if you can drop a review as well, certainly does help. So that's the review, the new one from Kyle, Matt PERSON. Thank you, Kyle PERSON.

Speaker 22894.02s - 2897.82s

I mean, it's always just, it blows my mind every time we get a,

Speaker 52897.82s - 2899.9s

we get a review, especially a positive one.

Speaker 22900.2s - 2900.38s

Yeah.

Speaker 52900.62s - 2904.96s

And I know, I know you said we're running, we're running long.

Speaker 22905.96s - 2917.06s

We all have children or children that are about to be born to tend to quickly and just very quickly. Coffee and Powell, the only two players who played that we didn't mention, anything on those guys?

Speaker 52917.82s - 2919.48s

Powell PERSON hit shots, which is nice.

Speaker 22919.86s - 2923.28s

I think it had six points in the first half and then only five in the second half.

Speaker 52923.32s - 2924.28s

I need a little bit more from him.

Speaker 22924.88s - 2930.28s

I think if you want to win a ball game, you just need to get more guys that are contributing offensively.

Speaker 52930.84s - 2975.52s

And so I think you need to get more closer to that 15 to 20 point mark. And coffee was fine. I mean, I don't think he did anything that really stood out that hurt the clippers. He was a minus six in this game. He's actually one of the only two players that was a minus along with Zoo ORG. But there's nothing that I really noticed that where he was hurting the Clippers ORG.He probably just happened to be on the floor when Dallas ORG was making that crazy run where Kyrie somehow outscored the clippers from halfway through the first half, or halfway through the second quarter rather, all the way to like the one minute mark of the third where he had more points in the Clippers as a team. So yeah, that's really it for those two guys, is that I think Norm PERSON needs to be a little bit more involved offensively, especially if he's shooting as well as he is.And Amir PERSON just be that glue guy. I totally agree.

Speaker 22975.6s - 3007.76s

I think Amir PERSON just he continues to show his defensive chops just because of his size and he can move and switch well and then you're right norm play 32 minutes just got to get a little more going offensively i know in game three he had it going but that didn't really matter so moving forward to game five which i'm predicting is the day my daughter will be born we got to get we got to Norm PERSON. I'll be yelling Norm in the delivery room, and they're going to be like,what in the world is this guy talking about?

Speaker 53009.12s - 3009.82s

Oh, man.

Speaker 23010.24s - 3011.34s

Little does your daughter know.

Speaker 53011.4s - 3015.4s

Her middle name is going to be Norm PERSON. It might be your first name,

Speaker 23015.52s - 3016.98s

but don't tell her mom that. Okay, fine.

Speaker 53017.04s - 3018.32s

Yeah, well, listen, you'll let us know.

Speaker 23018.58s - 3019.04s

You'll let us know.

Speaker 53019.1s - 3042.7s

So, yeah, most likely you probably will not be on the podcast. After game number five. So we'll see how that goes. Of course, you can follow Matt PERSON on Twitter slash X at Matt. Matt, Matt at Warren ORG. I'm at B.D. Marcus ORG.Once again, you give us that five-star rating. Review the podcast. It does go a long way. And shout out to our friends over at Believe ORG for helping grow our podcast. So until next time, he's Matt PERSON. I'm Brandon PERSON and go clips.

Speaker 43043.5s - 3087.14s

Go clips. hospitals, factories, schools, and power plants. They all depend on you. No matter the weather, emergency, or time of day, you're the ones who get it done. At Granger PERSON, we're here for you with professional great industrial supplies. Count on real-time product availability and fast delivery. Call, clickgranger.com ORG, or just stop by. Granger PERSON, for the ones who get it done. You know when you're listening to a true crime story

Speaker 03087.14s - 3105.42s

that has an unbelievable plot twist that makes you stopping your tracks? That's what our podcast, People Are the Worst WORK_OF_ART, brings you with each episode. I'm Rachel PERSON. And I'm Rebecca PERSON.We're identical twins who love true crime cases that make you say, didn't see that coming, and we hate the people responsible for them. Listen to People Are the Worst WORK_OF_ART now on Apple, Spotify ORG, or wherever you get your podcasts.