POST GAME LAC - HOME

Kawhi was a game-time scratch, so I don't know how much of a true test this game was as far as our ability to compete at a high level, but I do think it was another very good test to see if we've got ganas. The largest lead of the game was 11 points, by us, while their largest was 6. So the game was never really out of reach or almost out of reach. A nice run backed up by some stops and/or sloppy play and the other team was back in it. These tests are character definers and, after last month, I am very, very interested in seeing our team's true character.

I've said many times that if one team is shooting 50% from 3 it is very hard for them to lose. Hopefully it's us that's shooting lights out but if it isn't we are in a world of hurt. Last night both teams were shooting lights out from 3. They shot 18-38, 47.4%, while we shot a solid 16-32, 50%. Everybody was just smokin' them. Reggie Jackson was 5-6 from 3 and had 25 points. Luckily, PG13 was 5-15 from 3. With Kawhi out he felt the need to carry more of the load. He played 39 minutes and you could see his legs going towards the end. He was 4-9 from 3 after 3, with 27 total points, but ended up 5-15 and 32 points. That's a 1-6 from 3 4th quarter for Paul George. In fact, he was 2-10 in the 4th overall. He had 12 points after 1 on blistering shooting, 21 at the half and still shooting 8-12, but only 11 points in the 2nd half.

I think, at this point, I'm comfortable saying that Kemba's back. A couple of good games in a row in which he showed us the old Kemba. This makes a huge difference, in a lot of ways. It means we're harder to defend, for one. For another, it makes him more valuable trade bait. I'm not saying Danny will but with Danny you never, ever know. Either way it's all good. I'm on record as saying I'd like our "Big 3" to be the Js and a big, rather than another back court player, but a Charlotte Kemba and the Js is still pretty good.

We needed Kemba to offset another awful outing by the NBA's newest Poster Boy, Jayson Tatum. Another 5-16 stinker. He no longer has any shot discipline. He almost goes out of his way to make his shots as hard as possible. he repeatedly dribbles into double-teams and either loses the ball on a steal or makes a lousy pass out of trouble. He's slow thinking, either way. He no longer runs without the ball. When was the last time you saw Jayson Tatum run a fast break, or cut without the ball in the half court. I know about COVID and all, I'm just stating what I'm seeing. He's killing our ball movement because he's ME-balling and not giving whomever has the ball a passing target on a cut.

Jaylen with a decent game offensively, 18 points on 8-14, just not what we've become used to. We're spoiled now.

Thompson, after a very anemic outing against Washington, was Tristan Thompson again. 9 boards, 5 offensive, and 13 points on 6-10 is what we expect from him. He only needed 21 minutes to do it all too. That kind of efficiency will win us games.

Theis with a relatively unimpactful game except for the final 2 ftms that iced the game for us. RWill had a chance to do that but he only hit 1 of 2. Theis, who has been struggling from the line recently, went to the stripe and hit both. BIG, clutch fritos by Theis. That's how you win clutch games, that's how you advance in the playoffs. You hit your gimmes.

Speaking of RWill, he started off slow and largely invisible. 6 points and 2 rebounds in 10 minutes isn't much of a first half for a big. Late in the game, though, he really shined. We all remember Red's philosophy that it doesn't matter who starts the game, it's who ends it that matters, right? The Time Lord played 10 minutes in the 4th. In those 10 minutes he had 4 points, a block, 4 rebounds (1 offensive), an assist and a jump ball won. He had 4 ftas but only made 2, clearly the weakest part of his game. It finally, really and truly, is The Time Lord's time.

And RWill has a great 2-man game going with Pritchard. Clint Capela has made a very nice career for himself by having players like Harden, Westbrook and now Trae Young penetrating, drawing defenders to them and then throwing the alley oop to him. Pritchard is, arguably, our best ballhandler and when he take players off the dribble he gives great opportunities for alley oops to Williams, and he delivers them on target. 14 points on 5-8 and 4-7 from 3 in 23 minutes for PP. 3 assists and only 1 TO. Every game I see like this convinces me even more that my disapproval of "one-and-done" drafting is short-sighted.

They were without Kawhi and that's a bigger deal than us being without Smart, but they are a very good team. They now, with this loss, have a 24-13 record and are 12-7 on the road. Kawhi or no Kawhi they are a good team. He has played in 29 of LAC's 37 games to-date. I don't know how many of their 13 losses were the games he was out but they seem to roll along regardless. I know I'd kill for us to have a 24-13 record and have that kind of a winning record on the road.

The Raptors are next up. They are severely depleted from COVID, the game might not even be played. If we win that game at home we will have a 4 game winning streak and the past month loses some of its sting.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401267697