Post game thread vs Clippers

[cowens/oldschool]

What a great back and forth game. Tatum outplaying the great Kawhi, showing a lot of grit in his driving finishing game and his lethal shooting stroke, still only 22 and we have him....giddy. Tatum was keeping us in the game early, kept on fighting, then Carson Edward’s joined the party, helping us stay in it. PP hit some big shots, as did TT, whose game is coming back together. Kemba started cold, then got stronger as game went longer, hit some key shots down the stretch. RWill with some good production, altering some shots, good finishes and some really nice mid range jumpers. GWill taken to school defending the great Kawhi, but never quit, hit the key go ahead basket and great hard work throughout the game. Love the way we fought, hard earned victory without Jaylen and Smart....can’t wait to see this team get all our pieces back, super hard earned exciting team victory!!!

[bobheckler]

I did not see this one coming.  When I heard that Smart wasn't even making the trip and Pritchard might be out for half of it (or more) I thought to myself "we could go 0-5 on this trip, 1-4 more likely".  I thought we'd come off the plane flat and lose at the Chase Center in San Fran.  I thought we'd suck it up on the 2 hour bus ride to Sacramento and beat them, the weakest team on the road trip (although I knew their guards Fox and Halliburton would be the real test for us) and I thought, especially after hearing Jaylen wasn't playing in LA, that we were going to get blown out last night against the team that, until last night, had the #2 record in the NBA.

We were without Jaylen and Smart.  They were without PG13 and Beverly.
Jaylen > PG13
Smart > Beverly
Therefore, I saw this our depletions as more significant than theirs, especially since they are a better team if "you are your record".


We can talk about Tatum and his 34 points on 12-27 (although his two turnovers in the last few minutes almost cost us the game).  We can talk about Thompson punishing everybody inside for 11 points and 7 rebounds.  We can even talk about the resurrection of Kemba Walker from the dead, with his 24 points on 9-19 but for me the game ball goes to everybody else.  We're down 2 starters, one a lock for the All-Star game and the other a perennial DPOY candidate.  We needed everybody else to step up, and they did.

The game ball gotta go to Carsen Edwards.  I mean, how much more can we ask for from him?  He played hard-nosed defense.  He did something that we've been waiting for him to do and that's hit his shots.  2 assists and zero turnovers.  16 points on 5-8, 3-5 from 3.  Perhaps, most impressively, he hit all 3 of his fritos with 2:26 left and the Celtics down 2.  His fritos gave us a 1 point lead.  That's ice water.  

Edwards got the start in the 3rd quarter, instead of Theis.  NO Theis in the 2nd half.  Zero.  Brad has taken some heat from board members for his substitution patterns and for who he inserts and when.  Brad's response when asked about that said "I see these guys everyday in practice.  I know who's on their game and who isn't".  Well?  There was something Brad has been seeing in practice with C3 and saw a matchup with the Clips that he thought he could work.  He also stayed with the hot hand in the 2nd half.

How nice that Edwards has justified, and well-earned, a game highlight film, huh?



Grant Williams with 2 ice-water bloodstream fritos of his own in clutch time.  11 points on 3-6, 3-4 from 3 and he was guarding The Cyborg most of the game.  That's one of the hardest defensive assignments in the league.  We all know about his 0-25 start from 3 last season.  We might also remember his 58% from 3 in the bubble.  Well, he's shooting 48.7% from 3 so far this season.  He struggles offensively inside because he's not playing in the SEC anymore but he's a very serious threat from the arc and that threat will make players like Thompson and RWill more dangerous inside.  Kawhi got 28 but it was on 8-19, 42%, and 0-5 from 3.  I will take that and give some credit to GWill for making him work for them.  Let's be honest, though, Kawhi Leonard is unreal.  He's not a force of nature like Westbrook, he's not an offensive scorer like Harden.  He's a machine, a cold hard machine, on offense and defense.  



Why did Kemba keep leaving Luke Kennard alone in the corners?

Thompson, who was shooting 63% from the line going into last night, hitting both his fritos in the clutch.  Once again, a shout-out to Edwards, Tatum, Thompson and GWill.  They went 9-9 from the line in the last few minutes and squeezed the life out of Lue's Losers.  When you don't feel the pressure, on the road, and 4 different players step to the line and drive dagger after dagger after dagger into your opponent as the clock runs out on them, that's Championship ball right there.

P-Squared is back.  A nice 8 points on 3-4 to get his game rhythm and conditioning back.  

We had 8 3pt fgm in the 3rd quarter, we went 8-11.  We struggled mightily in the first half, going down by as much as 16 points and in danger of losing contact with them, but we fought back in the 3rd with a 38-20 quarter.

We had a total of 6 turnovers last night.  6.  They had 16.  When you're playing that deep into your bench and you're not giving them the ball for free, that's really solid, focused play.  This stat, turnovers, was the game.  Equal ftas, equal ftm.  Equal fast break points.  We took more 3pters than them but their 3ptfg% was slightly better than ours.  They killed us on the boards, 55-39.  They had more blocks, more points in the paint.  No, the difference was that we had fewer empty possessions because we had 10 fewer turnovers and 3 more steals and they gave us 9 more fgas.

We are 2-1 on this 5 game west coast road trip. I considered going 2-3 an acceptable record considering we had at least 2 very hard games (#2 LAC and #1 Utah), one pretty hard (Phoenix at 11-9) and another that was still pretty hard (GSW, which was 12-9). Only 1 of these games was supposed to be easier and that's the one we lost as a SEGAB2B.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401267510

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 9 hours ago
Jayson Tatum's last three games at Staples Center...the house that his idol Kobe built...against LeBron, Kawhi, AD, Paul George, etc. 35.0 points 6.0 rebounds 2.3 steals 51% from the floor (36-71) 51% from the three (14-27)








Bob



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[cowens/oldschool]

Great post bob, Kemba’s defense was shaky throughout the game, but hopefully he can find his rhythm and this game was a step forward. Been ripping him lately, but still rooting for him.

[worcester]

Ignore everything I have said in the past about Brad, Carsen, Kemba, and Grant.

[Berlin-T]

Kudos again for GWill. He made KL work all night and hit shots and fritos in the clutch.

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