Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
The Clippers were upset by the Grizzlies on a Saturday matinee.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Allen J. Schaben/L.A. Times.)
It was a downtrodden environment around the Clippers after they lost, 140-114, to the Grizzlies. They were left searching for answers. Montrezl Harrell admitted that they don’t think they’re a great team. Doc Rivers said that they shouldn’t come in thinking some games are easy wins.
While I don’t think they have to worry about missing the playoffs (this team is just really too good to miss it), they do have to worry about consistency. They knew Kawhi Leonard was going to miss games coming into this season. They knew Paul George was going to miss games because of his shoulder surgery. And this crop of Clippers have to face the pressure of being a favorite instead of being the underdogs that they were last season.
Sometimes, this is the sort of thing that can galvanize a team. They’re going to face the New York Knicks in a couple of hours as of this writing so they didn’t have a long time to sit and be grumpy.
Also, while we’ll see a lot of ups and downs with the Clippers, we’ve seen them be dominant. And I think having them in full strength by April is where we can really judge them. There would be no more injury management with Kawhi by the time spring gets here. The Clippers are 14-4 with both Kawhi and PG in the line-up. It’s not about the regular season for the Clippers; wild as it sounds, they’re all about the championship. It’s just about getting into tip-top shape by April. Fix whatever they have to fix in terms of play and health. The season still has a long way to go.
Am I worried about the Clippers? Nah. I think they’ll be fine. Every team has their frustrations. But you do have to worry if they have extended frustrations. We saw that with the Celtics last season and it affected them big-time. We’ll see how they respond against the Knicks.
To be continued tomorrow…
Bullet Passes
Jae Crowder was something else on that game, though. 27-8-7-3-3 is quite a line for Crowder.
The Thunder are closer to the #2 seed than the #8 seed. They have won five straight and are only four games away from the Nuggets, Rockets, and Clippers. #8 seed Blazers are 5 1/2 games away from OKC. Yikes.
The Jazz are up to the 5th seed as they are now only a full game away from those three West powerhouse teams I mentioned. I told you about that schedule.
The Mavericks are in a bit of a swoon as they have lost three of their last four. Hmmmmm.
Good for Trae Young as he scored 41 points against the Pacers, who are also in a bit of a slump (lost four of their last five games).
Kevin Love has been frustrated as of late. He had an outburst recently and even said, “Go ahead. I have plenty of money!” when faced with a fine. And take a look at this video:
Kevin Love has absolutely had it with Collin Sexton 😳 pic.twitter.com/lib6gql0mx
— Everything Cleveland (@EverythingCLE_) January 5, 2020
Love got on a post and had Chris Paul on the block. Collin Sexton just dribbled. Finally, in frustration, Love went to the ball, got it, and whipped a pass of frustration to Cedi Osman. Coach John Beilein has since mentioned that it was his fault. But honestly, I’m not sure how long Love is going to last with the Cavs. Which I thought was going to happen, anyway; there was no way a vet like Love would want to see this rebuilding through.
Jamal Murray is quite the showoff. Windmill jam in the video!
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA On Fire.)
The Scoreboard
MEM 140 (14-22) @ LAC 114 (25-12)
TOR 121 (24-12) @ BRK 102 (16-18)
UTA 109 (23-12) @ ORL 96 (16-20)
IND 111 (22-14) @ ATL 116 (8-28)
OKC 121 (20-15) @ CLE 106 (10-25)
DEN 114 (24-11) @ WAS 128 (11-24)
BOS 111 (25-8) @ CHI 104 (13-23)
CHA 123 (15-23) @ DAL 120 (22-13) (OT)
SA 118 (14-20) @ MIL 127 (32-5)
DET 111 (13-23) @ GS 104 (9-28)
NO 117 (12-24) @ SAC 115 (13-23)
Watch This Play
Ja Morant makes Jerome Robinson lose his footing (with a bit of a nudge there, too) and takes his time before draining the three.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Bleacher Report.)
Well, that was messed up.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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