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 have won three straight games with Paul George and Patrick Beverley back.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images.)
Okay. Let’s go back to January 5th.
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.
And since they got back Paul George and Patrick Beverley, the Clips have won three straight games. They punctuated that with a blowout win over the Denver Nuggets, one of the Western Conference powerhouses.
They got deeper after the trade deadline. Yes, Mo Harkless is a very good perimeter defender. But they added more scoring punch with Marcus Morris. AND you know he doesn’t give any Fs. So they added toughness to a team that probably needed more of it.
Now what needs to happen, though, is that they probably need to do a better job on TIME management. Doc Rivers is enamored with playing Montrezl Harrell so much (like 13 straight minutes of playing time) and it tires him out at the end. Put Ivica Zubac back to spell him and if they want to close out with Harrell, they can. Zubac grabs many boards in the little playing time he’s getting. Get him some more run.
And seriously, this team is built for the postseason. Everyone knew coming into the season that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were probably only going to play 60 games each due to nagging injuries. And they’re STILL 40-19. It’s so weird that many people were basically thinking that the sky was falling on the Clippers. THEY’RE GOING TO BE JUST FINE.
If anything, they could be ready for any situation. They added Reggie Jackson for nothing. He gives them another option at point. Will he get a lot of PT? Probably not but I’m sure he was sold with the notion that he may not play as much but he could be part of a championship team. After spending some years in Detroit, that would sound marvelous to him.
This blowout win over Denver was a statement. In the long run, this win may not matter to the Clips. But it sure does give them a huge confidence boost should they face them in the postseason.
And it’s all about confidence boosts and momentum in sports.
Bullet Passes
Miami and Utah needed to win and they got it on Friday night. Big win by the Heat over the Mavericks. The Wizards are decidedly an inferior team but if Utah lost to them, too, there would be many more rumblings about the Jazz not being able to hack it.
What I’m worried about are the Grizzlies. Losers of 5 straight and the cubs are only two games ahead of the surging Pelicans. Uh-oh.
Plus the Grizz have the Lakers tonight.
I suppose the Raptors were due for a letdown. They lost to the lowly Hornets. Whoops.
Oh, no. How did the Bucks respond after James Harden took a shot at Giannis Antetokounmpo? They throttled the Thunder by 47 points. The THUNDER. That was the same team that had won 5 in a row. Yikes.
The Scoreboard
MIN 125 (17-41) @ ORL 136 (27-32)
BRK 118 (26-32) @ ATL 141 (18-43)
CHA 99 (21-38) @ TOR 96 (42-17)
DAL 118 (36-24) @ MIA 126 (37-22)
SAC 104 (25-34) @ MEM 101 (28-31)
OKC 86 (37-23) @ MIL 133 (51-8)
CLE 104 (17-42) @ NO 116 (26-33)
DET 113 (20-41) @ PHX 111 (24-36)
WAS 119 (21-37) @ UTA 129 (37-22)
DEN 103 (40-19) @ LAC 132 (40-19)
Watch This Play
6’1″ Donovan Mitchell shows his hops to Rui Hachimura up close.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Chaz Clavant.)
Welcome to the NBA, Rui.
HAVE A HAPPY LEAP DAY!
GG.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.
I sign off “GG” which means “good game” but also to honor Gianna “Gigi” Bryant.