Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. NBA Playoff Basketball is afoot!
Kawhi Leonard is kind of the reason why the Clippers are feared, right? Right.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Joe Murphy/Getty Images.)
We’ve established this many times before: Kawhi Leonard is possibly the best player in the game right now. Giannis Antetokounmpo might win his second MVP award due to his strength and athleticism. James Harden does it all on the offensive end. LeBron James can still be looked at as the #1 guy but we know that at this stage of his career, he has to pick his spots. Damian Lillard has become the darling of the bubble but no one will confuse him as that defensive stopper.
Kawhi is pretty much all of that. He is strong as hell. He’ll dunk on fools out of nowhere. His shooting has gotten so good that he’s flirted with 50-40-90 (50 percent in field goals, 40 percent from three, and 90 percent from the free throw line) a few times. Oh, yeah. You might as well consider that ball gone when he’s guarding you. He’s won defensive player of the year twice and we know that usually goes to the big men.
It was because of all of that the Clippers got him (and that all the teams wanted him). He’s still the defending Finals MVP after helping Toronto to their first NBA championship. And to the uneducated fools that talk about load management, the Clippers were willing to sacrifice probably 20-25 games per season because of his degenerative knee condition. So the medical staff has to manage his knees (for sure, no back-to-backs) so he can get to the postseason fine. The Raptors did that and they were able to save him for the playoffs and win the championship.
The Clippers now have their Kawhi android ready to go. Granted, they’re in a bit of a fight with Dallas, who have their own problems going on. But Kawhi has definitely done his job to keep the Clippers in games. He’s scored a total of 100 points in the first three games (that’s 33.3 points per game). And he’s doing this with a guy who is struggling with his shot (Paul George but, at least, he’s doing other things on the court). Either way, Kawhi just wrecks everybody on both sides and his presence alone makes the Clips dangerous and one of the favorites to win it all. In Game 3, Kawhi went for a strong 36-9-8 performance.
I mean, look at these funky moves:
Kawhi Leonard is HERE 💥#ClipperNation | @LAClippers pic.twitter.com/TtERxcn3G8
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) August 22, 2020
But first, Kawhi and the Clippers have to get past Dallas first. And Kawhi would gladly do it with the emotion of someone microwaving leftover food from the night before.
Bullet Passes
Landry Shamet hadn’t done much in the postseason until he was tabbed to start Game 3. He scored 18 points and made three threes. He also did this to poor Boban Marjanovic:
LANDRY SHAMET ON BOBAN 😱😱😱#ClipperNation | @LAClippers pic.twitter.com/LulxNf06mP
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) August 22, 2020
Come on, man. We love Boban.
Luka Doncic sprained his ankle in the third. I think he’s going to play but even if he doesn’t, it’s just weird how the Mavericks offense still does really well without him. So the Clippers can’t relax TOO much if he sits out.
Denver looked listless against Utah. The Jazz made it look like a non-pandemic Game 3 home game and clobbered the Nuggets by 37. It also coincided with the return of Mike Conley, who had just welcomed a son into the world a few days ago. He made 7 of 8 threes and scored 27 points overall.
What is with these NBA players getting a +20 rating in their overall play? Last season, Fred VanVleet came back ballin’ after his child was born. And they won the championship!
Is Utah going to win the championship now?? NBA players better go knock some boots nine months before the Finals!
(VIDEO CREDIT: H-Town.)
Man, you guys are too young for this song.
Speaking of the Raptors, man, did they make short work of the Nets. The same VanVleet dude countered Caris Levert‘s three with a halfcourt buzzer-beater before the half. I feel like that took the air out of Brooklyn.
Well, the Sixers had the Celtics on the ropes. They were up 94-92 with under dos minutos. Both teams struggled to make a shot… until Jaylen Brown got that three-point play to give Boston the lead. Sixers never scored again, though. The only other field goal that was made in the closing seconds was a killer stepback by Kemba Walker over a baffled ex-Celtic Al Horford. Celtics scored the last 10 points of the game (the rest of the scoring came from the charity stripe).
Both Boston and Toronto are a game away from the East semis.
I know everyone’s already looking forward to Raptors/Celtics because no team has ever come back from an 0-3 series deficit. The Raptors and Celtics have also never faced each other in the postseason.
Also, can the Raptors get more respect than this? They’re the NBA CHAMPIONS. They should be on TNT, ESPN, or ABC. Not QVC or the Hallmark Channel or whatever!
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
Game 3: #2 TOR 117 vs #7 BRK 92 (TOR leads, 3-0)
Game 3: #3 DEN 87 vs #6 UTA 124 (UTA leads, 2-1)
Game 3: #3 BOS 102 vs #6 PHI 94 (BOS leads, 3-0)
Game 3: #2 LAC 130 vs #7 DAL 122 (LAC leads, 2-1)
Watch This Play
Donovan Mitchell! HANG TIME AND BANG TIME!
Donovan Mitchell dropping down the hammer. 😤 pic.twitter.com/fY8orxtCd6
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) August 21, 2020
By the way, “I” wish I thought of that. That came from Clark Kellogg from the older NBA 2K games.
Bubble residents, please take care of yourselves!
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.