The Clippers are better than these teams and they have to play like it, show it, get the wins, and not mess around. Give them the Utah loss, and see how they respond. They can’t waltz along, waiting for the Laker game.

There’s another tier, call it Tier 2, above Utah, and that one is even scarier. I’d put Minnesota, New Orleans, and OKC in there, but there’s a big cluster of 5 or 6 teams that won’t be in the top 3 or 4. And any of the top teams (Memphis, Sacramento) could fall back into that group. If the Clips don’t play hard and stay focused and pile up early wins, they’ll be mired in Tier 2 with little hope of getting out.

The whole bench cheered when big shots were made. Except him…

Not sure it’s the best behaviour in Game 2.

Old predictable end game one on ones, mostly 5 out. Give the ball to Kawhi or PG (KL on this one) and clear out, ala Doc’s give the ball to CP and clear out – Lue’s DNA from the Rivers Coaching Academy.

No time out by Lue on the last 20+ seconds, Clips’ ball ?

No motion offense, ball movement, or involvement of the other players via cuts, drive cuts, or whatever. Last play given to Leonard. But George was hotter this game. Lue should have at least given the ball to PG if all Lue had was for one on one. A very classic Lue trademark from RCA.

Will Coach Lue continue to not use his centers against bigger lineups after small ball lineups do their part.

What about using both — small ball lineups for 5-7 min, then bring in Zu or Plums against the bigger opposition lineups?

But a big factor was that Utah had its home mojo going, a correction after losing their opener to SAC. It seemed like they played like the Clips did against Portland, lots of shots going in, urgency and energy. When the Clips failed to assert their will and defense and turned the ball over, Utah kept their own effort and shooting up, preventing the Clippers from getting close and mounting a successful charge. The Clips finally got there in the 4th, but Utah seemed to have a sense that it was going to be their night, for their home crowd, and the Clips weren’t able to take it from them.

It was an easy trap to spot–game 2 on the road at a notoriously tough place to get wins against a team that has more cohesion, an all-star, and better shotmakers than Portland. The Clips needed to take this up a notch and tighten things up, rather than racheting down a peg. But getting slapped in the face and mildly humiliated should be helpful, a cold bath and rude awakening. Good to get it out of the way, and just too bad that it was necessary.

There’s a Times article about how the Lakes will be in trouble by overplaying LBJ — same goes for our guys.

I think the team WILL be bitter about this one — have to be better.
One play stood out for me–Bones had the ball in the backcourt late and, rather than bringing it up himself he deferred to PG. You saw what happened next — Sexton flummoxed PG into a TO. Hey Bones, YOU are the pt guard — stop deferring. That was a crucial possession where you need to get up a shot on goal to give your team a chance. You took away that chance. PG is not a pt guard altho he thinks he is.