The problem, with the way the Clippers have defended, is that they don’t make it hard for the opposition.. Their approach is, playing the “long game”.. Thinking that when it matters teams will tighten up late & their talent will take over late.. Yes it’s helped, but WHY make it easy? Put the clamps down on teams early & get them out of their game & rhythm! They’re too good to be this bad despite key guys missing nearly a third of the season

Kyrie is a combo of a whirling dervish and an energizer bunny, a very tough cover. Luckily he was missing from outside or this could have been way worse. Don’t know what you do with that guy. Mann wasn’t the answer. Play him more physical maybe? Some guys you just can’t stop and hope the other guys don’t beat you.

TOs were really bad. 16 to 6 with PG a big fat 6. The unforced, sloppy, dumb ones hurt worse. How to correct? Watch film, get smarter, maybe go back to some basic fundamentals (e.g. two hand passing and catching, how to throw a chest pass, look before passing). I know these guys are pros but come on man. Pros in any sport alwasys go back to fundamentals.

Ty learned a lesson as well. No loser challenges please. The KL charge would have been challenged if we would have had one. As VanGundy stated, KL was merely fending off the illegal push from Harden. Betting Ty went thru some anguish when he saw that play go down knowing his hands were tied. But that play was on KL too as he had the clear advantage on Harden and did not need to shove him at all.

Will be interesting to see how the team reacts to this L. On the bright side, we seemed to have come out of the game in one piece while the Nets looked like they got nicked up a bit. Did anyone see Jeff Green kick over not one but 2 gator aid stations? Madman.

As for the grades (for those who care), I’ll do my best Lucas impression.. They won’t be pretty, though!

Bev D this may seem a bit harsh but he was non factor.. What was most disappointing, was that he didn’t take the challenge defensively.. Throughout the game, he switched on screens way to easily, which let Harden & Kyrie go up against favorable matchups.. Now, it looked like it was by design but I HATED it! The Nets duo didn’t even have to work hard! We also didn’t get the usual high intensity energetic Bev game, like the one we just saw Friday.. Instead, we saw Bruce do it to the Clippers

PG A- he had a great shooting game & was the catalyst to the Clippers comeback.. His play & aggression in the 4th was a thing of beauty, it just sucks that he wasn’t able to finish a phenomenal 4th.. Now, he gets a MINUS because he was a turnover machine tonight! Turnovers were the biggest reason why they lost, & against a GREAT offensive team, you just can’t afford to give them easy points.. Some may say it’s rust, but he’s been committing those same careless unforced turnovers since he’s been a Clipper.. I don’t wanna hear any excuses! He also had a couple lapses defensively, including a huge mistake by leaving Harris wide open for a 3

Kawhi A- he also had a very good game, & probably warrants a solid A, but I wanted more from him on defense! Just like with PG & Bev.. I get the Nets treated him like a shutdown cornerback, by staying away from him, but as I mentioned with Bev, he also could’ve fought through screens to get on Harden & Kyrie.. They just didn’t make the Nets work at all.. Honestly, back to back Sham turnovers & bad shot selection by Kyrie late, is the only reason they had a chance to steal the game

Batum D another game where he had zero to little impact & was taken advantage of on defense.. He’s been a good team defender all year but he lacks the lateral quickness to hang with some of these skilled perimeter guys.. That’s not a knock on him, he’s simply up in age & I don’t think they should have him defend one on one so much.. Hoping he gets into the flow of things after being ineffective in his last several games

Serge D just struggled all night again & couldn’t take advantage of the Nets playing small! It may be time to bench him in favor of Zu, who has his own issues, but dominates against small lineups.. As for his defense, well, it was non existent.. He’s been BAD on the perimeter all year but had been good defending the rim.. Today, however, that wasn’t the case, he was just bad! Also, dunks & 3s are the only shots he should be taking.. They need to stop going to him in the post!

Lou D he wasn’t good on either end & was also ineffective.. This game showed why I STILL prefer PJ or even Hill for the playoffs.. He’s been good to great since PG got hurt but my thinking never wavered & this was why.. Against elite teams, he’s not going to be able to flourish the way he does during the regular season against 2nd stringers.. He was constantly being targeted on defense & couldn’t get anything going offensively.. That corner 3 was great but that can be made by those other 2 guys.. Also, his playmaking won’t be needed with a heavier dose of Kawhi & PG.. Defense matters in the playoffs, especially against the actual contenders.. Now, if you can get PJ or Ariza during the buyout season, & still keep Lou, fantastic! I’m just not sold on 10+ Lou minutes against the elite

Mann D+ I’ll give him credit for the 2 made 3s but he’s just not great defensively & he hurts you on offense.. I love his energy but he still has a ways to go defensively.. Playing with great effort & energy doesn’t = good defender.. I rather see Luke, Reggie & Coffey against elite teams

Senior C he was ok but felt like he was just going through the motions also.. Seems like he was the most engaged defensively but wasn’t great on that end either.. Considering he spent alot of time guarding Harden & Kyrie, & dealt with DJ here & there, he did as good as you can do.. They need to do a better job creating shots for him on offense.. Many times, when he goes unnoticed, it’s cuz he’s not getting looks.. His offense doesn’t affect his defense, but when he’s involved, it elevates the offense

Zu D/B+ a tale of 2 halves.. Was able to take advantage of the smaller defenders, unlike Serge.. Got picked on defensively, but the Clippers as a whole, were bad as a unit! As I noted above, I rather have him playing with the starters.. Serge isn’t shooting enough 3s, nor making them to be respected as of late, to create driving lanes.. We all saw how good he was last year as a starter so it may be time to make the switch.. (After reading the recap, I see I’m not the only one who thinks this but neither of us agreed with him NOT starting to begin with, so there’s that)

Not enough Reggie minutes to warrant a grade.. Maybe a C? Who knows.. Had no impact

Let Luke & Coffey PLAY! I don’t care about Lukes tentativeness, as frustrating as it may be, I wanna see him out there.. I may rewatch, to see if I missed anything, but I didn’t enjoy the game or their energy so…

As a whole though, the Clips have done a shitty ass job all year defending pick n rolls.. Tonight, they switched everything for no fuckin reason, giving the Nets EASY looks all night! It was sad to fuckin see.. Kawhi, PG & Bev were the primary defender on Kyrie & Harden about 10% of the time, if that! Shits gotta change

This game I give them a lot of credit for coming back from being down 15. It’s sad how it was ultimately decided, but Clips dug themselves a hole. This would’ve been a statement win though, even without KD, had the Clips been able to pull it off. Would’ve been a sole possession of the 2 seed and having just beat the Jazz, could at least claim for a little while to be back as top dog in the west.

Nets have looked great in both games against the Clippers. I’m a bit worried the Clips just don’t have the guard defenders to check Kyrie and Harden. Pat is great, but ultimately I don’t think he has the foot speed anymore to stay in front of these guys. The Clips strength is being so versatile on the wings, but felt like Kyrie and Harden could get past their primary defender any time they wanted.

Nets are scary considering this is still without KD, but Harden and Kyrie did have to play 40+ minutes in this game. But, I also expect they’ll also be getting some depth on the buyout market, so they legitimately have the potential to be like peak Warriors level good.

I actually feel like Ty is like slow playing that lineup, but by playoff it’s going to get “Lineup of Death” comparisons. Pat, PG, KL, Batum, and Mook is scary as besides Pat, are all 6’8″, all positive defenders, and all are shooting better than 40% from 3.