https://clutchpoints.com/jerami-grant-collin-sexton-lakers-clippers-hypothetical-trade-deadline-scenarios

Back to the game. I would have started the guys who were having their way with OKC in the 2d half–Miller, KPJ, Bamba, Amir and Dunn–what’s wrong with switching things up and playing the guys who are showing some real solid play? Too much to expect from Ty. Norm was putrid–too small to drive into the tall traffic–got rejected a few times–and just didn’t have it. Not his game. As to Miller and KPJ, I saw them talking, planning and the Miller to KPJ assist and finish was fun to watch. KPJ was just playing more under control. Was that an outlier or a trend in the right direction?

Biggest takeaway from this game is Coffey is great and I can make an argument for him to ultimately start over Norm. At least he’s tall enough to get his shot off against an elite defense while also being better on defense because he’s TALL. Now we are going to have to endure the politics of Ty not having the nerve to shake up the rotation accordingly because he has a soft spot for older vets.

On to Saturday and my expected impressive return of Kawhi. I’ll bet he does’t miss much of a beat.

Jordan Miller looked very good. Nice bounce back game from him. Bamba was actually playable!

The basics of taking care of the basketball cost the Clips the game. The Thunder are aggressive defensively, but the turnovers the Clippers had were pretty obvious and avoidable. They just got sped up and lost their poise, throwing the ball away on ill advised jump passes; getting the ball taken away at the high post by just showing too much ball and not protecting with the off arm or low dribble; trying to outrun OKC on the fast break and losing the ball, failing to get entry passes into Zu.

Clips look like the better team when they take care of the ball. They just didn’t do that enough tonight. Believe it or not, this game was winnable even without Harden. Onwards.