As for Mann, I really want the coaching staff to redirect him on spacing the floor when he’s on the court with Harden. Setting a high screen and rolling into the short roll position in the painted area doesn’t work with Zu already in the paint and DJJ also playing along the baseline. Mann looks very good when Harden is not on the floor and a bit lost when he is on the floor. That can’t work long term. It’s on the coaching staff and Mann to make his minutes more productive when the team leader is on the floor directing traffic.

Valanciunas: always been a fan. SImply a very good player. He was +2 for a team that lost by 25.

But I strongly dislike Jordan Poole. He was AWFUL, which brought me great joy. Scored most of his point on FTs … which came from flopping and foul-baiting. What a turd.

The Bad
1) KPJ. Yuck! In his first stint I don’t think I saw him pass once. Some lame isos and a bad pass. But maybe that’s a good thing … the staff pulled him and hardly played him again until garbage time. Maybe it’s becoming obvious.
2) Wiz played most of the game without Kuz; so this blowout is maybe not quite so impressive.

He still had a couple of silly long distance passes. But he was a stud.

But all that being said, I have to make the note that the Kevin Porter Jr. thing that’s going on is just not okay for a competitive team that has all sorts of different strengths throughout the roster, while waiting to see what happens with Kawhi. I’m a Bones guy, and I’m afraid that I don’t think that subbing out KPJ and giving Bones his minutes and touches would be an adequate solution. Terance could get some of that run too, as he did in the past before the Westbrook signing, and I’d like to see some of that, just as I’d like to see what Bones would do. 367mins/18.4mpg for KPJ is grotesque, especially compared to 46mins/6.6mpg/13dnp for Bones. Another permutation is for Kris Dunn to be in that role somehow, but that’s harder to configure with him playing a solid role in the starting lineup. Again, however, things could change quite a bit if Kawhi comes back and the rotation tightens up.

Another factor is that Harden is so good at the role that it raises expectations, and makes the KPJ shift jarring and look worse. There aren’t a ton of guys who do this well, and the Clippers had plenty of false starts and fool’s gold over the years, both as starters and backups. KPJ happened to have a bad game last night, and he’s had some middling/good games. And he’s got the right body/athleticism to be a part of the Clippers defense, unlike Bones. The big intriguing question on Bones is what he would add on the 3pt side (he has 7 makes now, while KPJ has 8/17%). Would Bones be that much different from the last good example, Lou Williams? I could keep going.

The point is that looking around for a deal for a backup creator/PG/replacement for the KPJ minutes seems worthwhile to me now. A bigger deal for more obvious guys like Lavine or other scorers doesn’t interest me, after Norm has stepped up. Step one is continuing to play hard and staying in solid position to be in the top 6 and make the playoffs, no easy task. Step two is Kawhi coming back and making a strong team more formidable. But if you can get to both of those beats, the Clippers need to have a different approach with the bench rotation in order to excel as a playoff contender. Maybe there’s somebody out there.

Harden was terrific.

Jordan Miller can play. He will push TMann to no longer be pedestrian.

Zu was terrific.

This version of the Clippers is so much more satisfying than last year’s version.

I feel they always have a chance to win.