ROUND 1, GAME #2 Clippers @ SUNS—7 PM TNT/Bally

[LamarWho]

We lost because Phoenix as a team shot 61% in the second half. Paul and Booker were 16-22, ffs. I’m mystified by a couple of the posts complaining about Powell—who I thought was rock solid. I wish he had shot/scored a bit more, but anyone that is complaining about 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, a block and 0 turnovers in less than 28 minutes … mmm. I get it that he was 4-11 from the field, but let’s just say I think there were (many) others with (much) poorer games.

We ain't winning this series with Norm putting up that kinda number every game. I am fine if T-Mann puts up those stats. I consider Norm our 2nd best scorer with PG out.

[nickhx2]

We didn’t lose because of Lue or matchups. We lost because we didn’t defend and we didn’t get enough third tier scoring … and Lue rotated people in and out like he should’ve. We scored 50 points in the second half, despite Batum, Zu, Mann, Plumlee, and Bones going a combined 3-10 and getting 10 points in 41 minutes. We were still acceptable on O in the 2nd half because Kawhi, Westbrook, Powell and Gordon were very good. Not spectacular, but very good—40 points on 12-24 shooting. Double that … I’ll take 80 points a game out of those 4 six days a week and twice on Sunday.

We lost because Phoenix as a team shot 61% in the second half. Paul and Booker were 16-22, ffs. I’m mystified by a couple of the posts complaining about Powell—who I thought was rock solid. I wish he had shot/scored a bit more, but anyone that is complaining about 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, a block and 0 turnovers in less than 28 minutes … mmm. I get it that he was 4-11 from the field, but let’s just say I think there were (many) others with (much) poorer games.

I think we should give RoCo a shot, because Torrey Craig is eating us alive. He’s the difference in the series. I expect Booker and Durant to play well. Torrey Craig averaging 20 a game on 70% shooting? Not expected. And not acceptable. It’s interesting to me that the place where we’re missing PG, really, is on the defensive side.

agree with all this

as much as i have crapped on lue in the RS, he's doing his job now. a lot of people going "LUE NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING" - like, maybe you play covington more and bones less and batum less. but the gameplan was designed to let the suns role players absorb shots from their main guys. and as mentioned, the non-stars just didn't score enough. like any one or two of those guys having a better game, and yesterday looks a lot different. or torrey craig doesn't hit every shot, and things look way different. eric gordon moves around just a little better or is rightfully in his head from the start? same deal.

like it or not, we're at the mercy of our role players, specifically because kawhi's gonna have big games that are the constant, and therefore other guys need to DO things. and by and large, they were put in position to do those things - we just needed more.

the good news is, we're going home having stolen a game and i'm inclined to think at least a couple of the guys will be closer to their game 1 impact than their game 2 impact. zu, maybe i'm not so sure about because we've seen him fatigue pretty quickly in the past and his meh game 2 i imagine has something to do with short rest. but the other guys i would think can bounce back, and i also would have to think that mann/bones are the kinds of guys who are going to really feed off what'll be an insane clippers crowd.

[clipperlover]

zu, maybe i'm not so sure about because we've seen him fatigue pretty quickly in the past and his meh game 2 i imagine has something to do with short rest. but the other guys i would think can bounce back, and i also would have to think that mann/bones are the kinds of guys who are going to really feed off what'll be an insane clippers crowd.

I think Lue can do a couple of things to help Zu:
1. Involve him in the offense at the start
2. Politic the refs because they are pounding on Zu on every rebound attempt

That said, Zu needs to stop getting himself caught too far under the rim on the rebounds.

[og15]

At this point, Batum needs to sit.

0 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 3 fouls.

Useless lol. Give RoCo a chance.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

I'm assuming they will give Batum a chance to start the game at home and see if the role player home magic works, then based on how he starts that game he might take a seat.

[Clemenza]

Little things are good. Big things are better.

I respect role players. It's easy to prop a guy who stays within himself and doesn't turd in the punchbowl. But when they are elevated above the guys who STEP UP, I get annoyed.

We didn't lose tonight, the Suns won. We didn't humiliate ourselves; nobody is to blame. And as if journeyman Robert Covington could have magically turned the game around.

C'mon pipples. Sober up, the COACH didn't lose the game. Nobody lost the game. RoCo was never ever ever gonna win this game.

Kawhi and Russ are maxxing. Who will step up?

Don't take things out of context and add a ton of hyperbole on top of it. RoCo is not going to win the game but a couple of made three's and an extra bucket or two would helped out tremendously. At least make them think twice before double teaming Kawhi on every possession. That's all we were looking for, not a game changing star performance from him. Batum with 3 points in game 1 and 0 points last night is downright horrific for the starting PF.

"We?" Who's "we?" "We" got what "we" asked for. I warned that if Batum's workload increased he would struggle. And now "we" want the RoCo magic wand? OK fine.

I disagree that the solution to a 10-point deficit is to throw more **** at the wall and hope it sticks or the coach is a moron. "We" [why would you want to associate yourself with THEM? lol] were calling for Ty and Westbrook's heads halfway through Game 1 and he won the damn game for us. Then followed it with a terrific Game 2.

Actually I'm hopeful that the "wild card" playing time Ty is investing in Bones Hyland will pay off. First of all he has a REAL job--backup PG--and IMO has a much better chance than RoCo of catching fire and moving the meter. It might not work but Ty does have a plan.

You're full of yourself. Nobody said Batum was the solution at PF so you claiming to make a "genius statement" about Batum's increased workload is general knowledge. You don't like RoCo from his Philly days and that's fine, I get it. I'm not even a RoCo guy myself technically. My only f*cking point is that we need more than ZERO points from starting PF. That doesn't even mean RoCo has to "catch fire" or "win us a game" or anything! We just need a couple of shots knocked down. That's it! You do realize there's an in-between area between "star player, carrying a team to a win, catching fire" to "awful, garbage, trash" right? We're simply looking for competent, solid role play".. THAT's IT!!! Not extremes!

[PeteyPablo]

Role Players were missing in Game 2 for the Clippers. They need to step up in this series.