RD 1 GAME 4: DEN (1-2) @ LAC (2-1)—SAT 4/26 3 PM, TNT

[MartinToVaught]

One final defensive possession, and Ty Lue chose to keep Powell, Bogdan, and Harden on the floor... I wonder what the heck were they thinking?

And then he blamed the players like it's their fault for not being tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon. Straight out of the Doc Rivers playbook.

Serious question: when was the last time Lue actually admitted he was wrong about something? What did we do to deserve the two most narcissistic coaches in the NBA back-to-back?

[PeteyPablo]

I watched the post game interview in real time. Ty Lue said the players came out not matching the intensity of the Nuggets until the 4th quarter.
It does not matter right now, today. But they ( the entire team ) need to see that they could be up 4-0 right now. Lost game 1 with turnovers and lost game 4 with poor shooting ( Doc Rivers says its a make or miss league ) but they also missed so many free throws.

[clipperlover]

One final defensive possession, and Ty Lue chose to keep Powell, Bogdan, and Harden on the floor... I wonder what the heck were they thinking?

And then he blamed the players like it's their fault for not being tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon. Straight out of the Doc Rivers playbook.

Serious question: when was the last time Lue actually admitted he was wrong about something? What did we do to deserve the two most narcissistic coaches in the NBA back-to-back?

And if Ty subbed in someone off the bench that was completely cold and we had the same result, people would be blasting him for making the substitution.

I remember all the hate Dunleavy received for subbing in a cold Daniel Ewing back in 2006. Ewing played solid D on the shot and made it very difficult, but Bell hit an amazing shot.Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team for making a great play.

We didn't lose the game based on one play. There were multiple times in the 3rd quarter where Christian Braun outworked us on the offensive glass and got put back buckets. The team is going to look at the film and be upset that they let the game slip away and now will have to play until at least Thursday.

[nickhx2]

I watched the post game interview in real time. Ty Lue said the players came out not matching the intensity of the Nuggets until the 4th quarter.
It does not matter right now, today. But they ( the entire team ) need to see that they could be up 4-0 right now. Lost game 1 with turnovers and lost game 4 with poor shooting ( Doc Rivers says its a make or miss league ) but they also missed so many free throws.

i don't give much thought to doc rivers these days but i was thinking about that make or miss thing of his a bit, prior to the game. Hopefully you don't take this as me jumping on you, i'm not. But that sentiment of his is pretty god damn stupid. Intuitively, anyone who hears that should be able to go "ehh, it feels weird when he says that."

And the reason it's off-putting is because it's intended to disown all the stuff that comes up before it that does matter, the strategy that led to the make or the miss. When you execute a perfect p/r with harden and zu and net an uncontested dunk, your contribution as a coach was the strategy you've been crafting that features that. One that's been developing since the day james harden stepped foot into your locker room. Make that dunk or miss, the offense did something extremely effective, and got exactly what it wanted (result being completely irrelevant). Conversely, imagine we had zu shooting contested 3's off the dribble every possession. That's a pretty awful strategy, but if "make or miss" was the overriding factor, then that completely ignores the strategy - who chose to develop it, and who chooses to apply it.

On the other side of the court, nobody says it's a watch the ball go in or out league. We don't throw our hands up in the air and leave things to the whims of the basketball does in the air. We create strategies that are effective, and tactics that work, and we deploy lineups that are intended to maximize that.

So when I hear that, it makes me wonder about something I've been thinking about. Why does ty lue not have his best defenders in the lineup at the end of the last game? What are harden, bogi, and norm doing in there? Make or miss, watch the ball go in/out is completely irrelevant as a result because what the ball does once the shot goes up isn't controllable. All the stuff that comes before it, is, and you really have to wonder what he was (not) thinking about when he decides to pull the rug out from under his team with such a wretched ending lineup.

Those sentiments get used by the coaches themselves, which disowns their errors. The players play, yeah, but the coaches gotta enable, too.

[MartinToVaught]

One final defensive possession, and Ty Lue chose to keep Powell, Bogdan, and Harden on the floor... I wonder what the heck were they thinking?

And then he blamed the players like it's their fault for not being tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon. Straight out of the Doc Rivers playbook.

Serious question: when was the last time Lue actually admitted he was wrong about something? What did we do to deserve the two most narcissistic coaches in the NBA back-to-back?

And if Ty subbed in someone off the bench that was completely cold and we had the same result, people would be blasting him for making the substitution.

I remember all the hate Dunleavy received for subbing in a cold Daniel Ewing back in 2006. Ewing played solid D on the shot and made it very difficult, but Bell hit an amazing shot.Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team for making a great play.

We didn't lose the game based on one play. There were multiple times in the 3rd quarter where Christian Braun outworked us on the offensive glass and got put back buckets. The team is going to look at the film and be upset that they let the game slip away and now will have to play until at least Thursday.

This wasn't even a matter of being hot or cold, this is basic physical reality. The lineup was too small for the situation. All the momentum in the world wasn't going to make those guys tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon, and guess what, it didn't. If Lue had put a proper lineup in the game and they still got beat on that play, then you can blame the players for not executing, but I don't think it's fair to blame the players when the coach set them up to fail from the jump.

Of course that one play didn't lose us the game, I'm just pointing to it as a microcosm of Lue's poor coaching in general. Lue is paid more than most coaches in the league, many of whom have accomplished more than he has, and can't even get the basics right. I just don't see the argument for bringing him back if we lose this series when guys like Malone are getting fired for less.

[KL2]

Read on Twitter

[clipperlover]

And then he blamed the players like it's their fault for not being tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon. Straight out of the Doc Rivers playbook.

Serious question: when was the last time Lue actually admitted he was wrong about something? What did we do to deserve the two most narcissistic coaches in the NBA back-to-back?

And if Ty subbed in someone off the bench that was completely cold and we had the same result, people would be blasting him for making the substitution.

I remember all the hate Dunleavy received for subbing in a cold Daniel Ewing back in 2006. Ewing played solid D on the shot and made it very difficult, but Bell hit an amazing shot.Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team for making a great play.

We didn't lose the game based on one play. There were multiple times in the 3rd quarter where Christian Braun outworked us on the offensive glass and got put back buckets. The team is going to look at the film and be upset that they let the game slip away and now will have to play until at least Thursday.

This wasn't even a matter of being hot or cold, this is basic physical reality. The lineup was too small for the situation. All the momentum in the world wasn't going to make those guys tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon, and guess what, it didn't. If Lue had put a proper lineup in the game and they still got beat on that play, then you can blame the players for not executing, but I don't think it's fair to blame the players when the coach set them up to fail from the jump.

Of course that one play didn't lose us the game, I'm just pointing to it as a microcosm of Lue's poor coaching in general. Lue is paid more than most coaches in the league, many of whom have accomplished more than he has, and can't even get the basics right. I just don't see the argument for bringing him back if we lose this series when guys like Malone are getting fired for less.

Please enlighten us with who you would have put in.
6'3" Kris Dunn who was out of the game since 5:03 to go in the 3rd
6'10 Simmons who was out of the game since 1:19 to go in the 3rd
6'8" Nic Batum who sat the entire 4th quarter
6'5"" DJJ - Who went to the bench with 7:32 left
6'9" Eubanks who hadn't played all game

The guys that were on the court were responsible for the comeback, they were warm and they were engaged defensively. It would be better to question the last several offensive possessions and the players thought process:
Kawhi - Took 2 threes when he hadn't attempted a 3 since well over 8 minutes left in the 3rd. All of his points in the 4th had been in the paint or at the line. Powell had the hot hand from 3 at that point
Harden - Why go early and leave them so much time for a shot?

At the end of the 1st qtr, Harden made the dumb decision to throw the ball all the way down court trying to get Zu with Jokic trailing him. He overthrows Zu and the ball goes out of bounds. Denver then hits a 3pt bucket at the buzzer and we are down 5 vice 2 heading into Jokic's time off the court. So, two times in that game, Harden had the ability to control whether or not Denver was able to get another possession and he squandered both chances. Denver turned them into 5 points.

By all means it was Ty Lue's fault though.

[Jay555]

And if Ty subbed in someone off the bench that was completely cold and we had the same result, people would be blasting him for making the substitution.

I remember all the hate Dunleavy received for subbing in a cold Daniel Ewing back in 2006. Ewing played solid D on the shot and made it very difficult, but Bell hit an amazing shot.Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team for making a great play.

We didn't lose the game based on one play. There were multiple times in the 3rd quarter where Christian Braun outworked us on the offensive glass and got put back buckets. The team is going to look at the film and be upset that they let the game slip away and now will have to play until at least Thursday.

This wasn't even a matter of being hot or cold, this is basic physical reality. The lineup was too small for the situation. All the momentum in the world wasn't going to make those guys tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon, and guess what, it didn't. If Lue had put a proper lineup in the game and they still got beat on that play, then you can blame the players for not executing, but I don't think it's fair to blame the players when the coach set them up to fail from the jump.

Of course that one play didn't lose us the game, I'm just pointing to it as a microcosm of Lue's poor coaching in general. Lue is paid more than most coaches in the league, many of whom have accomplished more than he has, and can't even get the basics right. I just don't see the argument for bringing him back if we lose this series when guys like Malone are getting fired for less.

Please enlighten us with who you would have put in.
6'3" Kris Dunn who was out of the game since 5:03 to go in the 3rd
6'10 Simmons who was out of the game since 1:19 to go in the 3rd
6'8" Nic Batum who sat the entire 4th quarter
6'5"" DJJ - Who went to the bench with 7:32 left
6'9" Eubanks who hadn't played all game

The guys that were on the court were responsible for the comeback, they were warm and they were engaged defensively. It would be better to question the last several offensive possessions and the players thought process:
Kawhi - Took 2 threes when he hadn't attempted a 3 since well over 8 minutes left in the 3rd. All of his points in the 4th had been in the paint or at the line. Powell had the hot hand from 3 at that point
Harden - Why go early and leave them so much time for a shot?

At the end of the 1st qtr, Harden made the dumb decision to throw the ball all the way down court trying to get Zu with Jokic trailing him. He overthrows Zu and the ball goes out of bounds. Denver then hits a 3pt bucket at the buzzer and we are down 5 vice 2 heading into Jokic's time off the court. So, two times in that game, Harden had the ability to control whether or not Denver was able to get another possession and he squandered both chances. Denver turned them into 5 points.

By all means it was Ty Lue's fault though.

Not sure why you tried to defend Ty Lue there.

It's common to put in your best defensive lineup for the final possession, regardless of whether you're warm, engaged defensively, or responsible for the comeback, etc. Curry, for example, often gets pulled by Steve Kerr when a defensive possession is needed in the final minutes.

I could argue that if Lue put in Ben Simmons, Zu, Harden, DJJ, and Kawhi, Ben Simmons or DJJ would have boxed out Gordon.

Denver lucked out there. If the ball had hit the rim, it would have been a different story. But that doesn't mean Lue didn't stuff up that one.

[KL2]

Cold my butt. It was for 8 seconds of defense and box out. We weren’t expecting Simmons to shoot fts or any of Batum/DJJ/Dunn to hit a game winner.

Joker was screaming at Adleman to get size on the court to end the half. 1.2 seconds on the clock and he immediately gets DJJ in the game. What happened in that 1.2 seconds? Harden turned it over and Joker hits a 3 at the buzzer.

Guys get subbed in/out all the time for these type of situations.

[Ballings7]

Read on Twitter

Batum/Zubac should start and finish games at big; or at least finish.

Harden/Powell/Kawhi/Batum/Zubac

best combo of spacing (Zubac still does for his roll threat), defense, length, clutch, experience, and rebounding.

[Roscoe Sheed]

One final defensive possession, and Ty Lue chose to keep Powell, Bogdan, and Harden on the floor... I wonder what the heck were they thinking?

And then he blamed the players like it's their fault for not being tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon. Straight out of the Doc Rivers playbook.

Serious question: when was the last time Lue actually admitted he was wrong about something? What did we do to deserve the two most narcissistic coaches in the NBA back-to-back?

And if Ty subbed in someone off the bench that was completely cold and we had the same result, people would be blasting him for making the substitution.

I remember all the hate Dunleavy received for subbing in a cold Daniel Ewing back in 2006. Ewing played solid D on the shot and made it very difficult, but Bell hit an amazing shot.Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team for making a great play.

We didn't lose the game based on one play. There were multiple times in the 3rd quarter where Christian Braun outworked us on the offensive glass and got put back buckets. The team is going to look at the film and be upset that they let the game slip away and now will have to play until at least Thursday.

Bell also away with a push off to get open

[neshy]

Demoralizing way to lose the game but it's still 2:2. Their starters are playing way too many minutes so it should show down the road. I mean, we were down by 22 and the comeback was a pure miracle. We could have been down 3:1. We quickly forgot that we won game 3 being lucky. Gordon missed a dunk, Bogi stole the ball from Westbrook and Mpj fumbled the ball and hurt himself after grabbing a rebound resulting in Norm's 3. All in the last couple of minutes
Ty did some adjustments but too late in game 4. I said before the series started that Dunn has to play less and shooters more. I also said that if Bogi's not playing enough minutes you're not getting much from him. The more he plays the better he gets. In game 4 he was +22 and next guy in plus was DJJ with +2. You can be +5 or 6 by luck not +22. He's also part of the best Clippers defensive lineup. He needs to play 22-25 minutes. Dunn lost us game 4 as nobody's paying attention to him. Same as we don't pay attention to Russ shooting 3's. Also Bogi guarded Murray just as good if not better than Dunn. With Bogi on the floor nobody's leaving him alone for a sec and that opens the paint for Kawai and Harden and leaves all the space for Norm who's hitting more shots when playing with Bogi due to spacing. If Ty continues to play Dunn over Bogi or Batum it'll take another Kawai 40 point game on 80%fg to beat them in Denver. Butum is a better defender than Bogi but he's also much older so not sure if those legs can hold up playing a lot of minutes.

[clipperlover]

This wasn't even a matter of being hot or cold, this is basic physical reality. The lineup was too small for the situation. All the momentum in the world wasn't going to make those guys tall enough to get a rebound over Gordon, and guess what, it didn't. If Lue had put a proper lineup in the game and they still got beat on that play, then you can blame the players for not executing, but I don't think it's fair to blame the players when the coach set them up to fail from the jump.

Of course that one play didn't lose us the game, I'm just pointing to it as a microcosm of Lue's poor coaching in general. Lue is paid more than most coaches in the league, many of whom have accomplished more than he has, and can't even get the basics right. I just don't see the argument for bringing him back if we lose this series when guys like Malone are getting fired for less.

Please enlighten us with who you would have put in.
6'3" Kris Dunn who was out of the game since 5:03 to go in the 3rd
6'10 Simmons who was out of the game since 1:19 to go in the 3rd
6'8" Nic Batum who sat the entire 4th quarter
6'5"" DJJ - Who went to the bench with 7:32 left
6'9" Eubanks who hadn't played all game

The guys that were on the court were responsible for the comeback, they were warm and they were engaged defensively. It would be better to question the last several offensive possessions and the players thought process:
Kawhi - Took 2 threes when he hadn't attempted a 3 since well over 8 minutes left in the 3rd. All of his points in the 4th had been in the paint or at the line. Powell had the hot hand from 3 at that point
Harden - Why go early and leave them so much time for a shot?

At the end of the 1st qtr, Harden made the dumb decision to throw the ball all the way down court trying to get Zu with Jokic trailing him. He overthrows Zu and the ball goes out of bounds. Denver then hits a 3pt bucket at the buzzer and we are down 5 vice 2 heading into Jokic's time off the court. So, two times in that game, Harden had the ability to control whether or not Denver was able to get another possession and he squandered both chances. Denver turned them into 5 points.

By all means it was Ty Lue's fault though.

Not sure why you tried to defend Ty Lue there.

It's common to put in your best defensive lineup for the final possession, regardless of whether you're warm, engaged defensively, or responsible for the comeback, etc. Curry, for example, often gets pulled by Steve Kerr when a defensive possession is needed in the final minutes.

I could argue that if Lue put in Ben Simmons, Zu, Harden, DJJ, and Kawhi, Ben Simmons or DJJ would have boxed out Gordon.

Denver lucked out there. If the ball had hit the rim, it would have been a different story. But that doesn't mean Lue didn't stuff up that one.

If Jeff Van Gundy wanted someone else on the floor, then they would have put someone else on the floor. They made a choice to go with the players that got them there. At no point during the last timeout did any of the bench players even attempt to take off their warm-ups.

The fact is Harden's decision making on our last possession allowed Denver plenty of extra time to set-up and run their play. Would have been much more chaotic for them if they only had 2 seconds remaining to inbound and shoot. Preferably, them not even getting a shot attempt would have been better.

[MartinToVaught]

JVG isn't the head coach. The buck stops with Lue and his smallball obsession that has been a constant for his entire time here.