Game 65: Los Angeles Clippers (44-20) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (49-14) - 9 PM ET

[Quake Griffin]

Marcus Morris.

lol.

[MartinToVaught]

Kawhi keeping us in it!

[MartinToVaught]

PG!!!

[MartinToVaught]

This ending has been insane!

[TheNewEra]

Well was a worth while fight. Laker fans know it took them everything

[Quake Griffin]

LeBron has made Kawhi look small in the last 2 games to me.

It is what I feared.
There is a true difference between playing LeBron tough as a role player and playing him superstar v. superstar when you are required to be the guy on offense.

LeBron has met the challenge, picked him up late in both games, cut off him off and stopped him from turning the corner late and I can't unsee it.

You can argue. You can fight. You can squirm. That's what I saw.

Hopefully we're ready for them in the CF.

[esqtvd]

Very good game. Watching LeBron and Kawhi, AD and PG--it had heavyweight fight gravity. Very cool. Still, just an exhibition--nowhere playoff intensity. In fact, IMO the other 3 games in the series were played much harder.

My takeaway--Lou and Trezz. The Clippers' strategy vs the Lakers and other top teams is to play the starting teams even, then win with the best bench in the league. Lou and Trezz are the 15th-best duo in the league--INCLUDING STARTERS. Brian said they're the highest-scoring bench tandem OF ALL TIME.

Bron and Brow played 35+ minutes each tonight and finished minus-3. Every Laker starter finished in the minus except Caldwell-Pope at +6. The Lakers won this game tonight behind Waiters [+17], Kuzma [+12] and Caruso [+9].

Meaningless. The Clippers often win because of the advantage the Lou and Trezz combo gives us over the other team's 2nd units. Tonight we won the battle of the starters and lost the battle of the benches only the best bench in the NBA was OUT.

I'm good. Zubac [-5] and Shamet [minus-19!] were garbage and Bev was ok but still minus-9. Bubble babies all. Add in Lou and Trezz and that starting 5 can still beat half the NBA.

[Clemenza]

Shamet and Morris were trash as ususal. Nothing from Zu and not much from Reggie Jackson

[esqtvd]

Shamet and Morris were trash as usual. Nothing from Zu and not much from Reggie Jackson

Yah.

--At least Shamet was ace last year. Been playing catch-up since missing the beginning of the season, and now catching up again in the restart after coming in late again because of positive COVID. He works his ass off at all times. He has earned more of a chance.

--I'm known as a Zu doubter. I still am. I dont think the quarantine affected him much--he looks like the same old Zu. When the game speeds up in the 3rd and especially 4th quarters, the game just moves too fast for him. He's a fine placeholder starter. Just not ready for prime time. Noah is 35 years old and out of shape but he's still just as good. It's playoff time. Sorry, Zu. 15 minutes is generous. 10-12 is probably right. I'm giving Noah the rest of your minutes.

--Reggie I like. He'll be Lou's PG on the 2nd unit, as Lou moves to the 2--shooting guard is Lou's best role. Reggie might not be the starting-caliber PG they say he is--the league doesn't think he is--but as our new Darren Collison, I think he'll be fine.


--I couldn't agree more, Clemenza--Morris is complete trash so far. I have nothing positive to say. He was the best player on a crap team. That proves nothing. It is usually fool's gold. Morris has been handed starter's minutes and hasn't done jackdick since he got here. A change might have to be made. 7 games to go. Marcus is on Double Secret Probation.

Pat Pat has EARNED more minutes. Just sayin'.

[Max Headrom]

This Laker team will not beat a healthy Clippers squad...

[MartinRiggs]

I have to say I expected great things from Morris,so far he was poor.

[donemilio21]

what was the play drawn for last shot?
Doc called a time out to give a play. But it looked like it was "give the ball the Kawhi" and nothing else.

[Roscoe Sheed]

LeBron has made Kawhi look small in the last 2 games to me.

It is what I feared.
There is a true difference between playing LeBron tough as a role player and playing him superstar v. superstar when you are required to be the guy on offense.

LeBron has met the challenge, picked him up late in both games, cut off him off and stopped him from turning the corner late and I can't unsee it.

You can argue. You can fight. You can squirm. That's what I saw.

Hopefully we're ready for them in the CF.

Kawhi actually had an understated good game. I think the last play was poorly conceived. I think Kawhi can score on LeBron one on one, but I think there should have been some screen action with PG13- not just a one on one attempt.

I thought Kawhi had a better game than LeBron actually, even with the foul trouble. It was very disappointing that they didn't get the rebound on LeBron's first miss at the end of the game- inexcusable that nobody bothered to box out the shooter.

I'm concerned about Morris. He has been a big negative in the two games he's played against the Lakers. I didn't expect him to put up numbers like he did with the Knicks, but at least he should produce like he did with the Celtics. There's still time for him to adjust thankfully.

I'm hoping SHamet and Zubac get their wind and rhythm back- they basically contributed nothing.

[MartinRiggs]

Well they were both sick with this stupid virus so let's hope that is the reason.

[Max Headrom]

Read on Twitter

?s=09

This is what happened on the last play.

LeBron grabbed Kawhi arm while he was going into his shooting motion after planting his feet. Refs missed a blatant grab...

[og15]

Whole game wise, did the starters cause the team to lose the game? No, in fact, they outplayed the opposing starters, but games aren't determined only by your starters, and the teams two best bench players with all their limitations were not available, and it showed. When those guys return I would expect a better bench result, but overall, good game, can't complain about the whole game defense on Lebron,

Clippers have actually defended Davis well from the field overall in the 4 games, but the size advantage seems to show up in FT's. He had a reasonable 8 FTA in two games, but the other two he had 14 and 17 FTA, and that's going to be a factor in a possible playoff matchup. Keeping AD from the line will be tough for the Clippers. Average over the 4 games is 11.8 FTA/G

[SK21209]

It’s nice to see everyone pack in the Clippers forum, hope you all have been doing alright through the pandemic.

Like the other three games, this game showed me that that these two teams are pretty even. LeBron is still very favorable of dominating a game offensively or defensively, but I really don’t think he can do it for 40 minutes a night over the course of a series. AD is going to put up numbers against us because we just can’t match up with him physically; I think the best we can hope for is making him a midrange jump shooter and trying to keep him off the offensive glass/foul line.

The biggest takeaway for me is that PG looks great and despite the 11 attempted threes looked really aggressive trying to get to the rim. If we face the Lakers it’s going to be a 6 or 7 game series probably decided by a few possessions.

[madmaxmedia]

I missed the game, but at the end of the day it's going to be quantity over quality for us to beat the Lakers (perhaps the only team that is true for us.) Lebron and AD are an absolutely killer combo, they play complementary positions and each have so much gravity on the floor. Not having BOTH Lou and Trezz has a huge impact on our team, if anything if you're a Laker fan you want a 8-10 pt. win here.

I was expecting more from Zu and Shamet this year, I think Landry will come around. I think Zu needs to get quicker mentally, physically he is who he is (both goods and bads.)