GAME 63: Clippers (43-19) @ Pelicans (26-34)—Monday 5PM PDT

[NickP]

I am relaxed. I'm not a blind hater, I give PG tons of praise when he has good games, but performances like this are still alarming and worth noting. If PG is going to wilt under pressure like this in the limelight more often than not, this team has a much lower ceiling than people thought it did when it was constructed.

Every star is due for a off game and everyone was off this game

It's not a coincidence that PG's "off game" happened in an important seeding game with the media ranking us highly in the power rankings. He wilts under pressure. We can't really be surprised if he has another Mavs series type of performance in the playoffs.

I usually agree with you but not here. The clippers as a team were due for a bad game. They committed many turnovers, shot the ball poorly etc. I don't think there was wilting on anyone's part. Just a bad game. Bring on the Sun's.

[RingColluder]

Some of these posters would rather take being "right" over the Clippers winning a chip...lol

We should've won this game in our sleep. Another troubling game where the more we see of the same team, the worse we look. It's not about being "right' it's about seeing what's in front of our faces.

When we end up playing the Lakers or Mavs in a 6-7 round 1 game series vs. what could have been an easy 4-0 game sweep vs the Spurs or Grizzlies this will be the game that cost us.


PG had 5 points in the first 2 mins of the game, scored only 4 after that.How is this humanly possible?

Since it always seems to happen when things go the opposite way... seems like the PG fan club is awfully silent tonight. *shrug*

You're not wrong, but why are you complaining about possibly facing the Lakers in the first round when you were just saying a couple days ago that you wanted the Lakers in the first round?

If we get the 1 seed we'd be playing the Grizzlies or Spurs which is by far the easiest matchup. The nightmare scenario is to be in the 3 seed and play Lakers or Mavs when we COULD have easily gotten the 1 seed without a dumb game like this. In that scenario I still prefer the Lakers to just get it over with, but there's a major leap in talent clearly.

[RingColluder]

Every star is due for a off game and everyone was off this game

It's not a coincidence that PG's "off game" happened in an important seeding game with the media ranking us highly in the power rankings. He wilts under pressure. We can't really be surprised if he has another Mavs series type of performance in the playoffs.

I usually agree with you but not here. The clippers as a team were due for a bad game. They committed many turnovers, shot the ball poorly etc. I don't think there was wilting on anyone's part. Just a bad game. Bring on the Sun's.

That's surprising given MTV has been very vocal on his feelings on PG for a long time.

Well at least you aren't attempting to defend that performance

[MartinToVaught]

Every star is due for a off game and everyone was off this game

It's not a coincidence that PG's "off game" happened in an important seeding game with the media ranking us highly in the power rankings. He wilts under pressure. We can't really be surprised if he has another Mavs series type of performance in the playoffs.

I usually agree with you but not here. The clippers as a team were due for a bad game. They committed many turnovers, shot the ball poorly etc. I don't think there was wilting on anyone's part. Just a bad game. Bring on the Sun's.

PG having more turnovers than made baskets against one of the worst defenses in the league sure seems like wilting to me. He only had 9 points all game.

This is the type of game where a real superstar who's worth the $190 million steps up and carries the team knowing that it's a must-win. PG not being able to do that speaks volumes, especially since it's not a fluke, he has a long and storied track record of vanishing in the biggest games.

[esqtvd]

are we having fun yet





this was a scrimmage not a game
everybody got 20 minutes and PG stretched his legs and Rondo too and Boogie had a double-double and nobody got hurt

[Clemenza]

We lost, is it safe to come in here or not?

[LamarWho]

Instead of talking about how much PG sucked, I would like to talk about Boogie.

He showed us he can still bullied people in the paint tonight. Hernangomez and Hayes aren't exactly undersized centers.

This is something that Ibaka and Zubac are very mediocre at, finishing around the rim. I don't think we'll see Ibaka anytime soon, and honestly I am OK with that at this point.

[NickP]

It's not a coincidence that PG's "off game" happened in an important seeding game with the media ranking us highly in the power rankings. He wilts under pressure. We can't really be surprised if he has another Mavs series type of performance in the playoffs.

I usually agree with you but not here. The clippers as a team were due for a bad game. They committed many turnovers, shot the ball poorly etc. I don't think there was wilting on anyone's part. Just a bad game. Bring on the Sun's.

PG having more turnovers than made baskets against one of the worst defenses in the league sure seems like wilting to me. He only had 9 points all game.

This is the type of game where a real superstar who's worth the $190 million steps up and carries the team knowing that it's a must-win. PG not being able to do that speaks volumes, especially since it's not a fluke, he has a long and storied track record of vanishing in the biggest games.

PG also carried this team while Kawhi was out and has been pretty good this season. Let's evaluate PG and the team after the playoffs. Regular season only counts so much.

[NickP]

It's not a coincidence that PG's "off game" happened in an important seeding game with the media ranking us highly in the power rankings. He wilts under pressure. We can't really be surprised if he has another Mavs series type of performance in the playoffs.

I usually agree with you but not here. The clippers as a team were due for a bad game. They committed many turnovers, shot the ball poorly etc. I don't think there was wilting on anyone's part. Just a bad game. Bring on the Sun's.

That's surprising given MTV has been very vocal on his feelings on PG for a long time.

Well at least you aren't attempting to defend that performance

Look all I'm going to say is before I pass any judgement I'm going to wait for the playoffs. If PG says he was not 100% last playoffs then I'm ok with that. But if he sucks these playoffs then I'll be first in line to criticize him. The playoffs are barely 10 or so games away.

[Roscoe Sheed]

We should've won this game in our sleep. Another troubling game where the more we see of the same team, the worse we look. It's not about being "right' it's about seeing what's in front of our faces.

When we end up playing the Lakers or Mavs in a 6-7 round 1 game series vs. what could have been an easy 4-0 game sweep vs the Spurs or Grizzlies this will be the game that cost us.


PG had 5 points in the first 2 mins of the game, scored only 4 after that.How is this humanly possible?

Since it always seems to happen when things go the opposite way... seems like the PG fan club is awfully silent tonight. *shrug*

You're not wrong, but why are you complaining about possibly facing the Lakers in the first round when you were just saying a couple days ago that you wanted the Lakers in the first round?

If we get the 1 seed we'd be playing the Grizzlies or Spurs which is by far the easiest matchup. The nightmare scenario is to be in the 3 seed and play Lakers or Mavs when we COULD have easily gotten the 1 seed without a dumb game like this. In that scenario I still prefer the Lakers to just get it over with, but there's a major leap in talent clearly.

Isn't it possible that the #1 seed may play the Warriors. I know they aren't nearly as strong as they were in years past, but Curry has been on fire of late.

[RingColluder]

I usually agree with you but not here. The clippers as a team were due for a bad game. They committed many turnovers, shot the ball poorly etc. I don't think there was wilting on anyone's part. Just a bad game. Bring on the Sun's.

That's surprising given MTV has been very vocal on his feelings on PG for a long time.

Well at least you aren't attempting to defend that performance

Look all I'm going to say is before I pass any judgement I'm going to wait for the playoffs. If PG says he was not 100% last playoffs then I'm ok with that. But if he sucks these playoffs then I'll be first in line to criticize him. The playoffs are barely 10 or so games away.

I hope I'm wrong. But given his track record I'm very concerned.

[RingColluder]

You're not wrong, but why are you complaining about possibly facing the Lakers in the first round when you were just saying a couple days ago that you wanted the Lakers in the first round?

If we get the 1 seed we'd be playing the Grizzlies or Spurs which is by far the easiest matchup. The nightmare scenario is to be in the 3 seed and play Lakers or Mavs when we COULD have easily gotten the 1 seed without a dumb game like this. In that scenario I still prefer the Lakers to just get it over with, but there's a major leap in talent clearly.

Isn't it possible that the #1 seed may play the Warriors. I know they aren't nearly as strong as they were in years past, but Curry has been on fire of late.

Another team I don't want any part of. Trailblazers and Warriors w their superstar players I'd rather not play. W a healthy Klay I'd have them up higher than the Nuggets in terms of least wanting to play.

We'll assume we aren't playing the Pelicans, but from what I've seen it'd be another brutal slog probably 6 game series.

I'd say in order: 1) Spurs (4-0 easy)
2) Grizzlies (easy)
----
3) Warriors
----
4) Nuggets
5) trailblazers
----
6) Lakers (w a hobbled LeBron)
7) Jazz
8) Mavericks
9) Suns

I want no part of the Mavericks but it's looking like that's the matchup. Trailblazers w the Lillard revenge tour not into at all either. We still have not played them w Nurkic who's an X factor.

Assuming it's a hobbled LeBron, I'd be moderately fine playing them and seeing if we truly are a contender OR the ideal option is getting to that 1 seed and playing Memphis or San Antonio . Worst case Warriors.


But with this loss looking more likely to be a Portland or Dallas series especially with a loss on Wednesday. Big game.


The ideal scenario would be not playing the Lakers at all and going through Spurs, Nuggets, and Jazz.
Worst case is Mavericks, Suns, Lakers. If we have to play the Mavs Suns back to back and Lakers have an easy 4-5 game series like last year, we will be tired to beat them in round 3.

[Captain Ballmer]

Why is this game a more important seeding game than the Houston game? I'm not getting how this game importance ranking is working.

This game was easier on paper than the upcoming Suns and Nuggets games. We really needed this win tonight. Instead, thanks to Playoff P's chokejob, we might be stuck in the 4th seed by the end of the week and facing a very possible first-round exit against the Lakers (the most catastrophic outcome to the season). That's why it was important.

How so? remember the last time we played Pelicans? Their length, athleticism, physicality intimidates our old core, simple as that. They beat our .ss easily on that one too. They just have our number

[TrueLAfan]

I would’ve liked the win. And we looked bad, top to bottom, except for Boogie. But if we’re gonna lose a game, lose it and move on. Nitpicking over every loss and magnifying it isn’t useful or smart.

PG had an off game. People are going ****. Short memories. Including last night, PG’s line over his last 10 games has looked like this:

33.6 mpg, 28.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.5 blk. .5 stl. 4.0 TO, .497 FG%, .430 3P%

…and we’ve gone 8-2. Bad game. I don’t buy the “important seeding” game either. We played Portland twice and Phoenix once in that 10 game run, and he averaged 34-7-4 on 60% shooting. Pretty sure those were “important seeding” games too. Bad game. Play better next time. He obviously knows how to. I don’t like the occasional off game—but it doesn’t bother me as long as it doesn’t become a three game string, and/or 6 games out of 15 sort of thing. We need PG focused and on his game on a regular basis.

[NickP]

I would’ve liked the win. And we looked bad, top to bottom, except for Boogie. But if we’re gonna lose a game, lose it and move on. Nitpicking over every loss and magnifying it isn’t useful or smart.

PG had an off game. People are going ****. Short memories. Including last night, PG’s line over his last 10 games has looked like this:

33.6 mpg, 28.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.5 blk. .5 stl. 4.0 TO, .497 FG%, .430 3P%

…and we’ve gone 8-2. Bad game. I don’t buy the “important seeding” game either. We played Portland twice and Phoenix once in that 10 game run, and he averaged 34-7-4 on 60% shooting. Pretty sure those were “important seeding” games too. Bad game. Play better next time. He obviously knows how to. I don’t like the occasional off game—but it doesn’t bother me as long as it doesn’t become a three game string, and/or 6 games out of 15 sort of thing. We need PG focused and on his game on a regular basis.

This!
Now PG has to be evaluated in the playoffs. His regular season stats are awesome. Even made the AS team. Now let's just wait for the playoffs to see if he lives up to the max deal.

[og15]

Why is this game a more important seeding game than the Houston game? I'm not getting how this game importance ranking is working.

This game was easier on paper than the upcoming Suns and Nuggets games. We really needed this win tonight. Instead, thanks to Playoff P's chokejob, we might be stuck in the 4th seed by the end of the week and facing a very possible first-round exit against the Lakers (the most catastrophic outcome to the season). That's why it was important.

I'm not saying it isn't important, of course, but the Houston game was even easier on paper (and the Wolves), so on the same reasoning those were more important than New Orleans. They pulled off the win vs Houston even though it was close, this game was not any more important than the Houston, Grizzlies, Blazers or Wolves games, that's my point. I don't like this assigning greater importance to games whenever we decide to without a consistent method.

All games against weaker teams are going to be equally as important, so PG showed up and performed for like 4 straight equally important games, then to say he doesn't show up in the important games doesn't make sense. By this standard, basically any bad game he has the rest of the season would just be narrated to be specifically important and one can say, "oh look he didn't show up in the important games".

The most important games are going to be the games against teams close in the standings because those are the only ones where the Clippers can impact giving loses to those teams, but of course those are also harder games.

[SK21209]

A Monday night game against a Pelicans team that won't even make the play in is not the kind of high-pressure scenario upon which we should judge George. It was no "bigger" a game than the last few against the Rockets, Blazers, etc. where he was awesome. Wednesday against the Suns, though, is a different story, although I'm not convinced the team cares about the getting the 2 or 3 seed unless the Lakers fall to 6. We probably all would rather see the Blazers/Grizzlies instead of the Mavs but I don't see us dropping more than 2 games to any of them.

[RingColluder]

It's not about PG not playing good in a "big game", it's that this is the type of game that decides the difference between us getting the 1 and the 3 seed. He **** the bed when we needed him to play AVERAGE and he couldn't even do that. That's not a clutch issue that's either a bunch of the Clipper taking the weekend off and not thinking this game matters, or inconsistency from a guy making max money. Horrendous.

Better step it up for the Suns. We're locked into 3rd with a loss there and are at the mercy of other teams from then on rather than even having a chance to control our destiny.

[og15]

It's not about PG not playing good in a "big game", it's that this is the type of game that decides the difference between us getting the 1 and the 3 seed. He **** the bed when we needed him to play AVERAGE and he couldn't even do that. That's not a clutch issue that's either a bunch of the Clipper taking the weekend off and not thinking this game matters, or inconsistency from a guy making max money. Horrendous.

Better step it up for the Suns. We're locked into 3rd with a loss there and are at the mercy of other teams from then on rather than even having a chance to control our destiny.

Every single loss is going to be, "the type of game that determines whether the Clippers are 1 or 3", you know what games are going determine that even more so, a game against the Suns.

If you want to talk about PG having a bad game, go ahead, talk about that, but it happens, so no one reasonable should hop on some doom and gloom from this game. On the other hand, don't start making up some stuff (not you specifically, but anyone) about this game being some high pressure, specially important game in order to magnify his bad game as more than it is, that is what people are trying to sneak in, and doing that is pure poppycock.

[og15]

I usually agree with you but not here. The clippers as a team were due for a bad game. They committed many turnovers, shot the ball poorly etc. I don't think there was wilting on anyone's part. Just a bad game. Bring on the Sun's.

That's surprising given MTV has been very vocal on his feelings on PG for a long time.

Well at least you aren't attempting to defend that performance

Look all I'm going to say is before I pass any judgement I'm going to wait for the playoffs. If PG says he was not 100% last playoffs then I'm ok with that. But if he sucks these playoffs then I'll be first in line to criticize him. The playoffs are barely 10 or so games away.

....and if PG is bad these playoffs, not if he has a bad game here and there, but if he is bad like last season, which I said was an outlier ( we'll see), then he knows he's trade eligible in June and he will not be safe from trade.