ROUND 1, GAME 3: Clippers @ Mavs Friday 6:30PM PDT on ESPN

[Quake Griffin]

And Luka is annoying. Please God, do not lettuce lose a series to this guy.

Nothing but high signing, finger wagging and chirping in Los Angeles. Clippers show some sign of life and now it's ice packs on the shoulder, grimacing, stretching his shoulder.
-_-

He did this last year with the ankle.

Want to add to this....

What scoring guard screams "he can't guard me" about a slow footed 7 footer?

Kobe did it to Battier in a Lakers-Houston series.
Jordan did it to Gerald Wilkins who people thought could guard Jordan.


A guard screaming he can't guard me about Zubac eh?

Please don't lose a series to this twerp.

[NickP]

Extremely happy we won but equally bummed out because had Lue made simple adjustments we'd be at least 2-1. Now there's a huge task to win game 4. Does anyone think that if we fall behind 19 again that Dallas will let us come back?
We need to play with some sense of urgency. Simply cannot come out and start games like we don't care. We can beat this team but clearly we have to set the tone early.

[wakelaunch1]

Y'all gotta leave Jackson alone. The man did his job tonight

Mann/Rondo are better for this team. Smarter players, better defense. Everything turned around once Mann/Rondo inserted in the game. I

THis team has the offensive weapons with PG and Kawhi. Needs more team/defense/ speed/athletism which Jackson is not.

Everyone that started the game with Zubac being on and having possessions guarding Morris didn't look as good in that stretch. Jackson did a very solid job. Made shots, good ball movement, did a good job avoiding being switched on the Luka. He balances those other two out because he's a shooter. Jackson's presence got Morris open in the corner, because Dallas was closing out hard on him after doubles or closing the paint vs Kawhi or George. This allowed the second pass to get Morris open and wide open shots in the corner. Mann and Rondo don't create that because they don't get closed out on as quickly.

I disagree, and the box score doesnt lie. You have to speed up the Mavs. It you let them do what they want to do then we get bounced. Rondo calling out defenses, helping Zu and every other player on defense. Rondos plus/minus +22 Mann +18 vs. Jackson -4 and Morris -3. They just put so much more pressure on the ball. Kawhi needs bullys around him to bully the Mavs. The Mavs are just too good of shooters to be left alone. Jackson and Morris are just slow on defense.

Game 2 Mann +5 and Rondo +13 vs Jackson +2 / Morris -12. THe combo of Mann/Rondo need more minutes then Jackson/Morris

https://theathletic.com/nba/boxscore/?id=16604

[Scoundreldays]

So happy they proved me wrong after my comments the first few minutes of the game. The fights no where near over so let's bring that energy to game 4.

[NippySudz]

Game 3 is done. Let's go get game 4. One game at a time!

[NickP]

So happy they proved me wrong after my comments the first few minutes of the game. The fights no where near over so let's bring that energy to game 4.

It's not unusual to get on your team when you see lackluster effort in a playoff game. And when we're down 0-2!
We need to stay a step ahead and play with the intensity that Dallas plays with to start the game. We need to set the tone early in game 4 and make it tough on them and fill them with enough doubt.
Simply put, we cannot afford to go down 7 points, let alone 19 in game 4.

[BenchOnaQUEST]

Clippers finally playing playoff basketball.

Morris has shaken off the cobweb, that'll help enormously going forward, now the Mavs will have to make some hard choices defensively when he's on the court with both 213.
Finally figured out how to defend against Doncic-centric offense in the second half, Mavs will have to make adjustments or it will no longer work for them.

Mann will have a lot more minutes going forward and that will help enormously.

The future just got a lot brighter.
Now to see us put some pressure on them by playing Kennard 8-12 minutes a game at strategic times, and some others contribute scoring like they did all year... Batum, Reggie, Mann... Space the floor and let Zu get a few easy ones...

[Max Headrom]

Insert Reggie back in with the starters. Bev didn't deserve to come back and start. The starters had a nice rhythm with Reggie and then Rondo needs to get all of Bev minutes

Ty Lue, are you reading my post???

[MartinToVaught]

Insert Reggie back in with the starters. Bev didn't deserve to come back and start. The starters had a nice rhythm with Reggie and then Rondo needs to get all of Bev minutes

Ty Lue, are you reading my post???

After how bad that starting lineup looked with Reggie, we might need Lue to put you on ignore.

[esqtvd]

That corner 3 has been very generous tonight

Jackson / Morris were 6/22 from 3PT in games 1/2, Morris was the main one missing a lot at 2/11 and he's at the corner more often, they have to revert back to the mean at some point in time with how many open shots they were getting.

Since we dumped Lou and already shed Trez [a combined 39 ppg last year] the question has been WHERE ARE WE GONNA GET POINTS?

Thank God Morris pulled out of his playoff tailspin with three 3s just in time in the 4th and just managed the 15 we need from him before fouling out. And though Reggie struggled and finished a bit in the red, SOMEBODY'S got put the ball in hole and his 16 points were invaluable too.

Rondo did what Rondo is supposed to--only 6 points but 8 assists and a team-high plus+22. His new running buddy T-Mann reflected in Rondo's glory with a plus+17 on only 4 points himself, which is pretty much all we ever asked of the late great Patrick Beverley. Get it done SOMEHOW, down and dirty, by hook or crook. And Mann has more length to compete in the paint vs the tall Mavs team, so he's just what the doctor ordered with Bev on the fritz.

Needless to say, if tonight's Kawhi and PG had shown up for Game 7 last year, the Clips would have advanced to the WCF. And it took 40+ minutes from each to bring this home tonight, in only the first win out of 16 needed. With Zubac only out there for 11 minutes and Beverley 6, Batum's typically quiet [but effective] plus+7 in 27 minutes left us with only a 7-man rotation tonight.

So much for the "deepest rotation in the NBA." That sure thinned out quick.

A hard-fought win that took everything we had. With all due respect to defense, the Mavs average 112 and we held them to "only" 108 tonight. WE NEED POINTS and Kawhi [36] and PG [29] scored almost half of ours [64 of 118] tonight. This cannot hold.

[Quake Griffin]

Read on Twitter

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[esqtvd]

Read on Twitter

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Every old team needs some young blood. With all props to basketball IQ and experience, this is athletics, not chess.

[In fact, even chess is athletic. Your chess champions aren't 70, they're 30!]

[esqtvd]

Extremely happy we won but equally bummed out because had Lue made simple adjustments we'd be at least 2-1. Now there's a huge task to win game 4. Does anyone think that if we fall behind 19 again that Dallas will let us come back?
We need to play with some sense of urgency. Simply cannot come out and start games like we don't care. We can beat this team but clearly we have to set the tone early.

Pretty much yanking two starters [Zubac 11 minutes and Beverley 6 minutes off the bench] and then having a third one pull his game off the shi*itpile with a stunning wtf 3 straight 3s in the 4th quarter before fouling out--that was hardly simple.

That's an earthquake, bro. And you only do it when you've dropped the first 2 games at home. Pure panic button. Which Ty clearly needed to push, mind you.

[esqtvd]

So happy they proved me wrong after my comments the first few minutes of the game. The fights no where near over so let's bring that energy to game 4.

Time enough to hate on them in the offseason. I know it's hard to believe but for now they're all we've got.

[esqtvd]

Insert Reggie back in with the starters. Bev didn't deserve to come back and start. The starters had a nice rhythm with Reggie and then Rondo needs to get all of Bev minutes

Ty Lue, are you reading my post???

16 points, only a minus-4 after the starters took an initial minus-19 dump. Good call.

[Clemenza]

Great win tonight and we're finally back in the series! Sunday is going to be a war but we're going to get them again. I got a feeling Luka is going to run out of gas.

[mttwlsn16]

Luka is a bitch. Can't stand the guy. Close 2nd to LeBron on my "I can't stand you" list.

Dude is a baby.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Quake Griffin]

They go 12/22 in the first half from 3.

Second half they go 8/17 from three. This can really be viewed effectively as 6/14 because Luka just threw up 3 threes when the game was all but over and made 2 of them.

Add that another one of those 2nd half threes was an offensive rebound kick out to Brunson.

It’s great when Luka is “carving us up” from 2 and they aren’t raining 3s from everywhere. Also becomes more obvious that they have trouble gusrding us if they aren’t making threes every time down.

[Max Headrom]

They go 12/22 in the first half from 3.

Second half they go 8/17 from three. This can really be viewed effectively as 6/14 because Luka just threw up 3 threes when the game was all but over and made 2 of them.

Add that another one of those 2nd half threes was an offensive rebound kick out to Brunson.

It’s great when Luka is “carving us up” from 2 and they aren’t raining 3s from everywhere. Also becomes more obvious that they have trouble gusrding us if they aren’t making threes every time down.

That's why it's good to see Kawhi and PG attack them in the paint relentlessly. They clearly see Dallas can't do anything to stop them when they drive beside get the score or get sent to the free throw line

[flow]

There's no excuse for not starting Rondo moving forward. The difference he makes when he's on the floor is dramatic.

Reggie Jackson is not a point guard. He's a scoring guard. He looked decent playing next to Rondo, but he's a waste at the point and should never be starting at the 1.

.