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Let's discuss. This is Clippers locker road breaking down today's action with the pre and post game voice of the Clippers. Here's a a moss led.
The Clippers are still winless here in the regular season at into a Dome as they drop a tough one Clipper Nation they lose one, six to one five to the Portland Trail Blazers. Welcome into your postgame show. I'm out a maslind Well, we have a moment with you. Let's pause ten seconds for station identification. Here in the Los Angeles Clippers audio network, this.
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Clippers lose by one to the Portland Trail Blazers in heartbreaking fashion. Hear it into it Dome where they weren't able to execute an inbound pass at the end, which just over three seconds left.
Let's bring back.
In your radio voice of the Clippers in Carlo Jimenez. So I told you off air this is about as bad of a loss as you can have this early in the season. Luckily it is still early in the season. But this is a tough one and the Clippers just did not string together enough stops and execute enough on the offensive end, especially in the fourth quarter. Far too many miscues and mishaps.
Carlo, Yeah, I mean for the Clippers down the stretch, they were playing with fire a little bit by allowing Portland to hang around close. But Adam, they were right there when they had opportunities to erase their mistakes and come away with the win. Norman Pala lay up late zoo box with two free throws to either tire or take the lead, and then an inbound pass with four
seconds left and you throw the ball over. You look at this game and you say, man, Portland played well, but the Clippers had every opportunity to come back in this ball game. They couldn't get it done. And now the pressure turns to Phoenix where you don't get the You're on the front end of the back to back and you have a chance to maybe get one of this back to back, but you're gonna have to do it with heavier legs.
Oh yeah, I know.
Viatz Zubots we talked about it. Heading into this ballgame, he and James Harden, how many minutes would they play?
Well?
Big Zoo was at thirty one, James Harden was at thirty two. They couldn't keep their guys under thirty. Norrin Powell was at thirty five minutes. Really frustrating way to lose a ballgame. I know we'll hear from Coach lou a little bit later here under postgame Clippers talk, but the misfree throws are just inexcusable, and it just felt like to me in this ballgame they got off on the wrong foot, especially with getting away from their bread and butter, the high pick and roll, with the beats
of zoobots and James Harden. We talked about it, but in the first half, Big Zoo was what over four? That's inexcusable. You mentioned it, but two of his attempts were off of offensive rebounds. They weren't getting him the basketball and he wasn't demanding the basketball. There's blame to go on both sides. But to me, the game was lost in some ways early on when they just weren't playing this new brand of Clippers basketball, which means it's
no longer an option to get Big Zoo involved. It is a necessity right now with where the Clippers are at.
It really is.
I mean, you see where you miss him today, Adam. The Clippers just couldn't find any interior presence with a Vitza Zubats unable to get going on that end. The Clippers, like you said, didn't really feed him the basketball, even though their offense was running through him to the first three games. All of a sudden they go away from it a little bit. I think for a team that played to their strengths through the first three games, they almost played away from their strengths here today. They were
unable to dominate the painted area. They gave up twelve offensive rebounds, something we talked about pregame. Portland's the tallest team in the NBA. They were gonna get on the glass. They got on the glass here today and you're right at them. A disappointing loss, especially when you think about Tyler Low's never lost to Chauncey Billups. The Clippers have had Portland's number for years. They have won sixteen or fifteen of the last sixteen contest before tonight. Between these
two teams, it's just an uncharacteristic loss. Credit to Nanfrey Simon's in Portland. But it's not like the Blazers executed late either. Felt like they missed a couple of shots. Their final shot was a DeAndre eight and three who went one for ten last year from outside of the Yark. There were chances for the Clippers and they were unable to take up, to take the opportunity and step through the front door and kind of take over this ballgame late.
It's a tough loss.
You hope losses like this are a little bit of a wake up call because the Clippers were playing so well against the top three of the top three teams out West to start the year, and then you lose this one to Portland, and now all of a sudden, you wonder where are we? Where are we in the power rankings? How do we understand where we fit out West? You got a chance to prove yourself against Phoenix tomorrow. We'll see if the Clippers can do that.
Felt like it was the little things tonight, you know, death by paper cuts, and a lot of them were self inflicted by this team. When it comes to just not playing with the same level of effort. I know the opponent is the.
Portland Sharyl Blazers.
We all knew that coming in, but you can't act like, oh, this is a team that's going for Cooper Flag or whatever the perception is of the Portland Trail Blazers that they're going to be at the top of the draft. You have to come out with the same focus. And I talked about coming into this game We're gonna learn something about the Clippers tonight.
Tonight they didn't have that focus.
Yeah, which is I think surprising for us, and I want to speak for both of us, Adam, but when you think about the intensity that the Clippers have played with, especially on the defenseman the first three games, it always felt like if one thing was consistent, they played hardy. Whether they lost or won, they played hard through the first three games. Chris Don and Derreck Jones Junior are a big cattle, so that they were able to pound underneath with the Vitza zubots. And today there wasn't that
same intensity. There wasn't that same execution on the offensive end. In late in the clutch, the Clippers had been dominant, they'd been dominant the offensive end in the clutch, unable to be effective today, and then you have the sloppy turnovers late. Just an odd game because the way this team was trending, they were gonna hang their hat on their hustle, and today I think a little bit of that wasn't there for them.
It almost felt like at times Portland was asking them to take the ball game.
They weren't playing great either.
The Clippers were up eighty five to eighty two heading into that fourth quarter.
They hit one hundred first.
This would be the first time in a Clippers game so far this season the team that got to one hundred first lost. They were in control, They had that defensive stop. Norman Pale gets out, tries to take it down the court, gets his shot blocked, it's off of him. And just the lack of execution in key moments by this Clippers team, missing a couple of free throws, including their last three attempts at the charity stripe, big part of their undoing.
Chris Taylor, our statistician today, just handing me a no adam. The Clippers had two made field goals in the last five thirty five of the ballgame. Their last made bucket came with a buck fifty six on o'clock. So you go five and a half minutes, two field goals, three minutes apart. Killer for the Clippers down the stretch again, an offense six from the field in the clutch. Through
the first three games. It just evaporated here today. It's unfortunate, I think the Clippers, though, there's a lot to learn from this. Sometimes losses. They say this in football all the time, but sometimes if you lose an early game like this, it kind of wakes you up for how you need to play, how you can try to be
more effective down the stretch. And for the Clippers, a tough one against Portland, but you hope that they take away from this game, learn something for it and come out with that intensity that we expected of them through the first three games, because they brought it through the first three games.
Yeah, and a season like this with a small margin for air, you just can't have too many of these slip ups. They got to get it back tomorrow night against the Phoenix Suns. Clippers fall one six to one oh five to the Portland trail Blazers here at into It Dome on the front end of a back to back Carlojmennez great call as always. We'll see you right back here tomorrow night.
My friend Adam, we get to hang out tomorrow night.
Let's go.
It's not all bad.
Coming up next, we'll get to your final box score. We'll walk you through how they Clippers lost by one to the Portland Trail Blazers. Hear it into a dome. I'm at a Maslin and you're listening to the Los Angeles Clippers Audio Network.
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Back to Clippers basketball.
Clippers lose one six to one oh five here at home and into a dome where they are winless so far in two attempts in the regular season.
Welcome back in. I'm at a Moslim.
This is your Clippers post game show. Coming up, we will have Clippers Talk for you on the Patriot AM. Eleven fifty eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty is.
The phone number.
We are also live on YouTube at Clippers Talk. The chat is just blowing up. I can't even keep up with it right now. I know the level of disappointment coming off the weekend and then two days off where you really get to bask in the afterglow of two huge victories against Denver against the Golden State Warriors, and for the most part, outside of a few possessions where it looked more like Clippers basketball, especially defensively where they locked in. They had a twenty four second violation in
the fourth quarter here against the Portland Trail Blazers. They got some stops, but offensively, you gotta knock down your free throws and you can't have who just two made baskets in the last five minutes and thirty five seconds. We knew they would struggle at times offensively, but some of the miscues out there. Just go to the final play of the game. The pass on the sideline from James Harden, that's just I think normOn Powell was opening on that possession. I'm gonna have to look at it again.
You give a little tap on the back right before they went into formation. I thought maybe it was going to Norman Powell. There was some indication there. Instead, they tried to go to a viza zubats underneath the basket against DeAndre Ayton, who quite frankly out tonight, easily eatenon even hit a three pointer.
Of eacha.
Zubats by far had his worst game of the season. I hope he got it out of his system. I think it's twofold. It works both ways. They weren't getting him the basketball and Zubas wasn't demanding it. The body language wasn't good. I did like the fact that after he missed those two free throws he got the spectacular
block that Bill Russell block it in get the rebound. However, those little moments of an indication of who the Slippers had been with their identity so far through three games coming into this one, they were just hit and miss. You got glimpses here and there of how they had played the first three games, but they weren't consistent. They
didn't string together enough good possessions offensively or defensively. I thought Clippers ended up shooting four twenty five make it forty six percent from the floor to Portland's forty five percent. Big difference in this game. Carlo Heman has brought it up though Portland with those offensive rebounds, that was a
determining factor they ended up with. I think they tied the Clippers with thirteen, but they made the most of them because Portland had twenty two second chance points, the Clippers just twelve, frustrating one Clipper Nation, as they actually shot better from three than they had been thirteen of thirty six. A lot of that was Norman Palell. I know a lot of you guys are saying Norman Powell for president. Norm Palell showed up.
He was great.
He had thirty He had three threes, I want to say in the third quarter or was that early fourth five of ten from the outside.
Yeah, third quarter.
Team Man didn't have a good game. Again, didn't play much at all in the second half. Again, he at least took a couple of threes in a jumper. He looked for a show a little bit more. It's not enough and any more offense from him. But this is a frustrating one. It's just inexcusable. I'm telling you it's too early in the season to panic with seventy eight
games left. But I think it's also fair when everybody comes into this game and says, hey, this is as close as you can get to a must win in an early season bout because the opponent, because you had two days off because you have Phoenix coming up tomorrow. Instead, it felt like at times the Clippers played down to their competition and give Portland credit, Simon stepped up late,
he took over at times. On the fourth quarter they put together a twelve zero run, an eight to zero run, a five to zero run near the end of the third quarter. Portland won the hustle stats. They did more of the little things. They beat the Clippers at their own game at times disappointing. Disappointing night to say the least quick time out will come back. Still have Clippers talk coming up the Patriot Am eleven fifty eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty is the phone number.
I'm outa Moslin. Here it into a dome. After the Clippers fall by one of the Portland trail Blazers one O six to one oh five, and you're listening to the Los Angeles Clippers Audio Network.
I love this team.
I never miss a game.
You're listening to LA Clippers basketball free ball. Yes, sir, right here on the LA Clippers Audio Network.
Slippers lose one O six to one oh five at home and into a dome to the Portland trail Blazers, difficult, frustrating loss. Clipper Nation, I get it. We'll talk about it. Eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty.
Is the phone number. But no rest for the weary. I don't know if this is a good or bad news.
The Clippers got to get right back up off the mat and take on to Phoenix Suns here tomorrow night, who had the night off. Much was made of this back to back and the Clippers trying to put a team away early. Maybe instead they take a bad loss.
To the Portland trail Blazers. Give credit to Portland.
But we got a lot to talk about with this Clippers team outside of Los Angeles. We are out of here until tomorrow night.
We will be leaving you.
When they face the Phoenix Suns tiptime seven thirty, pre game six thirty in LA. It's Clippers talk next year on the Patriot A one.
Fifty Why because I was everybody want to And with that, just like that, another Clipper broadcast is ended, parting Chudging and this has been Clippers locker Road a postgame look. It's Today's scam.
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At follow Adam a adam Ousley.
Clippers lose of the Portland Trail Blazer's one six to one oh five here and into a Dome, and it's got Clipper Nation feeling like this season is going up in a blaze. There's still two and two, it's still early. I'll try to talk you down away from the ledge here on Clippers Talk tonight. Try to bring some sanity myself here. I know you guys will try to help
me with that. At eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five to two zero eleven fifty is I'm a little bit worked up about this one. Clippers have yet to win here and into a Dome, and they've lost both games that were very winnable in a similar fashion where they had the ball late against Phoenix, were down by three, didn't get a shot off turnover. Tonight they're down by one against Portland, didn't get a shot off turnover.
Two.
Familiar, a little too familiar in all the wrong ways. After we've been praising them all weekend, in the last two days for showing up in Denver, for showing up in San Francisco against Golden State. Just really really frustrating and demoralizing. I'm sure for Clipper Nation to see the Clippers come back to into it be waiting have two days of really rallying around this team, and then they
lose to the Portland Trailblazers one, six five. I tried to put out some warning signs saying you can't overlook anyone, especially this early in the season. Set it on multiple episodes on Clipper Stock on YouTube, and if you're watching on that side right now, I'll get to some of the chat here in a bit if you want to call in, we're on the Patriot Am eleven fifty eight, seven to seven, five to two zero eleven fift But I don't know how you put together a performance like
this after what we just saw this past weekend. And lay an egg in this fashion and have a letdown like this. It's early in the season. Teams like Portland who aren't supposed to do much we'll see are at a talent disadvantage. But there's belief early in the year there's hope. Especially with the play in now, feel like, hey, ten teams in each conference get into the Dance the tournament. If you want to dumb this down, so it's just the Clippers at the free throw line, that's fair, But
I think it started before that. I think this was an earned loss by the Clippers. I felt like if they had won it, they snuck away or they got away with something. Some people say a win's a win, a loss is a loss. Sure, you can look at that at the very end of the season. But I think habits you build matter. How you play matters, how.
You win, how you lose matters.
You can play great and defeat and build off something you did in that game and it turns into a win later, or you can develop bad habits during wins that can eventually come back to bite you. That's what it felt like tonight if the Clippers got away with this one. Amina Sean says on the YouTube side. We were playing with our food at him.
I don't know. Like they were down at the half.
This Clippers team, they could have been down more at the half. It could have been worse. They made a little bit of a run at the end of the second quarter. They were only up by two after the first quarter. I thought there were warning signs. We talked about it during the broadcast. If eats and Zubas is not getting involved, what's going on? Seems like he wasn't engaged and the Clippers weren't looking for him. He took four shots in the first half, two of them were
on off defensive rebounds, so created by himself. What's going on there? I'm gonna say it again. I tweeted this out. I said it early in the post game. It's not an option to get of each Zubats involved. It's a necessity. The team's gotta look for him early and often. They got to get to the high pick and roll, like the one they ran very late in the game that got him to the free throw line on the miss dunk where he ran strong to the basket and James Harden found him.
Where was that early? Where was that urgency? Where was the intensity.
That's what I'm most disappointed in. I don't know if they started reading their own headlines or starting to think, hey, we just took out two solid teams on the road this past weekend. We can sleepwalk through this one and have a matinee like start, because that's what it felt like people had brought up. It was a trap game. But if you know going in it can be won, don't let it happen to you. Don't overlook this team for Phoenix because you want revenge over what happened last week.
Now they need revenge over what happened tonight. Now tomorrow's game is even a bigger contest. I'm telling you it's not a necessity. It's not an option to get Avitza Zubas involved. It's a necessity period. Get him involved early and often on this team right now without Kawhi Leonard, or you're gonna have a real struggle on offense.
I felt like.
Avitza Zuboss was checked out at times defensively because they weren't getting him involved.
On the offensive end.
And while they held this team to one hundred and six points and that's good, I still didn't feel great about it. There were possessions that were great. They got stops in the fourth quarter twenty four second violation. There was some defensive brilliance. There was that play where right afterwards it was Derek Jones Junior and James Harden talking to one another, grabbing each other, holding hands, doing a little dosey dough.
They were having fun.
It was cool to see because they put together a really fine defensive play. I don't know if there were enough of those. And then offensively, it just we knew at times it would be a grind.
It has been.
They were twenty fifth offensively heading into this game. They'll probably drop even lower in the offensive ratings after this, right you would expect, But Harden looks tired. I keep telling y'all this is why they have to try to find something.
With Kevin Porter Junior.
You're talking about how poorly he has played, and I thought tonight was probably easily his best game. They were forced feeding him the basketball to get a three. At one point, Chris Dunn had it on the right wing, he was open. He gave it right back to Kevin Porter Junior instead of taking it, like go man, we need you to score, We need you to get going We're in trouble without you, and I understand that. And I thought Kevin Porter Junior had some good moments, a
reverse layup, a steal, and a score. He got a jumper to go early on the right elbow, that side stepping layup. He created a mismatch in the second half and found Kai who they had to foul. He's just not quite up to speed enough yet to where you can really rely on anyone else to control the game without James Harden having to do everything hard and again ten assists but five turnovers. The high usage is catching up with him. He was averaging twelve and seven turnovers
coming into this one, twelve assist to seven. He got hot with a couple of big three pointers that were clutch shots, but Clippers had two May baskets the last five minutes and thirty five seconds of the game. And you survive if you just hit your free throws. James Harden missing two free throws, going one for two twice late is just it's just a killer. It cannot happen. Not after a miss free throw led to Phoenix winning. Not the only reason, but was a reason part of it.
The other night, then he made some clutch free throws against Denver four or five, Mark miss free throw, two fifty seven Mark miss free throw. In between that, he hit a three. But Anthony Simon's got hot. What I tell you about him in the preview earlier today, he gets going. It is tough to turn a guy like that off. He is a killer in the other sense. He's coming for your heart. He gets it going and he brings out the flamethrower. I want to see what he ended up at the fourth quarter. I'll look for
that in a little bit. But they missed their last three free throws. James Harden misses two under the five minute mark. That's that's how you escape from a fate that they probably deserved in this one, playing down to their opponent. But it never should have come to that to begin with with this Clippers team.
Tonight, right.
We roll and said, can't believe we can stop him five times in a row and not get a bucket. Yeah, I mean they had some really good stops in the fourth quarter. They ramp things up, they ratcheted things up, but they gave up thirty to Portland in the second and twenty eight to them the third quarter. They're down at the half shouldn't happen by four, and it could have been worse. It was what a normOn Powell buzzer beater. Yeah, they were down by nine, make it eleven with a
minute oh seven left in that second quarter. That's just brutal. Fifty four to forty three. A Mere Coffee gets a five to zero run where I think it was, Yeah, a good Kai offensive rebound. Kay Jones played hard. I gotta give it up to him tonight. I thought Ky Jones played really hard. He had a big offensive rebound saved it. A Mere Coffee gets a layup in transition,
makes a three. It's fifty four to forty eight heading into the half, and normOn Pale gets a bucket to go at the very end, going down the left side of the lane off the backboard before the buzzer goes. So they're down to eleven. Definitely playing with their food some with uh just about a minute left to go into the half, and they cut it to four.
They were lucky to do that.
Portland went at one time had a twelve zero run in the second quarter, then they had an eight to zero run in the second quarter. I just think the Clippers didn't deserve this one. KPJ definitely had a couple of really bad turnovers, that's for sure, five of them total.
That is definitely worth pointing.
Out where he was too loose with the basketball and still just doesn't look up to NBA speed. I would consider bones Highland. I would pray Brandon play Brandon Miller. I'm always saying Brandon Miller, Jordan Miller, but I don't know it was happen, and I understand why I do. Kevin Bord Junior is average nineteen in the game, and when it looks good, it looks real good. That reverse layup was crazy. He has a lot of what the Clippers need in theory.
Is he there yet? Can they wait for him to get there?
I don't know.
They need to win tomorrow.
I know this is game one of a five game homestand but it was an important one and I'm not going to back down from that. After I said throughout the day that this was one you need that you have to win all four games against Portland. They got a gift getting four games against Portland, a team outside of their division in the Pac div because they're one of the lesser teams in the West and they got them four times. You should have won every one of those.
They already drop one. These are the ones that come back to haunt you later. They could have been three to one, as Blue R said, two and two Suns tomorrow. We'll take a quick time out. We'll come back eight seven seven, five to two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five two zero eleven. Fifty is the phone number. I'm out a maslin. You're listening to Clippers talk post game on the Patriot Amblem.
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Clippers lose by one and into a dome one o six to one oh five in an eerily similar fashion as Halloween Is Tomorrow to the game they lost to the Phoenix. Suns were once again they had a chance to tie the game or win the game late, and it ends with the turnover instead, James Harden with the basketball and the inbounds pass looking for a Vitza Zubats
and it's battered away by DeAndre Aiden. It almost reminds me of like some reverse bizarro world of the value in game two of that Western Conference Finals with the Clippers in Phoenix, where everything is going the other way. This time is the Clippers on offense, it's them inbounding it. They had more time of Eata Zubats still battling with DeAndre Ayton, but he's battling to get the basketball. Ayden defends it really well. There could have been a foul,
but they're never gonna call it in this situation. So I understand that he plays the level of physicality against a Eatazubas that they needed Zubats two against Ayton in Game two of that playoff game, and instead of it, instead of it ending with a h I don't know, a Clippers lob city play here, it ends in a turnover. Just everything goes the other way, also in a negative for the Clippers. They lose one six to one oh five.
Welcome back into your Clippers Top post game show. I'm Adam Mosland eight seven seven five to two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five to two zero eleven fifty if you're watching on the YouTube live side, I do have the final possession here and we can go over a little bit because it's going to define the game in some ways. But to me, it's not why the Clippers lost the game either. I have to be honest about that. They had plenty of opportunities to pull away.
They didn't take advantage. Their offense wasn't in sync, and I think it was out of sync from the get go because they weren't going through zoo Vita Zubots at all. So on the final possession three point nine, three point nine seconds left, James Harden you want him as the inbounder on the far sideline. Avitza Zubots comes in immediately, and I like the set.
He sets a.
Screen for Derek Jones Junior, screens his man and and djj is open in the far side corner. There's Option one doesn't even look like James Harden is looking his way. Gives him a little bit of a look, but alects not to Option two is of Eatza. Zubos then screens Norman Palell's man in Jeremy Grant gives them a little bit of a bump. Norman Powell gets out way on the left wing from about it might be thirty five thirty eight forty feet out he's wide open. There's three
point nine seconds left. You could give it to him there. It's conceivable that Norman Powell gets the basketball there and has enough time to go to work. Whether he wants to take a three, which is unnecessary, either down by one or get inside the arc. There is enough time for that or dark towards the basket. As of Viatza, Zubats is just tangled up. When you watch the play with DeAndre Aiden, I mean, Deandre's got his jersey at the level of eatsa, Zubos should have had his before
the value oop. The lob pass, the mortar fire pass from James Harden is deflected by the right arm of DeAndre Ayden while he and Zubots are battling. He's got his left arm on Zubots holding him down. They're never gonna call that foul. I don't think they should. That's just a battle between two big men, and DeAndre aid won the battle in every way people have been pointing out in the chat on Clippers Talk Live on YouTube Eighten is Zoo's kryptonite. It's fair. He played really well
in that series in twenty twenty one. I thought Zoo was okay outside the value loop where he just needed to play tougher right then at the end, you just can't let ad and get to that spot, do whatever you have to. They're not gonna call a foul there. Harden does look exhausted. This was my concern over the weekend. Can you really keep this up this many minutes? He didn't play as many and he still looked tired. He was at thirty two. Some are saying, no, no, no,
this is the ramp up process. He's getting his Sea legs. He's getting his NBA legs. Maybe, or maybe he's thirty five and having it to do way too much right now. That's a distinct possibility as well. I thought, just like the game against Phoenix, he made some really good plays late and some really bad plays late. I thought the Clippers in the fourth quarter, you know, they hit a twomb three to start it, they had some really good opportunities.
They didn't close out the third the way they should have, first of all, and these are the little things that kill you when it comes to a death by paper cut situation where the Clippers were in control to some degree into the third quarter. It is eighty five to seventy seven, with a minute twenty two left, Scoo gets a layup and a three pointer just like that cuts it to a three point game hands heading into the fourth. It's lessened that blow that run by Niko, Buttoom immediately
knocking down a three to start the fourth. But they just couldn't string enough shots together or stops. KPJ had a really bad take early in the fourth quarter that got swatted, but then he had a really nice feed to Jones for a dunk. But seven point straight from who was it Rupert of Portland. That was a big turning point in the game. I gotta be honest. That hurt them these I know basketball is a game of runs.
They were extreme in this game, absolutely, and it was because the Clippers offense just going into deep lolls.
Uh rupe pair.
Would be how you pronounce it, as I checked the pronunciation on Basketball Reference. Rupe Peer had seven straight points early in the fourth quarter.
Those were big.
KPJ did have that step back bucket, Emir had a nice block, but I didn't like them forcing the basketball to Kevin Porter Junior. As I mentioned earlier, Chris Dunn got it on the right wing, gave it right back to KPJ and told him to shoot it, didn't make it, then missed another three.
I get it.
They're trying to get him going, but instead Klingon makes a three pointer. Both big men for the Portland Trail Blazers make threes. You could say that's bad luck on the Clippers part, and Klingon hit like two threes in college and last year I think DeAndre Eighten was two for ten from three and he knock one down in this game. That's just fluky. It's crazy, but it happens when you mess around and find out against a bad team. The level of seriousness was not where it needed to be.
As Ryan Rickley points out here on the chat side, it wasn't not even close. And now the Clippers have some tough games coming up. As Mike Kim points out Suns, thunder Spurs, Sixers next four games, he's going straight doomer, saying they could lose all four. They're tough opponents. We'll see if the Sixers get healthy. How About let's start with winning tomorrow, with getting one back against the Suns, not just for what happened tonight, but the untbeat him
opening night here into it home. How about geting to win here and not hurting yourself with self inflicted wounds. I hate seeing that. I hate seeing a team beat themselves. And that's what it felt like in so many ways, in the little ways of just you know what, We're gonna go away from Vitza zoo bas and we'll get to him later in the game. We'll get them a couple of buckets in the third quarter. It'll come alive.
Now.
You gotta get him going in rhythm. You could see it wasn't there early because he wasn't getting touches. You could see it was there for a second and the third, but then they took him out because they're trying to save minutes with the game coming up tomorrow. They did not play with the right intent. They did not play like a team that knew they had to take care of business against a lesser opponent. That's what's frustrating. I think we still have one more time out here. Is
echo quality back in Burbank? Or am I wrong on that we'll take one time out, we'll come back, We'll hear from coach lou postgame. Clippers lose one six to one oh five to the Portland Trail Blazers add into a dome, another turnover to end a ball game when
they had a chance to win it. So two games where they close things out over the weekend and then uh, they're book ended by two games here and into a dome start the season against Phoenix, and then tonight against Portland where they don't get it done in crunch time. Mixed bag, so far, hard to draw any long reaching conclusions. That's why I've been prefacing things all weekend. While you can be excited, there were still warning signs like Harden
having to do way too much more. Clippers talk next here on the Patriot AM eleven fifty.
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Clippers two and two. But it feels worse than that right now.
I did say their first ten games, I'd sign up for going to them going five and five. But they had just such a great opportunity to go three and one, and.
They let it go.
And they lost at home to the Portland Trail Blazers one six to one oh five, as the Clippers could not execute when they had too late miss free throws and a backbreaking turnover with three point nine seconds left on an inbounds play from James hard looking for a beat to Zobots, I'm Adam Oslind welcome back in This is Clippers Talk on the Patriot AM eleven fifty. And if you're watching on the YouTube side at Clippers Talk,
people are coming up with new trade ideas. You guys still want Jeremy Grant or you over that now that he was awful tonight. The Clippers still lost to Portland, but we just go night tonight with his stuff and performance to performance. I'm telling you you can't be a is at the moment. You got to look big picture here.
I thought there were warning signs even in those two victories with James Harden and how tired he looked when they were going to Derrick Jones Junior to bring the ball up at the end of that game against the Golden State Warriors which resulted in turnovers. I said, oh, that's not great to me. I'm glad they won, but you know, there's a price to pay for playing heavy minutes. The tank looked even more empty tonight.
Late.
Let's hear from coach lou post game after the Clippers lose one o six to one oh five, hearing into a domes with the Portland trail Blazers.
Obviously well as minus excu should her job. But what did you what did you see that it felt like, you know he shout and closing that game.
I don't know a lot of different things.
I think those defensively, you know, thank signings to attack it down the stretch. There's my call to let him cause we were still up you know, forcing to me in the zoo, and he made some tough shots of mentally, just you know, their pressure spread us up, made the stagnant. You know, there was physical you know, playing on the top side, and you know, we just didn't execute them were supposed to, like we talked about, cause we knew exactly what they were gonna do.
And also miss a lot of free throws coming down the stretch as well, you know, to you know, go up to you know, to go up one. You miss a couple of free throws. That's part of the game. But you know it's gotta be better execution down the skirt, down the stretch. A Hey, coach, So the game right right here, you're your head coach Trump.
So as the game like today, like, uh, you do have a back to back tomorrow, How does that affect your players that life they're mentally all would you have to do there won't be ready?
Yeah, yeah, we were tired that. We talked about this few Titans though. The all your game did close this season is that just kind of make up of the team still.
Hutting each other trying to figure out how to all our game was gonna be plus those eighty two h.
Eighty So what's the best way for you guys do with especially at ninth night time when you and you said Mr Peeterrows, mister shots.
Things like that.
Just keep attacking, I think, keep playing the right way. We're not gonna make shots every night.
You know, we understand now did a better job taking care of basketball, but their pressure getting slow us down, you know, made a stagnant We couldn't get the ball to the guys we need to get the ball to and so we just gotta be better with that. And so it's a good test for us. You know, we saw last game, you know against Golden State. You know we brought in by GP and then Wiggins and coming and did the same things efensively, so we had two
days to work on it. We didn't do a good job of executing how we wanted to play and how we needed to play against it, so we would get yeah, try In the.
First half, Portland seem like they did a really good job taking Zoo out of the game offensively, they I believe the only shot he had was a free throw line jumper kind.
Of what what did you see from that defensively that basically did take him out?
Or was it all you guys just I would say on us, you know, just doing another job, you know, trying to get Zoo the ball.
But they did a good job of just swarming though Aiden did a good job of trying to put the suet on his catches no easy catches and.
Even when they went small, but they tried to post it, did a good job in front of the post that we couldn't.
Get Zoo the ball.
Similar question, but with James obviously had another double double, was four straight games with the double dove over him, but just uh six of eighteen from the field and had the five turnovers. Was there anything that you felt they were doing against him that that led to him being indefficient?
From the field or was it just not you think just wearing down.
I think throwing different bodies at him, you know, pretty pressure in the full cord, in the half court, leaning on 'em, top top locking, top siding, and you know, just trying to wear it now.
And they have great defenders so they can throw multiple bodies at him, and that's what they did tonight.
So there was Coach Lou a great question by Joey Linn postgame. We had him on the pregame show, Joey Lynn from SI Now. But I'll sum it up for you guys and give some analysis and what he was talking about. I know on the YouTube live side, you guys couldn't hear Coach Lou, But that's all right, I'll give it to you. He talked about a lot of different things, doing them in this goes back to me saying death by paper cuts. It typically comes down to that in a game like this where you lose to
Portland a lot of things. He thought they could have blitz Simons more but didn't elect to. That was his call, and Anthony Simons made some tough shots. He most certainly did in that fourth quarter. I want to see what Anthony Simons ended up shooting. You know what, somebody in the chat get to me on that. If you have the numbers in the fourth quarter from Anthony Simons and just what he was able to do. But the defensive pressure sped them up. They got stagnant with the ball.
There was a play I pointed out in the broadcast, but Chouncey Billups learned from coach lou about this. Late in a shot clock, what you do is to trap the ball handler. It's called a fire and they did that against James Harden, resulting in a turnover in the fourth quarter. You could see it. Chouncey Billups called for it. He said, go, go, go, and the double came. They trapped him. Clippers lost the basketball. But he said, this is stuff they've been working on the last two days.
They just didn't execute. So they knew what they had to work on, they knew what was going to happen. They were prepared for it, but they didn't execute. They didn't get it done when they needed to against when there were live bullets out there against a team and it was no longer practice. That's frustrating. He mentioned the free throws. They went four to nine in the fourth quarter at the charity Stripe Guys. He was also asked about tomorrow's game. He said, we'll be ready for Tis.
They talked about Brad Turner from the La Times asking him about all these close games. Coach Lou acknowledged, all our games are going to be close. Yeah, when you play defense like this, you're in a lot of games. You got to close them out. They did in two of them, and two of them they did not. Regarding Beast of Zubas, he said it was on us for not getting Zubats the ball more early while they were trying to take him away. He said they could have done a better job trying to get Zubos the ball.
They were swarming, swarming him defensively Portland pushing him out towards the perimeter too. But then he also talked about as Joey Lyn asked him about James Harden, Uh, just throwing different bodies at James Harden, wearing him down. And that's what you're seeing right now, and that's concerning Yeah, I know what Simmons was overall ten for twenty four. What was he in the fourth quarter alone? My friend Bounette here in the chat, that's what I'm interested in.
I know a lot of people are going to be back with Clippers Stock after dark and we'll have more postgame audio for you there. But this was a really tough loss, as bad as it can get early in a season where you're still trying to get your first win here and into it Dome and you lose to a team that's probably going to finish bottom two in the Western Conference.
I think they got a first round pick.
Many are calling it capture the Flag with Cooper Flag, and Portland will probably be involved. But early in the season is when stuff like this happens. And that's why I was concerned, because you can get a team to rise up, and especially if you give them life like the Clippers did tonight. They made it too easy on them by not clamping them down, by not showing up well. They started off eight nothing and their defense was locked
in early. It wasn't consistent, it wasn't consistently good enough, not to the level we had seen over the past couple of games. So it is frustrating, and people are now wanting to talk about trades and Lonzo Ball and it's like, man, he's not even playing right now, and just came back. You want another injury prone guy. That's the move after a loss like this, That's the conversation. Ayton has been a tough matchup for Beats Zubats over
the years. There's no getting around that. And I think collectively the team defense by the Portland Trail Blazers, knowing that we take away Zubots, we can take away the Clippers offense, they can't get into a rhythm. Smart on their part. It also tells you about the Clippers and who they are this season. They're featuring of eatsa Zubots. Teams are keying in on that, so they have to adjust to it. It's that cat and mouse game. The Clippers have to be prepared for this. Teams are watching
tape two. They're gonna try to find a way to take away your strengths, and a Vita Zubats has certainly been one. Anthrety Simons was three of six.
In the fourth quarter, so it was good.
Clipper's not good enough. I'm nearly good enough. They better step up tomorrow night against the Phoenix Suns. We had the day off. Tip time for that one at seven thirty right back here at into a dome pregame at six point thirty. Before we get out of here, I do want to thank the Clippers organization. Ralph Plaulabrian Seaman, Noah Eagle, Carlohman is on the call. Big brother Jay Warner, who's on Cloud nine tonight, says Dodgers are victorious and
World Series champions. Zach Ocalady back in the bank, our producer.
Thank you, Zach. Everybody in the chat.
We'll have some Clippers Talk after dark for you in about I don't know, thirty five minutes whenever I can get home. Lorda unpacked from this one. Everybody else will talk to you Tomorrow night.
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