Clippers fall to the Bulls 112-99

two five seventy is the phone number coming up. We're looking for pose. We're looking for post audio from coach Lou and the players. Clippers four game lose winning streak is over, hopefully, he doesn't turn into a losing streak here, but they do have Boston coming up on Wednesday. This was game two of five games in seven nights at Into It Dome, A five and seven, a four and five, depending on how you look at it. Both are true. If he didn't know the truth about Big Zoo, well,

I've tried to help you. I've tried to tell you how valuable he is to this team, whether he's scoring to get twenty points or just protecting the ram and playing elite defense like he has been doing for years. Both were missing tonight beats. The Zoo bots out with an eye injury on a play he didn't get the call on last night against the Lakers. I'm about insult to injury. Couldn't go. We knew Kawhi wouldn't be playing tonight. We knew Clippers would be tired overall. But the Chicago

Bulls had to fly in from Portland. That's a tough flight. They were on a back to back after losing last night. I believe their fifth straight. They lost up in Portland. This Clippers team, they had enough to win this game. I'm not gonna say this was some scheduled loss. They had to lose this game. They just didn't have enough. I think they had enough against Chicago. I do. The Bulls improved to nineteen and twenty five, but they're sixteenth offensively,

they're a bottom ten defense. They haven't been great all season. They've been inconsistent. They did have Lonzo tonight, but he was one of eight from the outside. They did not shoot the ball well. They weren't forty percent from the field fifteen to forty six from the outside, but they are playing the math game there. They ended up. I mean, the Clippers are forty two to three pointers too, but they ended up taking four more threes to make six more.

They hit fifteen. The Clippers hit nine, Clippers nine to forty two, Bulls fifteen of forty six from the outside. And Zach Lavine is a star when he's at his best thirty five points, but fifteen of those came in that third quarter, which would define this ballgame, because the Clippers were up at the half by two after a miserable first quarter where they were down by twenty to ten. At one point, down by ten, it was twenty to

ten Chicago. They're down by seven entering the second. It's twenty five to eighteen, and the backups got them into it. But what I would like to explain to people is when they say, well, why didn't they just play that same lineup that made that run to start the second quarter, Well, that lineup is not going up against the Bulls starters. That lineup is going up against a bad lineup with the Chicago Bulls without Bovich, without Lonzo, without zach Lavine

of course, and yeah they went plus ten there. They had a nice ten to oh run after a KPJ dunk. Terrence Man was getting loose played tonight second quarter, had a one legged fallaway. I mean he had a couple of those in the ballgame, looking like he's Dirk Devinsky. He had a big dunk in the second quarter, a lob off, a turnover from AMR, a nice dunk off, a feed from Nico batom on a back door cut.

Terrence Man my player to watch. I thought was really good tonight, and I think it was telling that he was pulled from the ballgame at around the sixth minute mark of the fourth quarter. Not because he was pulled for James Harden, of course, James Harden's coming back into that game, but the fact that he was the guy who was taken out instead of Kevin Porter Junior. How do we not take away from that that coach lou

has a preference. I know Terrence came in around the four minute mark of the third played through about the six minute mark of the fourth quarter when he came out for Terrence Man, So a ten minute stretch. Is that part of it? Maybe? But I thought he was one of the better players for the Clippers out there tonight and he didn't get to close the game. Some a point to him getting near the basket and kicking it out, maybe not being aggressive. Even with those mistakes,

Terrence Man was six of nine from the field. I mean, he brought energy, hit twelve points. He looked fresh out there. When the Clippers played well in this game, when they're all offense look decent, Terrence Man was on the floor for that. Is that the reason they lost? He didn't play enough? Probably not? Probably not, But it just tells you about lineups and rotations and maybe where the pecking

orders at. You know, KPJ played last night and tonight, team Man only plays tonight and gets taken out for James Harden instead of Kemnpora Junior. In the fourth quarter, Clippers did have it down to nine after a five point possession on a clear path foul, a mirror would hit both and then DJ had an and one tough bucket nine point game about three and a half minutes left. In fact, I'll give it to is that the three thirty five mark. That's when a mirror got fouled. It

was reviewed, it was an obvious clear path foul. He hits both. DJ gets the and one, and so with three twenty four left, it's one O one to ninety two. That is not insurmountable. The Clippers have a chance here. But what happens the very next play. Kobe Brown, who was being hunted at times, who got into the ball game late, defensively fouled. Josh Giddy fouled Zach Levine in the fourth. The Clippers could not defend without fouling. That's when the uphill battle is at its worst, when you

have to get stops. You play hard for a possession, but eventually you foul. That's frustrating. So Josh Giddy brings it back to an eleven point lead, and then there's a bad James Harden turnover and Taylor Horton Tucker as a dunk. It's one oh five to ninety two. The game's pretty much over. Kobe Brown would hit a three, but I think that was it. Zach Levine put the cherry on with a three pointer at the one to twenty four mark to put them up fifteen. Clippers lose

by thirteen. So I think there's a lot to talk about in a game like this, because a lot of it can be dumbed down to the Clippers just going nine to forty two from three. A lot of it can be dumbed down to Iviza Zubots didn't play. He's your defensive anchor, and when you're going up against a team that is the worst in the league when it comes down to paint protection, they give up fifty six points in the paint per game. Clippers only had fifty of Eata Zubots could have detonated to night he was

out with an eye injury. So you can explain away or excuse this loss to some degree because the guys you're missing the back to back and the shots you're missing from three, nine to forty two. But I still think the Clippers had enough talent. They didn't look good though offensively from the beginning. Even though James Harden had eleven points in that first quarter, I didn't love it. I gotta be honest with you. He obviously had a

bad game. You can make the argument he was the only one scoring with those eleven points three threes, But to me, I don't know how sustainable that was with a thirty five year old on a back to back

to keep that going, and apparently it wasn't. I think at some point you had to know either the other guys are gonna come around and you're gonna get them involved, or you're not gonna be able to win this game with is James Harden trying to go for forty when he's already gassed and you could see it early on the game. I'm not putting it all on him. I'm saying that's one of the issues I think tonight. I

didn't like how the offense looked. You have eleven points but just one assists in the first quarter, You're down twenty five to eighteen. That brand of offense. And I love James Harden as a Clipper, but I just felt like they had to find a way to get somebody else going and Norman Powell didn't have a point and only took three shots in the first quarter. Norm's the other guy. To me, that's the necessity. Some of it's

on him. He went zero for three in the first missed some shots, but get Norman Powell an easy bucket early now. He eventually came around and gave them a chance with his fourteen points in the fourth and ended up with twenty seven and the Clippers weren't leading at the half by two. But the same offensive issues to me, reared their ugly head in the third quarter, where the

Clippers only scored sixteen points. Zach Levin's going off. The Clippers can't find any consistent offense, and James harden I want to say, what did he end up with in that third quarter? One for four. The Clippers just could not find any consistent offense or somebody to match what Zach Levine was able to do. That's not easy, but to me, that's one of those quarters where your lack of offense and one of those games where your lack

of offense is hurting your defense. Again, the Bulls shot forty percent from the field, fifteen to forty six from three. That's thirty three percent. They weren't going crazy out there. They weren't. Is the Clippers offense that failed them? And I don't know if I get it. James Harden is the system and the guy, and you're gonna play through him.

But I was just kind of looking to see, Okay, are they just gonna see if James Harden is gonna carry them in this game on a back to back and have some heroics and win it for them, or are they gonna spread the sugar around as to know what Eagle would say, get other guys in, keep other guys in rhythm, and therefore have some consistent offense to go to options out there to go to. They didn't.

It was for the most part outside the start of the second quarter, a one guy takeover stretch back and forth where it's James Harden or it's Norman Powell one quarter, or just stretch with Terrence Man. But it never felt like the flow was great Offensively, it just didn't to me. A lot of that's eye tests, but you look at the numbers. I mean, hey, they miss good looks that can be tired legs. It can And I know you guys are talking about Harden being a MIAs thirty one.

He didn't have a good game. I'm also gonna say he played thirty six minutes after playing over forty last night and was out there during some stretches where he was trying to carry some difficult lineups for the Clippers and wasn't able to do. So. You know, the plus minus is greatly influenced by who you're playing next to and who you're going against. If you're going against the other team's best lineups, well you don't have your best

that can take it out on your plus minus. I'm not saying he had a good ballgame by any stretch of the imagination. But I also don't want to act like this was one guy or one issue tonight and if that was solved, everything else works out and the Clippers win this game handily. It's not all on James. A lot of things going against the Clippers, some hot shooting from the Bulls in stretches when the Clippers couldn't

hit anything. I mean, in that third quarter, the Bulls ended up going on a thirty to seven run the final nine minute, nine minutes and twelve seconds of the third thirty to seven run, and to me, a lot of that is not necessarily bad defense. They tried, but toom on Levine, they tried a lot of guys on him. He was hot, he was cooking. He can do that. He is an effortless score. When he has it going, he makes it look really easy. I liked him coming out of the UCLA. I hated when people just labeled

him a dunker. It was like he shot thirty percent in college from three, like he has a refined offensive game. I am a fan of his. I know some of you might want to be like, they should go get Zach Levine. That's the move.

Powell's contract much friendlier. I'm at a masin. We'll take a quick time out here. After the Clippers lose one twelve to ninety nine at home to the Chicago Bulls. The four game winning streak is over eight six six ninety seven two five seventy eight six six ninety seven two five seventy is the phone number. Of course, you can get to me in the chat at Clippers Talk on the YouTube side. More coming up next here on a five to seventy LA Sports.

lot of guys, it's not defining their season. Also, one of the main reasons they are six games about five hundred is because of James Harden. Just gonna point that out once again feels like it needs to be said. I just I cannot stand the knee jerk reactions, the one game analysis and going, oh, we suck James Harden's bad. Their Clippers are six games over five hundred and they've gotten five games from Kawhi Leonards so far. So just

pump your brakes on that one. Chris in La you just left the game, Chris, what's up?

But when you've got Levine, who's by far, you know, when he's healthy, he's a great player. We've seen him go for forty before. You know, I don't think it's panic bute at all. But one thing I'd like to say, real quickly, a quick, little minor tweak move could be a PJ. Tucker and bones Highland for a Jordan Clarkson. Now I wouldn't be so mad about that. What I do think?

and maybe they get more I don't know. I've also heard the name Chris Bouchet at a ten point eight million dollars cap. Hold, maybe we can pry him a little bit of tweak here or there. We've got Piland and Tucker's contracts to kind of play with if we're not going to play Bones, and Bones is a great player. I mean, if we could play him in a game like this and back to back, hopefully we play him Thursday night against the Wizards after back to back with

the Celtics. We're just missing that little punch Adam.

the road, playing every other day. So that's all I'm saying. It's it's not about that. It's just bodies and minutes. Yeah, that's all bodies and minutes.

exemplifies how great Ivizi Zubac has become a player. Wise, missing him tonight, you don't realize it every night. Obviously his numbers are way up this year, but this would have been a game where he's the same thing twenty and twenty. Let's not forget that. That shows you how much Zubac means to all of us. You know, he's an hell of a player, barely misses games. But anyway, no panic mode here. I mean, go clips. We're in great shape. Thanks for giving me the time, Adam.

you play him? I don't know if you guys have noticed, he's been completely out of the rotation all season long. I think the riding is on the wall. Maybe he gets some run because the condensed schedule coming up. But outside that, I would not count on seeing Bones Highland, and I would not count on other teams putting a ton of value into getting Bones Highland. I don't think Bones Hihland, PJ. Tucker alone are getting Jordan Clarkson. Gotta be honest, but I appreciate the phone call is a

good one from Chris More. Clippers sock Next. You're on five seventy LA Sports.

at it, he's efficient with it. But Avisa Zubats what he does for your defense, there's no way to replace that guy. Is there a way to find somebody better than Bombomba or kai Jones? That's the question. Is there somebody out there if you know knows Valonchewnis could go for two seconds. Yeah, he's an improvement. I would take it. He has beat up the Clippers in the past, we know that. But he's older, he's in Washington. If you

can get him for the right price. Sure, It's no slight towards Mo, who just hasn't had the season we were looking for. I don't think he had a terrible night. And kai Jones is just still young and very raw out there, and on a night like tonight, I think it underlines underscores and highlights the fact that the Clippers just don't have a great backup big that Coach Lou

will rely on. They don't have Big Zoo tonight and Mobomba plays fifteen minutes, Coach Lou is gonna go small before he plays one of their backup bigs heavy minutes even on a night without Aviatza Zubats, and they got crushed on the boards by fourteen and seventeen offensive rebounds and some key ones late by the Chicago Bulls in the fourth quarter when the Clippers were trying to take

back momentum and make a run. So I do think one of the big one of the big things coming out of this ball game, along with seeing Terrence Man get pulled before KPJ, is that the Clippers don't have her reliable enough backup big to play even twenty minutes on a night without Aviatza Zubats. He started, he started both halves. He did not end up playing heavy minutes. There's no way to replace Zubats. No one's saying that they're not going to find a guy as good as him.

If Zoo is out, that's one of those guys you can't lose still be a contender. That's just he's too integral to the team. But if he's hurt for a game, if he's in foul trouble early, do you have anyone that you can go to feel confident in to spell Viata Zubats for a game for a quarter. I don't know if the Clippers do after tonight. I think this was a big opportunity for Mobamba. I don't think it was terrible, but Coach Lou doesn't seem to have the faith in him to play him heavy minutes even without

Big Zoo Tonight. Let's hear from Coach Lou post game after the Clippers losing at home one twelve to ninety nine to the Chicago Bulls.

job with that. You know, with Zoo out having to play small, you know, they beat us up on the glass a little bit as well. But you know, I knew it coming into the game, Like I said, they were going to play hard. They lost for five in a row or six in a row, and they were thirsty four win, you know, and so they came in they attacked us.

And then the biggest thing was just fouled him too much, like when he got to the basket, you know, shoot one one foot runners, we're fouling him while he's going through, and he was able to get to the free throw line ten times as well, you know, So we gotta be better with that.

about it is the switchability. Defensively, well, he doesn't like about it is how slow they're playing on the other end, just pounding the ball into the ground, and you know that's some of that is on Harden, some of that is on KPJ. They have to be better and weren't good enough tonight. Clippers lose by thirteen at home to the Bulls. I'm out of Mouslims and you're listening to Clippers stock here on the N five seventy l A Sports.

Mere Coffee and Nico Batoom. Others are bringing up that three pointer that KPJ took midway through the fourth quarter when the Clippers had it down to thirteen against Jim Jackson called out the ill advised shot postgame analyst on fan Dual TV, I think the best in the business. Yeah, I was a bad shot. On a night. You guys know,

I'm not a verse to criticizing KPJ shot selection. You know what I would do, I'd have Chris Dunn and Terrence Man beat the two backup ball handlers and just have them share the duties there because KPJ is far too inconsistent. It's weird. We haven't seen Rock in the chat for some time.

and sixteen. You're La Clippers still sitting at fifth twenty four and eighteen, the Lakers twenty two and eighteen and six, mav seventh, twenty three and twenty King's eighth, twenty two and twenty record, Wolves ninth, twenty two and twenty one, and moving into the last spot in the plan right now, the Phoenix Suns with the record of twenty one and twenty one.

too badly. In Cleveland, they had so many things go their way, but you got to make your own luck. You got to handle your own business. They weren't able to.

the producer. You just heard from them, Daniel West, Thank you Daniel, the callers, Chris was great, the listeners, the chatters. We will talk to you guys Wednesday, six thirty pre game, Clippers back at the Dome, taken on the Boston Celtics.