Hoops Tonight - Klay Thompson drops 42 in Warriors Win, Russell Westbrook's Clippers Debut

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Happy Saturday, everybody. We are live on AMP. Don't forget if you're watching this on YouTube or listening on a podcast feed that AMP is the very first place you guys can get these shows quick show. Today, we're just doing two games, that ridiculous game between the Clippers and the Kings last night they went to doublet and the Warriors getting back on track with a win against the Houston Rockets. You guys know the drill before we get started.

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All right, let's talk some basketball. So this game was unbelievably bizarre. I missed it last night. I had a date night with my wife, but we ended up I ended up watching it this morning, and I'd kind of

seen what had happened. Like I looked and it was like, what, we're heading into DOUBLET and both teams are in the one sixties, Like that's super weird, And I'm like looking at the box score and like Kawai and Paula George, you're having these incredible games, and you know, Russell Westbrook has fourteen assists and I'm like, man, is anybody playing any defense in this game? And so when I watched the footage, that's pretty much exactly what happened. Neither team

had a real rim protector. Zoobach was out for this game, and so essentially you had Plumbly on one end and Sabonis on the other end. Sabonis is a great offensive player, but he's not exactly the best drop coverage big in the world. And so it's a steady diet of a lot of really good ball handlers running ball screen actions with nobody that can slow it down on the back end.

And then from there everyone got comfortable and you know how that goes like I talked about this all the time, but when you have super talented offensive players, once they get into a groove, even when the defense picks up the intensity, it just doesn't really matter because once they're confident and their muscle memory is down and they've got their release dialed in, those shots are just going in, even if you can test them well and down the stretch,

there were a lot of plays where Darren Fox and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were taking these tough, contested pull up jump shots, but they were just going in because they had already found their rhythm. And the result after the dust settled, was a one seventy six to one seventy five Kings win. The Clippers blew three consecutive huge late leads. They blew a fourteen point lead more than halfway through the fourth quarter in regulation. They blew

a six point lead in both overtimes and regulation. When the Clippers were up big late, Deer and Fox really turned up the ball pressure. He picked Russell Westbrook clean, then he picked Paul George clean for run out the other way. Then all the King's guards picked up their ball pressure and the Clippers got super passive and didn't get into their offense until way late in the shot

clock and didn't get any good shots. And then on the other end of the floor, just guys make him plays, and on that final possession one fifty three, one fifty I've talked a lot about this, but Russell Westbrook has a tendency to freelance off the ball on defense, and he was guarding Malik Monk, and for no particular reason at all, he just stopped guarding him, and Malik Monk relocated to the opposite end of the floor and Deer

and Fox hit him for the game tying three. And then fast forward to double ot Paul George or excuse me, they take Paul George out of the game because of a minute's restriction, which was super weird. Then Russell Westbrook fouls out with the Clippers up six, and so they end up going to Mason Plumly down the stretch, and they run a lot of Kawhile Entard Mason Plumly pick

and roll. So the King's smart just trap Kawhi Leonard on every one of those, and both times Kawhi hits Plumbly on the short roll, and both times plumbly turned it over because that's just a tough He's not exactly a playmaker in the short roll. So the weird circumstance surrounding Paul George and Russell Westbrook leaving the game kind of led to bizarre, weird lineup combinations and the Kings

took advantage of that. And on the other end of the four Milik Monk had a huge movement three headed to his right, squared up in midair, knocked it down to get him within one and then Darren Fox hit the pull up two that ended up being essentially the game winner, and then the Clippers had a really disjointed final possession that ended in a Nicholas Patum heave on

the left wing and the game was over. So, like I said, it was a really weird game of anticlimactic for as up and down and crazy and star powered as it was for it to end with you know, Mason Plumley turnovers, Paul George and Russell Westbrook on the bench, and you know, a couple of Kings plays to win the game. Deared Fox and Molik Monk just absolutely barbecue

the Clippers defense. I think the Clippers really missed having zoo back out there just as a and he's got the best rim protector in the world, but he's much better than Plumley, and that they too often had to go to small lineups. Two and then Semezi met too was killing them on the offensive glass, but Deared Fox and Molik Monk took advantage of that. They combined for

eighty seven points on fifty one shots. I would imagine if you could have gone to those two guys when they were in a Kentucky locker room back in the day and told them like, hey, you guys are gonna be teaming up and just lighting teams on fire in the future. I think that'd be a pretty cool moment for those guys. Molik Monk is such a pure score. I've always thought of scoring as a skill that goes

beyond ball handling and shooting. Obviously, ball handling and shooting is the method with which you go about that scoring, but there's such an improvisation element that I think goes beyond what people think. It's so much more about you know, your instinct and your touch on weird shots as opposed to you know. I think guys that are very rigid

and rely too much on their muscle memory. Really struggle was scoring the basketball because they don't have that little bit of wiggle in their game and that improvisational thing. And you know what's funny is I don't really think it's something that can be taught. I think you either have it or you don't. And Malik is one of those guys that very much has that natural scoring instinct and improvisational touch. And you know, I covered him when he was with the Lakers last year and he was

a rare bright spot for the Lakers. Obviously, he had his limitations, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. Not even so much for a lack of trying, just he's very thin and can be pushed around. We've seen this a lot around the league. It's kind of a jam more problem too. If you're a guard and you're also easy to move around physically, it's just as tough

to guard. But either way, his offensive skill and his synergy with guys like Austin Reeves and Lebron James last year led the Lakers to be pretty damn good for the most part. They're better stretches of the season or when it was you know, Anthony Davis Lebron, James Malik, Monk Austin reeves that kind of group. Malik was a rare bright spot and it was actually kind of depressing for Lakers fans because they knew they would never be able to afford to keep him after the season because

of how well he played. And it was a great get for the Kings with their all in approach to offense. But that's what this is, and let's be clear, like this is an all in approach to offense. Like the Clippers, they're a solid defensive team that has a defensive ceiling and they just struggled in this game because they didn't have their rim protector. And I'm pretty sure they were

a top ten defense before last night's game. So like, at least with them, you kind of look at it as an outlier and a matchup thing and Zoobach being out of the lineup. But with the Kings, this is what they do. They try to outscore you every single night. They're twenty fourth and defense on the season. But you know what's interesting is even when you look at their wins, they're winning by outscoring you. If you took every team in the NBA, his defensive rating just when they win games.

The Kings are dead last in the NBA allowing one hundred and thirteen points per one hundred possessions. They're one of my favorite teams to watch. Their offensive skill and high scoring games lead to just a great television product, and I've enjoyed watching them this year, but they eventually need to get serious about defending to have any real chance of going on a long playoff run, which I've said a half dozen times this year for those of you guys who listen to the show. Kawhi Leonard looked

fantastic through three quarters. Caught a heater there in that third quarter. No one can stop him. He was hitting post up fadeaways over his right shoulder, he was bullying his way to the basket for little hook shots, and he had like a disgusting step back three I think on Malik Monk, and he was just showing everything and really just looked by classic robot Kawhi. I think at one point he had like twenty nine points on eleven shots, and that was before he went crazy in that third quarter.

So a lot of encouraging stuff there, but then he was pretty bad down the stretch and in both overtime periods, particularly leaving his jump shot short and didn't look like he was getting a lot of lift in separation the way he was in the previous three quarters. And obviously it's a weird game, a high pace game, a lot

of shots going up, so some weird circumstances. But that's always going to be my concern specifically with Kauai, is in a really long playoff run where you've got to play twenty four games in two months or potentially more. Is his leg his quad issues that he's had, his knee issues that he's had, is his leg going to be able to hold up under a long postseason run Because those like I talk about this all the time with young players when it comes to step backs, fadeaways,

real shot making, it's all your legs. It's all lift, getting separation and lift, because really, once you get to your spot and you elevate, there's a muscle memorything that kicks in there. Obviously with a little bit of that improvisational shot making that I talk about, that touch that I talk about, but the guys that have that touch and have that muscle memory down, it's really just can they get to their spot and get the requisite amount

of lift. It all comes down two legs, and you saw Kawai's legs fail him down the stretch of that game, and that's obviously concerning for them. But if he's going to play the way he did through the first three quarters and hold up physically, then none of this matters and they're gonna be really damn good. I just am concerned about whether or not he's gonna be able to hold up. The Russell Westbrook debut with the Clippers went just about exactly as I expected, a total roller coaster

of good and bad plays. The good plays were like a hefty level above what they were when he was with the Lakers, which I predicted. I said the Lakers were the worst shooting team in the league, and Russ is a three point shot creator, right, and so putting him with that Clippers team that just has a ton of professional jump shooters, he's going to generate them a

ton of quality looks. And he did. He generated a bunch of wide open threes, including for Paul George and Kauai, which is so important to helping them build their rhythm, and I thought that was a really natural fit. He finished with fourteen assists. I'm always going to be a big believer in rim pressure alongside complimenting the perimeter skill that the Clippers have, and I think that's a big part of why you saw so many positives from Russ

last night. He also pushed the pace really well. There was a play in the first half where like, the King's got a layup and they inbound the ball to Russ and Russ just sprints up the floor, throws a quick shovel past to Marcus Morris which forces the rotation, gets swung to Kawhi Leonard in the corner, and he makes the three. And I'm sitting there thinking like, that's easy.

That's easy basketball that the Clippers really were never getting before this move, and Russell Westbrook is adding that element to their offense. But it did come with a bunch of bad plays, Like he missed three point blank layups, two of which led to quick transition baskets for the Kings. Russ's miss layups are almost like turnovers, and then he had seven turnovers, a couple of which were pick sixes

that led to quick baskets the other way. But overall, I thought the good plays out way the bad plays significantly, and I thought that was reflected in him winning his shifts and the Clippers were up six when he fouled out of the game and double overtime. My one complaint with the Russell Westbrook thing last night, and this is something I've talked about a lot, as they did close with him, So they rowed that up and down roller

coaster in the home stretch of the game. And you know, there's a couple of specific side effects of that one. The Kings ignored him a lot and double teamed him

off the ball. There was a specific play at the end of the first overtime KAI where Paul George was trying to go to work off the dribble when the game was tied in the final possession to win the game, and Russell Westbrook was there on the left wing, and Russell Westbrook's man completely ignored Russ just hard doubled Paul George, and Paul George ended up like taking some jankie like forward leaning jump shot in the lane that he missed.

And then obviously they're that last player regulation. I said to you guys in my breakdown of the Russell Westbrook fit with the Clippers, I said, when he's on ball, he's been very good defensively this year, actually kind of a weapon for the Lakers. But in off ball situations

he's a freelancer, which is good and bad. So, for instance, there was a game against the Pacers a few weeks ago where on the final possession, Buddy Healed turned his back and drove towards the baseline and Russell Westbrook impromptu double teamed Buddy Healed and on that play and ended up being something that worked out because Buddy Heald picked up his dribble, he looked around, he didn't see a good passing angle, and he threw up a very difficult

shot along the baseline and he missed it. It was a random freelancing play that worked. But last night you saw the flip side of that coin. He freelanced off of Malik Monk on the final possession in a three point game, and Malik Monk got free and knocked down to three. And that's the thing that gets tough with freelancing. At the end of games, execution becomes the most important. So it's actually better to have somebody that does their job on every single possession. And my question for you

guys is and I'll leave this open. Do you think, in a pivotal Game five of a second round series for the Clippers in Denver, on the final possession, their final few possessions, can you trust Russell Westbrook to do

his job on the defensive possession? Can you? Or do you think he would freelance and go off script and potentially make a mistake or make a good play And think about that dynamic and whether or not that is going to get the Clippers beat And I don't know, And like I said, I'm gonna leave that open ended. I think that's where you start to look at it, is like, would you be better off going with someone

like Terrence Man in that situation? Understanding You're not going to get the rim pressure in the high level shot creating from Russ, but you have that baseline, that higher floor that comes from Terrence Man's ability to just do his job on any given defensive possession. But overall, I thought it was a good debut for Russell Westbrook and I do think he's a good fit for the Clippers who can help them. I just personally would not play

him at the end of games. And I'm really curious to see if Tyron Lou's going to do that over the course of the season. All right, before we get out here, let's move on to Warriors Rocket. So there's a good tune up game for the Warriors. This was the one they had to win. I didn't think they could win that Lakers game. The Warriors won one sixteen to one. On one, Clay Thompson hit twelve threes on

his way to forty two points. That's the tenth time and Clay Thompson's career that he's hit at least ten threes. He's the second best shooter of all time. I've always said that his height, combined with the quickness of his release and his ridiculous muscle memory, and just when he gets that release dialed in, how every shot seems to go in. You know he actually, when he gets hot, his hot streaks are every bit as effective as Steph

Curry's hot streaks. Now, obviously his floor is nowhere near as high as Steph steps a million times the player, But when it comes to shooting and getting hot, there's not many guys in NBA history that do it the way that Clay does it. Portari Eason caught the matchup for most of this game, and Clay just put him in a blender, running off as and moving without the ball. Clay got switched on to senders a couple of time

and scored out of ISO. He got Frank Kaminski with a step back three in the first half, and then a really nice hesitation pull up three against Usman Garuban a switch in the second half. Clay's last twenty two games twenty six points per game on forty four percent from three on twelve three point attempts per game. And so you know, I've seen I've seen a lot of people overthinking the warriors struggles this season, when, in my opinion, so much of it just comes down to Andrew Wiggins

and Steph Curry have missed too many games. Like I pulled up, I was pulled up some numbers today. The Warriors have had to play two thousand, four hundred and twelve possessions this year with both of Steph and Andrew Wiggins off the floor. That's their two best players, and they're not doing well in those possessions. One hundred and twelve offensive rating, which is not good, in one hundred and seventeen defensive rating which is not good, and they're

getting outscored by five points per one hundred possessions. It's it's really this simple, Like without Steph, Jordan Pool is their only on ball creator. So when teams pack the paint and overplay their shooters and force them to backcut in their offball actions, they just don't have the audible of going to onball actions enough because it's just a lot to ask for Jordan Poole to do that as the only on ball creator on the team really that can that can really do it at a high level.

And so it just puts them in a tough position. And then it really it really just compounds because they can't set their defense. And so yeah, you think, okay, we're gonna lean on Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and our defensive identity to carry us through games. But if you can't score the basketball, you can't get your defense set. You're constantly dealing with transition cross matches and fast breakpoints

and things like that in your defense falls apart. And it's just been really hard for them to float that. And I don't want it. I just don't want I don't want people to lose sight of the plot here. Really is that simple. It's not. Sometimes it's not. It's not more complicated than our best players are missing too

many games. I mean, even Andrew Wiggins is a guy who can like apply real rim pressure just by dropping his shoulder and ripping through and going to the rim, and that that element to their game is just missing right now. Everything will be slotted properly when they get back and when Gary Peyton is second joins the freight. Like I've seen, I saw a lot of debates on I follow a lot of Warriors fans on Twitter, and

I've seen a lot of debates lately. It's like, oh, well, like we should play Patrick Baldwin Junior over Anthony Lamb and and you know, yeah, I agree. Like Patrick Baldwin Junior brings like a really interesting size element, although he doesn't rebound super well, which is kind of an issue. Anthony Lamb's actually a better rebound or even though he's shorter.

But like Patrick Baldwin Junior is one of those guys where it's like he has the size, he's got the perimeter shot confidently rises up into these shots like yeah, I'm for it. Give it a try, you know, try

something to try to get something going. When Stephan Andrew Wiggins are out of the line it but like, what's the point, Like the reality is is that when everyone gets healthy, your nine man rotation is Steph Clay, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kavan Looney, Jordan Pool, Dante DiVincenzo, Jamichael Green, and probably a little bit of Jonathan Cominga. I don't think you're gonna be worried about whether or not Anthony Lamb or Patrick Baldwin Junior are gonna be playing those minutes.

And like, I saw this a lot with Lakers fans where they would complain about rotation details, and like I had specific things where I'd be like I'd be annoyed about a specific guy in the starting lineup or specific combination of players, but more often than not, it was like, okay, but Anthony Davis is hurt and they don't have any forwards.

And so really you're asking a bunch of veteran minimum contract guys to fill roles that are typically filled for good teams by guys who make twenty million a year. It's just a lot to ask, and so slotting becomes

a problem. You take a max player like Andrew Wiggins and you remove him, and now you're putting a guy into that spot that's nowhere near as talented, and he probably is better off the bench, but now he's starting, and then the guy coming off the bench for him as a guy who's a fringe NBA player, Like, it's just you're asking too much. There's very few teams in the league to have that kind of real depth to

be able to survive in those situations. And even when they do go to their depth, there's gonna be some limitations. Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry are the best players on the team, and without them, they're going to struggle to win. That's just a fact. But you've got to get the ones you can get, the ones like that Houston Rockets game, you've got to get and just floated as best as you can, and then when everyone comes back, you've really got to hit the jets and just cross your fingers

and hope everyone stays healthy. All right, guys, that's all I have for today. We have six or Celtics tonight. We're not covering that tonight, but we are covering it tomorrow after the final buzzer of Mavericks Lakers, So we'll be hitting Mavericks, Lakers six, or Celtics, and I'll look around at the schedule and see if there's one or two other games that are worth covering. As always, I sincerely appreciate your guys support and I'll see you next time. The volume