How Kawhi Leonard Helped The LA Clippers Start 2024 The Right Way

How Kawhi Leonard Helped The LA Clippers Start 2024 The Right Way

The LA Clippers had a really good start to their 2024 and I was at the game so I had a really good start to my 2024 you know the best part Kawhi Leonard was back Kawhi Leonard was back and looked like he hadn’t really missed a game 24

Points in his return against the Miami Heat on New Year’s Day it was a short-handed Miami Heat team but you got 20 plus points from both Kawai and Paul George and a little bit of Norm Powell Russ and James Harden for you let’s talk about another Clipper win that’s three

Straight on today’s love locked oners you are locked on Clippers your daily Los Angeles Clippers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every Day yes sir you are locking in with the clips thank you for making locked on Clippers the first listen of your day your team every day I’m your host Daren vieri born and raised in LA and in my 19th season as a Clipper fan you can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram

At dim dropper pod And subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper where a video of what was another sellout game six in a row at the Staple Center you can check out what fans were saying during the game after the game a lot of

People I saw at this one and I just had a great time Clippers move on to 14 and4 at home this season in our last season at the Staple Center crypto.com Arena whatever you call it 121 to 104 win over a very good team but a shorthanded team

In the Miami Heat they were without the great Jimmy Butler and without Haywood High Smith two guys that have started consistently for the Miami Heat this season of course Jimmy Butler we obviously know the franchise player but Heywood heisi has started 15 games this season he’s been a guy and also no Caleb

Martin who was absolutely huge in their quest to win the East last year and before we get started with this episode it is brought to you by prize Pi prize Pi is the best daily fantasy sports platform in North America the easiest and most exciting way to play daily Fant

Sports all you got to do is go to priz pick.com lockon NBA and use code lockon NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 but yeah Clippers winning it 121 to 104 over the short-handed Miami Heat and the great news that we got on Monday afternoon kawh Leonard would return

After an 11 day and 4 game absence with the hip contusion which he apparently sustained in the Utah game on that was surprising to me when I heard that the Utah game in which he scored 41 points that was his highest scoring game of the season so

Far and then apparently he reag graved it on that fall with against the Dallas Mavericks but in this game it took him a little while to get going he had a zero point first quarter but he got going as the game went on and by the fourth

Quarter this guy got by bam atab bio on the Baseline and threw down a reversed one-hander and I I mean obviously I’m standing up the whole game in section 207 but I jumped I jumped I literally jumped you know I can’t jump out of my

Seat CU I was already out of my seat but I straight up jumped I was like oh my God he’s moving like that it’s like he didn’t even miss a game but yeah he had zero points in the first quarter second quarter is when he started taking over

And that was a big reason why the Clippers ended up taking the lead he had 13 points in the second quarter and was five for six and mind you the Clippers were down by 12 after one and trailed by as many as 14 in the first half of the

Game but weirdly I didn’t feel nervous I felt as though we were always going to come back the crowd would push them back in it because our shot making is good enough so that you just make a couple of shots you get the crowd back going the defense sharpens up they didn’t have

Jimmy Butler Caleb Martin I knew they’d cool down and Tyler hero I mean he didn’t have a good shooting game he did from three actually four for eight from three but he was 0 for five from two to finish four for 13 from the field and we

Were conceding the BAM atab bio jump shot which he it seems like he has improved this season but until he shows that he can really make that at a knockdown level at a cash money level teams are going to concede that in the pick and roll and drop coverage and I

Thought Zoo did a great job of staying disciplined in this game not closing out on him too hard not falling for the pump fakes which he still did at times but throughout the game I thought he was really solid and Bam got a lot of generous calls in this game as the heat

Did in the first quarter when they when they were up 3523 after one a lot of favorable calls in my opinion but bam he finished with 21 points and 15 boards but he was 6 for 17 from the field so zubats I think is a huge part of that

Jamal Kane four for2 you know he wasn’t really scaring us Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love got off to a great start in this one and that was part of the reason why the heat went up but again I don’t think our defense was too bad you know

Miami plays a very a pretty I wouldn’t say very but a pretty creative offense they have a lot more movement than most teams in the Eastern Conference and they use Duncan Robinson and Tyler hero in those ways and they’re all super intelligent and they just find a way to

Maximize every single player they have and Duncan Robinson was causing problems you know coming off screens and he was being fouled and this season if you’ve been watching Miami Heat games he’s shown more of an ability to actually put the ball on the floor and attack those

Closeouts you saw a little glimpse of that in later rounds of the playoffs last year I’m pretty sure in the game that they won game two against Denver if I recall correctly he was pretty good in that game and I saw him attacking those close outs and he was pretty

Effective now in this game Terren man started out on KY Lowry who got who got off to a really good start uh he had eight points in the game though and if I’m not mistaken all eight of those points came in the first quarter okay six of the eight points came in the

First quarter so teren man on Lowry thought he was pretty solid at the point of attack Kawai on hakz but he was switching off with Harden at times zuo on bam PG guarding Hero at times KW guard hero and of course the Clippers were switching one through four for

Basically the entire game which in the beginning of the third quarter actually ended up being a tad problematic because the heat went with bam at the five and then Kevin L at the four who’s a traditional four you know he was one of the best power forwards in the league 10

Years ago when the league had more traditional power forwards with size and then they had hakz at the three and by the way so much UCLA representation in this game Norman pal who was awesome at UCLA the best player on the 20145 Bruins team that went to the Sweet 16 no doubt

About it and a fantastic piece of the 2014 Bruins team that won the Pack 12 Championship with Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams and then Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love who were on that same 2008 Bruins team that lost in the final four to Memphis and Derrick Rose that

Was awesome and they were guarding each other at times I thought that was so sick to see you know my sister went to UCLA my dad went there so definitely was cool uh to see that and then of course haime hwz and it was Mexican heritage night at crypto.com Arena tonight or on

Uh Monday night of course I’m recording this right after the game and there was a loud reception for haime when he got introduced and let me tell you something cliber fans in my section were doing it including me we were giving him a hand I mean the guy’s a UCLA Legend four-year

Player absolutely one of the favorites to win rookie the year right now and he had a pretty good game six for 13 from the field 0 for three from Deep though but the the heat overall though 42% from the field 32% from three 79% from the

Line and let me tell you they shot 15 more free throws than the Clippers and shot three more shots than them and they still lost by 17 I mean that’s terrible that’s terrible how is that even possible we only outrebounded them by two that’s crazy we shot less shots and

15 less free throws and the turnover disparity we turn the ball over more let me tell you the Clippers shot 59% from the field and 48% from three and of the 14 free throws that we shot we made 13 of them so the Clippers continue to shoot really really solid

From the foul line in the last couple of weeks since they’ve been on this 17 wins out of 22 games uh run let me repeat that again because we’re on a three- game winning streak and we’ve won 12 of the last 14 but how about 17 of the last

22 that sounds pretty good as well well we are 20 and 12 on the season trending in the right direction when you have kawh Leonard who had 24 points six rebounds five assists four Steals and a block four Steals on 10 for9 shooting in two for five from three funny enough he was

The one guy who missed the free throw I I actually that’s hilarious I don’t even remember him missing the free throw actually I do but I have to think about it another very efficient game for kawhai he he sat out the last 5 minutes and we were pretty comfortable we still

Won the fourth quarter 26 to9 we won every quarter but the first won the second 3623 and had the lead actually even being down by 14 we had the lead 59- 57 going into the break and then 3627 we won the third fourth quarter 26

To 19 won that so 121 to 104 is the final an efficient night for Kawhi Leonard in 34 minutes of play only turned the ball over twice and was a plus 24 he truly is playing like one of the best players in the world right now

And we’ve never had a player like this man so when he’s on the court I really appreciate it and it looks like my knocking on wood is still working pretty well because if you had told me we’d have kawhai for 28 out of the first 32

Games and one and that included that he was injured already I’m taking that and sprinting with it I ain’t running with it I’m sprinting with it Kawai L it coming up going to talk more about the second half what changed let’s get in more depth about this game the first of 2024 and

Maybe this is the year where the Clippers okay I got to be stopped got to be talking more coming up I got to tell you a little something about our good friends at prize picks prize picks is the best daily fantasy sports platform in North America and

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Subscribe to the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel Clippers wi at 121 to 104 at home to go 14 and4 on the season at home kawh lard is back and kicking and that reverse dunk as I said earlier that got me out of my

Well I was already out of my seat but just so hyped so hyped let’s talk a little bit about the heat zone so the heat they play more Zone than any team in the NBA they were in like a 131 they were in a matchup Zone where they would start out in a

Zone and then they’d go to a man but for the most part two3 zone right the way you break zones is you have to have a middleman and you got to move the ball quickly and have proper spacing the thing that a lot of NBA teams don’t use

Nowadays and why it’s so much harder it seems to break Zone even though there are more Shooters on the court than ever before this is something that does not get talked about enough in basketball these days but you know what this is not my platform this is locked on Clippers

So I’m not going to get too far into it but let me put cuz I actually get visibly upset when we have this conversation but let me just say because I don’t think a zone is hard to break the middleman though is what a lot of

Teams don’t utilize and it’s a a big reason is cuz dudes aren’t that comfortable now cuz it’s not what they practice catching the ball at the foul line turning and potentially shooting they practice catch and shoot threes so much catch and shoot mid-range are not encouraged by analytics and if we’re

Being real with the spacing of NBA defenses especially today and where you start out offensive possessions you don’t get many opportunities to shoot catch and shoot mid-ranges unless they’re like on an offensive rebound and the ball comes back to you or something so that shot is a little awkward for

Some people especially if you want to put a big there cuz you typically want to put a big in the high post so that they can see over the top of the defense and make a read right bamat bio ideally is the perfect guy to put in a situation

Like this or well the best in the league is joic and embiid embiid has that you know he can catch the foul line no problems Pal Gasol was fantastic at this even see like back in the day like I’m I’m even going 10 years back Dirk nitzky

Elton brand like these type of guys would have been these are Bret and butter for them even Blake Griffin you know we didn’t have teams play zone like that against us but Blake Griffin when he caught the ball in short roll situations or the high post his lober

The DJ were like Unstoppable cuz Chris Paul’s always was always was attracting two Defenders and Blake and DJ the amount of high low actions and big to Big passing that we were able to enjoy for all those years was Stellar so what I thought the Clippers did a decent job

Of was they put zoo in the high post at times and even when he didn’t get the ball this is the beauty of the high post I always tell kids this when I coach them the high post is the hardest thing to sell kids on because they often don’t

Even touch the ball cuz if a guy catches theall ball at the foul line in the middle of your defense you are screwed because your Zone collapses and then you have to crowd him which will allow them to make a pass and get an open shot so good teams will prevent them from

Getting the ball in the high post but them just taking that away opens up the wings and potential corners and the Clippers were doing a good job of swinging the ball and finding Corner Shooters and Norman Powell and Amir coffee made some big threes in that

Second quarter when we were down by 14 they cut it down to seven and then kawhai had his takeover uh with 12 points in the second quarter he was getting into his mid-range I thought we did a great job of 13 points I’m sorry in the second we looked for him he was

Knocking down shots I give James Harden a lot of credit because it felt like he was making entry passes a lot and we had a lot less Harden double drag and pick and rolls in this game because we have kawhai and that’s the ultimate you know test for me with James Harden

I don’t think he did anything really wrong in Brooklyn when it came to this particular topic but it’s all about knowing what is needed in a particular moment when you have options like we have where you could always get something good out of James Harden pick and roll you can frequently get

Something good out of Paul George catching the ball at the elbow or even Paul George pick and roll or Kawai you have options it’s a matter of what’s the best option to go to given these time of the game the circum St and what the defense is throwing at you and I thought

That it was very obvious with kawhai having zero points in the first quarter and us down by a lot that we looked to get him going and we took that momentum into the second half and let me just say Norman Powell he basically kept us afloat in that first half he was just

Making shots attacking Closeouts getting to the basket knocking down open threes it’s amazing that we even had trade conversation about Norman pal at any point he is a perfect guy to have around this these kind of stars catch and shoot attack Closeouts come off the bench and

Just get Buckets and he’s very efficient and he gets to the line I mean what more do you want what more do you want from that guy oh he’s not a great defender I mean he can’t just be great at everything that that’s why he’s not a $30 million

Player I also wanted to say before the Zone from the heat they were switching a lot a lot right I mean bam was in drop a little bit but they’re very comfortable switching B especially when Russ came in they were switching on a Russ HZ on a

Russ love on a Russ and I will say Russ was falling into the Trap besides the one time where he took hawas to the house of taking a lot of shots in isolation and not really getting the ball moving and that ended up being a little costly and I think definitely

Contributed to the Heat going up then Paul George he actually had a very aggressive start to the game he had eight points in the first quarter and I like that we you know look to get him going and he caught the ball in the elbow a lot more more was being

Aggressive getting to the basket when Paul George catches the ball closer to the basket he becomes better it’s not rocket science I don’t know why he makes the game so hard for himself but that’s something we’re probably going to be asking years and years from now as well

Even after he retires man Paul George man he had all the talent in the world but he made the game too complicated for himself at times but in this game you know he played the whole first quarter he had eight points and he had four free throw attempts in the first and four

Field goal attempts so that’s exactly what you like to from PG and then in the third quarter I thought he was a big reason why we kind of lit him up and I’ve been looking for a better po George game defensively and I hate that it came

When kawh Leonard came back we need you to be great defensively even better when he’s out uh you can make the argument well he gets to conserve on offense more which is which is valid but man come on like Paul George is better than me having to say that you need two other

Stars in the starting lineup with you for you to play good defense like come on you’re a good two-way player and there was one possession that uh you know represented that perfectly where he pickpocket at tyah hero and then he just shot at Jumper in haime haz’s face uh he

Was just really really good and in the third quarter he had two three-pointers and 12 points overall four for six from the field in the quarter two for four from three in the game Paul George finished with 23 points three rebounds two assists and a steel so fairly quiet in other

Categories he did turn the ball over three times and that led our team so you definitely want to see him take better care of the ball some decisions were just bad I remember there was one where he passed it to Terren and he thought he would be in the deeper corner and look

It was a bad pass but I I had a good angle of it because I was right behind the play Terren should have slid to the further in the right cuz the way the defender was helping off with Terrence he would have been able to recover if

Terren caught the ball PG wants to be in a situation where can pass the ball and Terren man has to shoot can shoot right away so I thought that wasn’t actually fully on Paul George but then again I didn’t get the replay but regardless 23 points on 50% shooting 7 for 14 three

For eight from Deep 6 for six from the line it’s a great night when Paul George is getting to the foul line um so yeah and our defense in the second half I mean we were switching a lot I thought Amir coffee did a phenomenal job fighting over screens against Duncan

Robinson he took him out of the game he was chasing trailing so well teren man I thought his defense was really solid in this game and we got another game with Terren and double figures which is amazing he made his three his first three of the game 18 minutes played for

Him 12 points three rebounds five for seven from the field one for two from three and he got an and one made the free throw very efficient game from Terren all across the board and he played good D and he did it in just 18 minutes I really hope I really hope that

Can unlock things a bit for him two straight games of him in double figures so that’s a good thing you know that hopefully that can get him in the positive direction but coming up going to talk more about our defense and some of the other guys that got run

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Who was very solid when he was called upon you know made some good plays in pick and roll his three ball was fallen in this one three for five from Deep making some great passes he had a little injury scare he found IIT zubot on a lob

In that second quarter and he landed awkwardly looked like he sprained his ankle or something and he slapped the scores table but he ended up being okay we’ll see if that leads to him missing any games or anything he’s been perfect so far as a Clipper in terms of this

Season playing games but his playmaking was very good and he was just solid tonight you know not much over dribbling not his defense was solid off the ball he didn’t get lost had a couple of nice strips people are making a lot of jokes about you know James Harden and

Stripping guys because of the strip club and all that he had two blocks and a steal in this one just two turnovers for to 10 assists so a five to one assist a turnover ratio also chipped in with four rebounds 154 and 10 with a steal in two

Blocks I’ll take that all day especially on five for eight shooting and three for five from three just two free throw attempts two for Harden made him both probably should have gotten four and he played 31 minutes so I thought he was really solid and what we needed from

Him and the Clippers we were actually switching one through five with Tyson in the beginning of that third quarter and it wasn’t very good the only time where I’d say Harden struggle defens is when he had to guard bam out of Bio twice and there was one time where he guarded hakz

And they scored on him down low had a nice seal but overall I thought Harden was decent defensively let’s talk about Russell Westbrook and the way he ended the third quarter and started the fourth I mean he was he took over basically he had an amazing defensive possession on

Bam out of Bio that led to a shot clock violation he he was getting to the basket on everyone a couple of times he did not get calls both halves ridiculous some of he got whacked at The Rim he got nothing but he still did not let that

Deter him he kept going to the basket had some nice passes great rebounds just had that offensive Rebound in bucket so and by the way James Harden had a beautiful bounce past the zubot and I had a great look of it I didn’t think it was going to go through he put some

Extra Spin and whip on that thing but Russ just loved it I loved our point of attack defense as the game went on after the first quarter and I liked our off ball defense we were anticipating pass we were ready for entry passes by fronting the post and making them throw

It over the top and guys like Russ guys like kawhai Paul George their length their athleticism it’s tough to throw it over the top I love when Russ fronts the post because they all try to throw it over the top and he just hits that trampoline i Westbrook he was so great

Energy-wise getting two feet in the paint and just being everywhere he just the way he can get his fingerprints on everything in such a short amount of time is so impressive I remember when he was on OKC when I was young I used to tell people I feel like there’s two of

This guy on the court that’s the only person I’ve ever said that about in my life any era of basketball I’ve watched is the only person I’ve ever said it feels like there’s two of that guy on the court Russell Westbrook whatever criticism you might have of him in the

First half second half you made up for it eight points four rebounds three assists two steals two turnovers for him so same as Harden but he did play less 18 minutes he shot 40% from the field four for 10 0 for one from three no free throw attempts which is ludicrous but at

Least he didn’t shoot many threes even though he’s shooting a little bit better lately didn’t share the floor much with Harden but I thought he was just fantastic in that second half that stat line just does not show the impact another thing I always beat a dead horse

With this but it is so fun being at games with Russ like he’s constantly em motioning to the crowd like he’s a showman he’s an Entertainer you got to love him he’s built for it and this side of the hallway seems like it’s just more of Russ’s cup of tea

Anyway Daniel Ty how about his performance Some solid shots breaking the Zone the Miami Heat were in that zone like all game I thought he had a couple of nice shots in that high post area where he floated up and in six points and a rebound for Ty on two for

Three shooting in 16 minutes the only shot he missed was a three he hadit two free throws as well Amir coffee played 19 minutes he had five points a rebound and two assists on two for three shooting and one for two from three in 19 minutes and let me tell you that just

Doesn’t do him Justice at all CU I thought his defense on Robinson and just in the point of attack was really really solid how about this efficiency from Norm 22 points on 9 for 11 shooting and four for five from three that’s ridiculous he only missed two shots and

He was four for five from three shocking game where Norm doesn’t get a free throw that’s wild two rebounds two assists and how about two steals to go along with it when was the last time we said Norman pow was a defensive liability haven’t said that in weeks maybe

Months and then and 33 minutes by the way and then last but certainly not least he’s been playing at such a high level protecting the paint doing a good job one-on-one against the likes of joic the likes of bam out de Bayou hand up discipline and also I want to give a

Shout out to James aren Sometimes he had some really solid Closeouts where he was staying disciplined and not jumping as I said Harden’s defensive fundamentals are actually pretty good he’s just not very good laterally doesn’t like sitting down in a chair and he doesn’t always love playing defense

But for the Clippers so far he’s been good enough if he can continue to do that in the playoffs when he’s good I think he’ll be fine it’s just that you know in the playoffs when there are just few below average Defenders on the court that’s when it can stick out a little

Bit more but we have so much to go before that and he’s surrounded by the like this is James Harden and Russell Westbrook’s best chance to win a ring in my opinion like James Harden in Brooklyn he never even had this kind of like continuity with with the big three over

There he’s already got like 20 plus games under his belt with these guys it’s it’s bit different than that I think it’s a better chance for him of course there was Houston you know he was he was pretty close then but it’s just much more realistic when he’s not the

Best player I’m sorry and then in Westbrook’s case he hasn’t really had a great chance of winning a ring since 2016 you know when he was by himself or as the best player I’m sorry same goes for Russ sorry guys he wasn’t winning a ring

Um and then let’s see I mean with Harden nah that team wasn’t going to win a ring when they traded all their centers that was ridiculous and then with the Lakers I mean you could say that was a good chance but that fit was made from The

Dungeons of hell anyway Clippers with it 121 to 104 I’ll take that all day the shooting splits just fantastic FC for the team 59 48 93 17 out of 22 ladies and gentlemen and we got the Phoenix Suns next who are finally fully healthy but KD got load

Managed on Monday they’ve won two games in a row or I think it may might be three games in a row but one of those was against Portland and another one was against Charlotte so I don’t know I’m not that moved we’ll be previewing that game on the Wednesday

Episode you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at dim dropper pod subscribe to my own YouTube channel time droper for a video of the Miami Heat game and my experience fans thoughts and everything will be out on Tuesday on my channel and of course lock on Clippers

Is free and available wherever you get your podcast make sure you subscribe and hit the notification Bell we are now in 19th Place at uh for NBA teams but we really need to push the subscribers even further if we want to catch teams because I don’t think there’s any other

Channel NBA channel that’s under 5K that’s above us so we need to get to 5K the Clippers win it the age old proverb continues go Clippers and have a great second day of 2024

The LA Clippers opened up 2024 with a big time win over a short handed Miami Heat squad that featured Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, and Kevin Love.

But the big news for the Los Angeles Clippers and their fans was that Kawhi Leonard would return to the lineup. In this episode, die hard LA Clippers fan and Host Darian Vaziri talks about the return of Kawhi and how he performed. In addition, he breaks down the game, what turned things around in the second half, and the performances of Paul George, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook.

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