Warriors/Lakers Postgame, J.Worthy, Steph, TJD, Reaves, D-Lo, Coaches Reactions | Feb 22, 2024

Warriors/Lakers Postgame, J.Worthy, Steph, TJD, Reaves, D-Lo, Coaches Reactions | Feb 22, 2024

First game back from the All-Star break and the Lakers lose at Golden State the Warriors plus 18 from three tonight hurt the Lakers on the boards 14 offensive big game for 18 points uh Lakers struggled off ball defense matching that energy but big game to me that game end

Of the second quarter end of the third those two runs 11-2 8-2 that’s a 19 to4 run right we’re watching the end of the second quarter Lakers had were down like three and we were saying we can allow Golden State to have like a quick run

Soon as we said that they added like seven eight nine points you know they spread that lead out uh and then the Lakers just went in the tank after that in the third quarter uh you know not being able to get the ball inside when

You need a bucket you got ad there you got to find it we we’ve said this over and over and over Lakers just not executing well uh Golden State went to that zone for a little bit the Lakers never attacked it and then uh you know the 15 offensive rebounds uh for Golden

State and a lot of those resulted in 16 of those threes that they hit so you got to you got to you you got to take care of the the intangibles and make sure that you get you know the team to get one shot up take care of the basketball

And get some better shots you got to go to your bread and butter I don’t think we got enough inside shots and you know somewhere around the six minute Mark there I think I think Darwin decided that I mean they were down 15 I’m thinking we hit a few threes we we might

Get back in it but uh I I think with the back toback game I maybe he pulled it pulled it pulled it out that’s right yeah they play San Antonio here tomorrow it’s a pretty quick turnaround g u disappointing start yeah to the second part of the Season uh 25 games left now

And earlier uh on the pregame show he said hey the Lakers need to try to strive for six now they got to worry about falling to 10 you know Golden State’s in 10 half a game behind the Lakers now and even though the Lakers have been making more threes lately

They’ve had a really good month in that aspect they’re still giving up a lot they’re 28th in the league and allowing threes as you mentioned a big discrepancy there tonight Lakers weren’t making any or making enough and they were giving up a lot 16 yeah so let’s

Talk Warriors they’re nine- two in their last 11 games BRZ mentioned half game behind the Lakers 10th and climbing uh CP3 coming back they have the same goal as the Lakers if you heard Steve Kurt talk before the game he showed the team the standings today said five six seed

That’s our goal and they think it’s attainable um a lot of talk big game about the dynasty being dead but I don’t know I look at this Warriors team and the way Steph is playing and kind of the energy that they’re with Kay coming off

The bench now uh you know guys kind of fitting into their roles they’re still dangerous team to me I mean you want to see them in a in a playing game so it’s the system that Kerr has that works it doesn’t matter who’s in there they just

Seem to flow very well and they have a lot of confidence so yeah I mean the Lakers got to be careful like BR said where they are in the standings right now Golden State their youth is finally starting to to coales and turn into something you know they they didn’t hit

A lot of um home runs you know they already got they traded Weissman he’s out and now you’re seeing kaminga he’s been a starter for a while now he had a good game tonight you know we see the rookie psky he sent he sent Klay Thompson to the bench Jackson Davis had

17 off man yeah yeah Trace Jackson Davis second round pick out of Indiana a college teammate of Jaylen Hino he was he was very active tonight so the the Warriors youth which is what you need when you’re becoming an aging team the Warriors youth is really starting to

Fill in the cracks nicely they get Chris Paul back uh sometime on the upcoming four game Road Trip so he’ll have some nice veteran um guardianship shall we call it Lakers indeed have to be careful they are they’re going to make the play in tournament Utah’s done Utah is in

11th and fading fast it’s just where do you finish in that 7 10 we’re going to see the standings right here here you go listen that’s a that’s a tough loss tonight obviously no LeBron James uh they went out there with eight deep the bench was Christy Den witty and hay so

If you get get LeBron back at least you can run nine deep remember Christian Wood’s out for a couple weeks uh you know’s still out Cam’s still out so this is kind of what you have to roll with uh second out of a back toback tomorrow

James you want to look a big picture they’re six and two in their last eight sure they’re coming off a loss um brutal schedule coming up after the Spurs you got suns in Phoenix Sunday in an early game and you come right back Clippers so it’s not getting any easier but they got

To get back to playing good basketball which should motivate them I mean the tougher the schedule you should be motivated and as Brad said San Antonio coming here is not going to be a gimme you know Lakers need to take care of that one and then it’s going to get

Tough and they just got to get tougher you got to meet force with Force you got to really look at you know what they’re doing wrong and that’s given up a lot of Second Chance points some of them are resulting in threes uh Golden State game

A lot of layups like a lot of missed assignments from the weak side defense wasn’t happening a lot of dunks uncontested so yeah they’re better than that and I hate to see them go from you know showing us that they can play at a certain level to this even though they

Without LeBron at the beginning of the game they were right there playing very well three points down then that that stretch I think they were trying to play into the halftime and just kind of let their guards down and Golden State just ate them up in the in the second quarter

The end of that second quarter and uh that just gave them the momentum I think it was like a nine or 10-point lead at half and they they can’t afford to do that when the game is tight you got keep it close going into halftime you you

Come out down three four that’s a big difference in coming in you down 10 or 11 you know we’re going to go to DAR in a second but big game you’ll hear players say all the time you shouldn’t put too too much stock into the last couple games for the All-Star break and

Then a game or two right after the Aller break but when you’re sitting in ninth place you can’t that’s no long golden states wion nine of the last stocking all of them so all right let’s here from Darin ham he’s speaking with Mike TR on the media about 3 minutes

Left in the second quarter and they made their push what did you see during in that stretch and and how do you think that played out in the second half we had a couple of turnovers um man just just you know them scrap being being more Scrappy they put a lot

Of pressure on your defense CU their movement obviously the ability to shoot the ball uh we had a couple breakdowns off the ball but without having watched it yet uh just felt like their energy they made some energy plays and you know again this is a team that put pressure

On you to give multiple efforts constantly and uh we we obviously they made that push late in the first half and then you know as the second half started thought we got better on the ball switched up some matchups switched up the coverage a little bit then we

Kind of you know didn’t do what we needed to do off the ball in terms of maintaining matchup sending everything to the coverage uh couple opportunities we had to you know kick the small guys out put a bigger body on on guys that are rolling our Smalls down due to us

Switch and kind of fell asleep in that department but you know it’s one of those games man coming out the break it’s going to be tough playing against a team like this but uh got another one tonight got to win the recovery game fill our cups back up and try to get

Better suppose you could understand being out of rhythm after the All-Star break but the offense was really humming before that what do you have to get back to tomorrow night and I guess depending on if LeBron plays as well could help it what do you have to get back to yeah

Obviously getting Brun back would be great um and then you know just doing the little things you know not not skipping any steps you know our own again our own ball defense got better our off ball defense suffered a little bit in the second half a lot of

It at at at you know for that matter and then they were able to get second and third chance opportunities you know Second Chance points really at a high level for the most part we did we had some untimely turnovers but for the most part we did a good job taking care of

The ball um kept them in check a little bit bit transition defense but you again their ability to shoot the ball and give you give them multiple opportunities on on on their offensive glass and it’s they’re pretty hard team to beat Darin um Steph is always at the top

Of the Scouting Report um he was able to really get going early um what did it feel like he was getting to um that allowed him to get going that way and man they had a couple flip shots you know he he we fell asleep in transition

In terms of slow develop and pick and roll um those flip shots where you know he’s off the ball and someone a pick and roll happens and they kick it ahead to a Draymond or a looney and they’re right there pitching the ball to him knocking

Off our Defenders and and you know he got some looks that way um we lost him a couple times so again we we we have to go back and look at the film but it just felt like just a a huge variety of a lot of different uh types of shots that he

Were he was making tonight D you guys have lofty goals ass do the Warriors in terms of making up the Gap and getting outside of the playing scenario and being six or higher is there any you know need just because this is the first I guess stumble out of the gate to kind

Of you know bring bring the guys together or do you think this is one that you guys can be elastic from and just kind of move on and recognize okay whatever there’s 25 more to go and we still got to make up this CR I mean just

Doing the simple things Dave keeping it simple and being consistent at the simple things within the game um you don’t want to overreact because first and for foremost at the top of the list of us trying to get to where we’re trying to get to we got to get healthy

We got to get bodies back in the lineup that said we still have a bunch of capable players in that locker room and we we can’t you know make up our own coverages or start doing things just CU we’re fatigued or we’re lost or whatever you know we’re going to cover from one

On another but we also have to know at the outst start of things you know what what what the plan is and stick to that plan and and um you know we we we’ll coach coach these mistakes and and and show them on film touch us a little bit and

Before we get into San Antonio tomorrow night and then uh try to come out and get a w bounce back from this thin uh how much of an adjustment was it just not having your typical size that that you normally have like you know Christian obviously goes out over

The break no LeBron I know Colin was a late scratch just like not having those front Court bodies tonight and just kind of the adjustment of having to play a bit smaller I mean you feel it with your rebounding it’s it’s extremely difficult you know you think about V and cam these

Guys Christian Wood one of our better defensive rebounders you feel it on the glass and so but you it’s a grown man’s League you know we got to figure out a way we got to find a way you know even if it’s everybody boxing out and then

Running once we you know gain possession of a defensive rebound then we have to make that adjustment we have to make it pretty quickly because uh uh you know those guys won’t be in the lineup tomorrow either you know Bron will be back but we got to push through and

During this down period for some of our guys as they try to nurse themselves back to Good Health uh just to be clear will Bron be back tomorrow or just eventually here soon we will get an official word tomorrow morning and see but in all likelihood he should be out there

Tomorrow the um we got word that ad whatever happened he doesn’t have a voice right now and against this team to not have your primary defensive Communicator do you think that was a factor at all and maybe that’s a stretch but like he’s the guy that’s that’s your

Talker definitely you have to cover it up you’re not going to have get through a game against a team like this with that type of Firepower with that type of head of the snake in terms of stu um with with without everyone talking and and and and being alert and ready

And and doing the work early being in position early it’s not going to be a cookie cutter uh game plan like it’s going to be times where you going to play Perfect Defense and they still going to score there times where you going to have to get multiple efforts

You going to have to yell and communicate with your teammate so him having a little trouble with his voice tonight I thought definitely impact the game he been my hats off to him he still came out and and and and did the best job he could under the circumstances but

Um it’s not just him though everyone has to talk and cover for their teammates we don’t always see Steph get off to a start like that was that kind of built in were you kind of setting it up for him to kind of be aggressive offensively at the start not really but

I I think this year he’s been a little more aggressive in the first quarters in general um just probably because the the team is built a little differently and uh so I think he you know it’s kind of it’s okay for him to to get going right away this team

Um can use that so he he just kind of sees what the game is offering and uh does whatever he needs to do and speaking of Steph in that second quarter he had a good close out it forced like a jump ball and he got really hype and

Then in the third quarter jumps passing Lane gets a steal couple possessions later draws a charge when he’s making plays on that side of the ball do you think it affects him in a way that really gets everybody going yeah I think I think Steph takes a lot of pride in uh

Making plays like that you know um steals or drawing a charge making a good defensive play that definitely gets him going and gets our team going too why do you think clay connects with Trace so often uh I I think because you know Trace is such a good finisher and when

Clay comes off pin Downs um people are going to they’re scared they’re going to put two on the ball and um he just knows that um if Trace after he sets the screen if he slips and gets to the rim he knows Clay’s or Trace is going to finish and

They’ve just had a great connection all year on that that action you talked pregame about how you know Chris will kind of slide into that unit I mean do you view Trace as kind of an ideal Center in that sense where klay’s connecting with him Chris theoretically

Could pick I mean do you I mean Trace had obviously a huge night tonight like do you see him as the center in that unit yeah because he gives Chris a lob threat um so you can see what what that unit um might look like and um so it’s

It’ll be great to get Chris back and and kind of put that group together and um see how they do Andrews scored I think double doit in the last seven games we’ve talked a lot about how Draymond coming back has impacted him and the way that Andrew Draymond and Jonathan have

Played together but aside from that like just what have you observed over Andrew and you know the development of his season but really these past couple weeks that have allowed him to resemble a little bit more of of who he was especially that champ ionship year yeah he just looks more comfortable he’s

Attacking the rim more and U and I think you know the way we’re playing is um and the lineup that he starts uh the game with just gives him more space uh to attack and and um he’s uh he’s looked really good now for a while you know

Physically I just think he looks much better than he did early in the season but um I think the way our team has evolved and the lineups that we’re playing um kind of feeds into um everything that he does well and he’s just he’s playing at a high level

Playing unselfishly just making the the simple play and I love love how wigs is playing right now Steve step is uh seems like he’s you know maintaining his like high volume of scoring without very many free throws uh how difficult is that actually uh to you

Know put up 30 34 with two free throws and do you think it’s sustainable I don’t know I mean I didn’t used to get foul either and I would put up my six and I was like I don’t know how I did it either I barely got to the

Line and um no I just think that um I mean he’s he’s the most skilled player I I think I’ve ever seen um and so you know this is a league where you know the the game is geared towards the offensive player as we know

Uh so there’s a lot of guys who are taking advantage of that and and seeking fouls and Steph has just never played like that um he doesn’t do that all that stuff he just tries to get Space because he knows when he gets space he’s going

To uh more than likely knock down a shot and um he’s yeah he’s just he doesn’t spend a a lot of time at the line unless you know we have a lead and people are following down the stretch but um he’s so good and so skilled that he he finds

A way anyway do you want him to be more like the rest of the league I know you you know I just I I think what we’ve talked about over the years a little bit is just mixing in um some pump fakes and and um and when guys are flying into him

It’s uh it’s not a bad play to you know use a pump fake and just draw a f a shooting foul get get three free throws um on the other hand he loves the fly by and they just he takes one dribble to his left and knocks down the shot so

Easily um so it’s just it’s not something we’ve spent a whole lot of time on but um you know there are there are uh games and playoff series where teams are playing us a certain way and it’s great for Steph and Clay to draw people off their feet get to the line

It’s a big help but it’s just never been something that they’ve um you know relied on too much in the first half you sat Draymond for like 11 or 12 minutes in a row game time and even with a lot of that with ad out there there was that

An intentional what was going on there uh that was just cuz Trace was playing so well so um we had planned on bringing him earlier I think Trey scored 13 straight points and he was getting to the rim and so we just uh the game was

Going well and um uh we started to put Draymond in and then I think Trey scored another couple of buckets and um he came over to the Huddle and he said let him go and we agreed and we just thought let’s um let’s give Trace another a

Couple minutes and we did and then Draymond came in after that and also I’m sure you probably noticed in the fourth quarter I think it was there was a possession where kaminga just at the top of the circle everyone kind of clears out for him and he’s directing traffic

He’s literally calling for screens on the right side is that is that something you encourage or something you want him to do and I it did result in the basket is that a sign of development for this yeah yeah he recognized what was happening I think he pointed for Klay to

Come off the screen and then clay hit trace for the bucket and they called the timeout I think that’s that’s the one you’re talking about and and yes that’s a a really great sign of JK seeing the floor recognizing what’s happening and then you know making the right play to

To create that little two-on-one with with clay and and treace is that set up for him to make a decision that’s uh JK or or no it’s decision uh JK or or no it’s it’s really set up uh whoever has the ball um anytime we can pin

Pinned down for clay or Steph um that’s great stuff for us because those guys draw so much attention so he recognized that JK did that’s what what he pointed for and then when clay came off he hit him and two guys jumped out at clay and

Klay found Trace so um that’s really a big part of our offense so it’s a great sign that JK recognized that and he’s starting to make those plays thank you guys first quarter is now and what does it mean to you guys when he just starts hitting right after

The opening tip and and gets on a roll early and and what kind of lift does that give you guys um just him and then getting the crowd engaged um bringing a lot of energy I think it fuels us and I think it fuels and sets the tone for the

Rest of the game and having someone with that caliber and shooting the ball like that you just want to get him as much as many shots as possible because you know that when he’s in that zone it’s hard to stop obviously things can always change but kir kind of suggested that when

Chris is back uh the second unit could really look like with you at the center obviously a role threat um have you heard that and do you sense that and what does that mean to you that you obviously you know minutes have come and gone for you a little bit this season

That you might be able to get like a regular rotation spot in there um for me it’s just all about working hard um I have a great connection with CP I have a great connection with Clay um but that’s that’s coach’s decision to decide who

The best fit is out there and so I’m going to leave it up to him because I know that he’s going to make the best decision for the team now is it fun or is there pressure when you’ve got guys like Hall of Famers now we’re talking

Two of them who are like saying we’re going to get you I mean Chris has said that like I’ve made a lot of big men a lot of money uh is that a little pressure on you no I think it’s the opposite um when they instill confidence

In me like that um it just makes me want to raise my game to another level and um obviously you don’t want to let them down but at the same time they give you confidence and usually half the time they draw so much attention just getting

A dunk or a layup so it’s just about finishing and concent rating you know you had 13 that quick um I didn’t necessarily know that I had 13 that quick I knew I scored like three or four times in a row but I wasn’t I wasn’t really paying attention I was actually

Upset because I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to on the defensive end with the coverages so I was more mad about that on the on the clay front I mean did it take a little time for for you guys to develop that or did it come pretty

Quick uh I think it was pretty natural honestly um I can remember from the first time I started in the preseason um he hit me a few times he hit me with a lob over sabonis so I feel like that it’s just kind of like a Synergy that we

Have that’s just know how to play the game together that it cool thank you lock room open in just a second Andrew uh what’s been clicking the last couple of weeks for you um I feel like I just found a good Rhythm you know found a good Rhythm um

Been put in work um in practice getting extra shots up just you know feeling good about myself you know and the team is rolling right now you know everyone in the team is you know we’re all playing together playing the right way and you know we’re figuring something

Out that could be special what’s the inter energ for you guys been like over the last 11 games where you’ve won nine times versus when things were kind of South in the first half of the year um I mean it’s great you know you know winning brings the best out of everybody

You know everyone’s happy when we win and you know when you lose it’s not as fun Andrew I’m sure maybe at other points in your career you’ve gone through what you might call a little rut or a little dry dry spell whatever you want to call it yeah um how did you just

Mentally keep saying okay I’m putting up the shots I’m this is going to come around I just got to stay with the process so to speak yeah I mean you just got to keep believing in yourself and you know and I know what I can do you

Know and I’ve been in the league for 10 years now you know so I know what I can do and what I can’t do and I know just you know take time and you know find the right things I work for me again and I knew everything will be okay and clay

Clay is not maybe shooting the way he wants to right now do you guys chat at all or in practice are you I know you’re not always on the same court but just supporting each other saying okay K clay keep keep firing it for sure you know

You have to you know that’s that’s a good way to get out of a slump is just you know keep shooting keep believe believing in yourself and you know Clay is one of the best Shooters of all time you know to me it’s defin than him you

Know so we I believe in him I know the team believes in him um and we all know what he can do it seems like the the starting lineup with Draymond at Center um a little bit more space a little bit more opportunities to find mismatches um do

You feel that as a player and and is that kind of a lineup that you feel more comfortable in um for sure you know Draymond on the floor he makes the whole team better he makes everyone better around him you know on the defensive side and the offens offensive side you

Know he’s has one of the highest IQs in in the league um and you know know it shows under there in the court hey Austin Golden State obviously started hot but you guys hung in there I think you hadit a shot to make it 5150 later in the second quarter before they

Made a spurt did you notice anything pivot from that point is as they were able to maintain a double digit lead for most of the rest of the game um I just think you know with Steph um getting off to the start that he got off to

Um you know kind of allowed everybody else on our team to you know have a lot of space because you got to give him so much attention and um like tra Jackson Davis I thought he was really good for them tonight uh you know on both ends of

The floor he you know got out of pick and rolls and made it hard for our low man to you know really be there because they had a shooter in the corner um and he got a lot of you know lobs layups on that but you just tip your hat

U really good team that plays the game the right way um they play with you know continuity movement and um you know that going into the game but it’s still tough to go Darin seemed optimistic that LeBron would return tomorrow but nonetheless like no Christian would for

A little while it’s going to be bit of a different second unit maybe smaller what do you guys have to do to account for that and be a little bit different uh we just got to play hard um and play the game the right way you know I think you

You look at the last 15 16 games um you know we played the game the right way and even when we’ve had you know a couple guys out uh regardless of who it is you know other guys have stepped up because when you play the game the right

Way it makes it easy um so that’s really the main thing obviously getting Braun back obvious reasons but um just continuing to play the game the right way Austin you guys are obviously winning uh but also winning with some offensive cohesion prior to the break and you guys shot something like 10 for

35 and three tonight is there any like rhythm is that part of it uh tonight um you know maybe more so than say shot selection did were you okay with the shots but just just felt like you know those are shots that you guys can make when things are

Humming yeah I think if you go back and look um for the most part shots were good shots um and we just from the three-point line didn’t uh shoot it well and when you got a team that does shoot the ball well or gets up so many attempts that when they

Are making shots you have to obviously not you know match what they do but you have to put a little more threes on the board to you know kind of balance that out um but I think the shot selection was good um know you just something sometimes you makes them

And sometimes you miss them Austin did did you tweak your ankle at all on that play I think it was was that kones uh where you tried to challenge and were you were you did you come out that at all right yeah um I

Tried to go make a play on the ball uh realized as soon as I jumped I was late um they you know read an action with Steph and uh you know he slipped and I was guarding the corner and I was the only one back there so I was going to go

Try to make a play realized I was late so tried to kind of get out the way after I jumped um but I think our feet just got tangled up I think my ankle you know got caught a little behind uh you know tweaked it a little bit but um

Nothing ain’t ever happened before um Dave mentioned kind of the Rhythm that you guys had before that um I guess are you confident enough that the sample size you guys put together in the 15 16 games whatever it was pre Allstar was significant enough to be like this is

Who we are like we all know in there this is who we have to be moving forwards um yeah I think you know I think it should be uh you know I think you know if you look at or I mean you can look at the numbers or you can just watch the

Game whatever you prefer um I think it’s just a a continuity and a flow to the game that um you know was fun to watch and obviously that you know translates really good stuff for us on the court and you know if we play like that and

Continue to play like that we’re going to be you know a tough team to beat cuz we have talent we have guys that can make plays and when it gets crunch time you know we got guys that have been there before and you know done big

Things um so yeah I think that’s you know what we should you know um you know continue to try to do Austin uh you guys didn’t have LeBron you you lost Christian over the break Colin was a late scratch um how much of an adjustment was it just not having the

Typical big bodies that you guys have and I mean they got 15 offensive rebounds 23 Second Chance points like just just the adjustment I guess of of playing smaller lineups and and and kind of figuring that out defensively yeah it’s tough um but you know you can never

Use that as an excuse um you play the hand your dilt and um it just means you know us as guards we’ve got to do a better job of you know helping ad and Jackson um you know cuz they’re battling so hard you know in the paint uh we got

To do a better job you know helping them you know get those rebounds and you know especially with this team uh they shoot so many threes that those rebounds when they miss threes aren’t really in the paint the elbows you know um you know they say long shot long rebound so you

Know us guards got to do a better job to you know help ad out in that aspect Austin you just mention guard rebounding um what else maybe stylistically needs to change when you guys do play those smaller lineups with more guards on the floor um I mean obviously defensively

Rebounding um offensively I think it gives us an advantage to you know play with the pass and and play out of closeouts and uh you know drive by the first guy swing it uh if you don’t like that shot then he you know plays out of

That close out um you know with the the talent speed that we have we could do that um you know we’re still growing together uh we’re still trying to you know get that continuity um you know and obviously getting Spencer uh trying to you know help him get used to you know

That as well uh which he’s done a really good job of um is what I think you know when we go small what we can really do to be successful thank you yeah hey D’Angelo you guys were in such a nice Rhythm offensively before the break and it seemed like you were

Searching for that tonight it sounds like LeBron may come back tomorrow which could help some but what what do you think you guys have to do just to return to that form you were in in early February I mean I expected that first game back no excuse but obviously we

Weren’t um sharp as we want to be um wasn’t as sharp as we were when we left the break before the break so expect it we’ll be all right back to back at Spurs also play tonight in Sacramento so you you’ll both get there no real Advantage rest wise

What do you like the fact that you play again or after being off that long is it challenging just getting back physically I mean I don’t I don’t know I mean it’s nothing we can do about it it is what it is I don’t care you guys have obviously

The the bigger goal of making up the Lost ground and get outside of the playing tournament to make a first round birth outright when you have something like this you know how do you kind of move past it and recognize there’s still 25 games to go and there’s still you

Know kind of a lot of work to do something like what losing tonight yeah play tomorrow you I mean just I guess but how do you put it in the proper perspective in terms of you guys do have the bigger goal in mind it’s the proper perspective right there one game at a

Time we lost tonight try to get the next one simple as that I think you can’t really get too low matter what it is um I was obviously we’re missing a bunch of guys and whatnot but one game at a time never too high never too

Low d uh you mentioned missing a lot of guys you guys are missing a lot of size in particular uh they had 15 offensive rebounds 23 Second Chance points um what what what was the adjustment kind of in in adjusting to playing smaller lineups and and sort of trying to figure that

Out without your normal I guess size that you guys typically have um I think we learn what we should do um right now we’re still figuring it out you know um simple as that I don’t I don’t really have the answer I think we learn try to

Get better learn from what we had mistakes on tonight and just try to be better next game Austin mentioned guard rebound when you guys play smaller lineups you mentioned guard rebounding that’s something that needs to be a focus or improve it upon is there anything else

Out there when you guys do play you know maybe three guards and you know maybe a smaller forward at the fourward that you guys need to lock in on so you guys can turn that into an advantage I don’t even recall playing small ball or having a

Small lineup out there I don’t even remember what what we’re talking about do you know yeah I mean just off top of my head maybe like three guards and Victorian at the four and then maybe I think maybe ad at the five was that tonight did that happen at all or you

Yeah that was pretty sure that was tonight you guys I really don’t I don’t even recall so I I don’t know why have to check it out and film or something I don’t know honestly all right let’s talk a little LeBron James you heard Darin say uh he is expected to play tomorrow

They’ll know for sure in the morning um if you look back over the last 10 days All-Star game played 18 minutes I believe so it should be a rested LeBron but that ankle injury big game uh just something they’re going to have to navigate and he’s probably not going to

Play the back Tob backs um just something that’s going to be there the rest of the year at uh 21 years in you have to monitor every little minor nagging injury with a little bit more severity because I mean here’s a guy that’s uh you know in good shape but a

Lot of miles on on his body so I don’t know uh how much it’s hurting him or how much is limited him but he did play what 18 minutes in 18 minutes on Sunday so you know I I would think he would be rested and ready to go hopefully

Tomorrow uh he’ll be ready they don’t want to play him in the back toback game so he chose the second one to play in hopefully he can come back fresh they need him yeah he hasn’t played in an NBA game so to speak since uh February 13th

MH so I was still shopping for Valentine’s Day presidents at that time so that’s a that’s good news that they’re going to have him back no doubt about it and for anyone who says oh you know the Lakers beat Boston without him they look good in Utah winning right

Before the break without him you know they can exist well they’re now four and four without him which isn’t awful but tonight would have been a really nice game for LeBron to be healthy and to be playing cuz you know the pick and roll situations I think that might have

Frustrated Golden State um better offensive rebound with LeBron out there you know it’s just uh a bunch of little things added up to a big Miss they definitely missed him tonight yeah BR so 10 day was it 10 days rest yep 10 days between games between games yeah so you

Got to like that going in I mean little recharge for him as well no doubt head in the last 25 games yeah and you know he he’s picked little games here and there he he’ll miss a I think he’s missed actually both Road games to Utah they’re both one-offs and he might do

That as you kind of hinted the rest of the year maybe the the back back to back set out one of those uh situations so I you know they have another back toback next week they play at the Clippers it’s a designated Clipper home game and then

They play the Wizards the next night so there’s you know there’s still several back-to-backs left for the Lakers this year and that’s disappointing if if you know for the Lakers winning chances if LeBron’s ankle is that bad he’s going to have to miss some of those yeah and and

Obviously you want him out there as much as possible and big game you look at a Friday night game early Sunday game flyback Tuesday Clippers so you want them to be in all three of those yeah you you you want LeBron you need him but

Not only that it’s going to be tough for the other guys too Steph this is another game where you think you had a two free throws uh H how difficult is it to you know get 32 points consistently without getting to the free throw line and do you is that

Sustainable do you want to do you want to get to the line more or do you kind of like being able to get 32 points with two free throws uh I mean I’ve never been a what they call him like a foul baiter or worried about selling calls

It’s um and I haven’t really obsessed over I made jokes like when I got two freeos a day I cheered um let out a nice little yell just being sarcastic but mostly um there’s maybe been like two or three possessions in the last three or three games um where there’s where you

Know like oh it should have been a foul and then you get distracted by arguing with the ref or whatever it is I’ve been trying to not even engage in that and for the most part um it’s helped because you can’t control whether you get there or not you

Still got to you know do what you need to do to you know help your team win get get make an impact score the ball whatever it is um so it’s nice to have this window where no matter if I’m getting there or not I’m still shooting you know efficiently

And getting where I need to on the floor but if there are foul calls like I hope that they’re called so it’s just one of those you know don’t get distracted by type of mentalities you ever seen clay specifically pass as well to somebody as he seems to be connecting

With with trace for sure um I couldn’t I don’t have specific examples was even like early in his career there was that uh that offseason where he came back and he was running pin downs and he had like that was like his favorite thing to do um like the one dribble

Pocket pass or over the top well maybe it’s like to like Bogues back in the day um but I heard that he told Trace pregame you know if he sets good screens for him he knows that he still he he still demands the attention Klay does coming

Off of pin downs and he’s a threat to shoot at any at any point but he was so decisive with what he wanted to do with the ball and getting to him to trace on time and Trace is doing you know the rest so I like that he had fun doing it

And that he appreciated the fact that he you know that’s the option that he has on offense with his if his shots falling or not falling no matter what it what it looks like Kur said that he kind of talked to you guys the last few days

Maybe it was yesterday where you are in the standings you know how many games are left uh maybe strength of schedule whatever you you talk about and he said like six seed a goal or I don’t know if they said a realistic goal how how much are you thinking tangibly about getting

To six how much do you think that’s likely uh or do you just want to be playing well and it doesn’t matter what seed you’re going to be he had a great speech about all of that yesterday um the way I approach it that is that is the six seed is the

Goal cuz that you know obvious takes you out it guarantees you a spot in the series and that’s what we want but in order to in the way our season’s gone taking a big goal and breaking it down this is probably the ultimate test of stay right where you are um win every

Game that’s in front of you build up you know Joy and energy and you know momentum and it but that’s a slow process because we really haven’t I mean there’s confidence but we haven’t proven that you know we what won N Out of 11 and this this is a good window that

We’ve had but um every literally every game matters for us to you know do that so I think I’m just trying to enjoy what’s happening in each game understanding what it’s going to take to win that particular game it’s a lofty goal but we know you

Know we can’t get there speaking of uh what’s ahead of you we all know that CP is coming back pretty soon rotation has been pretty well Set uh you’ve gone through this before you got you got a deep roster um how many has there been conversations already about okay

Everyone has to understand sometimes the minutes aren’t going to be there we’ve talked about this all season but specific to this and CP um where’s the team with that what’s the what’s kind of the mindset knowing he’s coming back in and guys already have had some of their minutes Limited this season

It’s well first you be an idiot not to think that CP can help us um and he has an ability to uh exist in whatever lineup he’s he’s out there with and and Elevate him the question is uh from a night toight perspective you start with the

Idea of like who’s going to close the game and coach talked about this yesterday we’ve been talking about it all year that could look different night after night after night minutes could look different you know night after night and that is the challenge of this team this sounds like a broken record

From the earlier in the year but I feel like we’ve developed uh as best of an identity um as we’ve had all year by you know how we’re trying to play and the fact that winning is is fun and no matter what it looks like everybody’s

Going to have a a piece of that and an impa a chance to impact that and so um we have to keep talking about it because it is the elephant in the room every night who’s going to be out there to to to finish games you know what’s

The minute LW going to look like but if we can be as selfless as possible and not care about that then everybody’s talents can can help us win CP included it’s I like to see I’m sorry kaminga kind of setting up you know kind of directing

Traffic a little bit I guess he called you know didn’t call but saw that clay was going to get that pin down um what are you thinking when you see this guy in his third season kind of feeling that and feeling that he can kind of direct

Traffic a little bit it gives us confidence and composure that when we’re communicating like that or he’s confident or sees the pictures that everything kind of flows the way it’s supposed to so that happened and you know there were Smiles all around cuz he did it it happened another play where I

Was coming down and Trace yelled at me that he was going to set the pick and roll and so I kind of slowed down and knew where he was and that is new where he’s understanding how to get Guys open and then he’ll you know help somebody

Help yourself kind of mentality but him being vocal about it even when he sees me you know in the action and I think we got that’s when I threw that no look P to him and I told him right after that that the timeout like that only happened because you said something

To me and saw the picture before I even did so all those little things matter and you know JK he’s had the ball in his hands a lot more and he’s making defenses pay and now you know seeing the pictures getting everybody uh organiz is is amazing Steph in the second quarter you

Had a a nice close out I think it was on Max Christie for a jump ball he got hype with the crowd then in the third quarter you jumped the passing Lane got a easy layup and then few possessions later you draw a charge how much do plays on that

Side of the ball really energize you it’s kind of like the um what do you call just the ability to uh impact the game a lot of different ways I’m not a defensive stopper by any means but I uh you love competition and love being able to get going even if it’s

Not you know shooting the ball or whatever the case is and I know that it matters because it’s Five Guys on defense and everybody being in lock step of you know taking on whatever challenge it is that uh we all can feed off of that energy so it’s kind of like that

Playoff mentality where you know that’s as important as what you do on the offensive end um and those those those energy plays matter and I saw you at one point you were coaching up Lester uh on the bench just seeing some of the young guys start to

Blossome a little bit what is that like just cuz you see them when they come in over the last couple years and then see some of the fruits of their labor pay off how how does that feel as one of the Vets whether you see it or not it’s always a part of

Us trying to build um you know confidence in them that they can help us win they’ve energized us all year whoever you put in that young guy category or bucket message for uh for Les tonight was you know don’t overthink stuff just play basketball shoot shots you’re supposed to shoot be aggressive when

It’s you when it’s your turn um like the worst thing he can do is turn down open shots cuz you know he’s out there for a reason so that was the only message and it’s just a matter of building confidence cuz to Tim’s question like is

You don’t know if you’re going to play five minutes or 15 minutes but when you’re out there make an impact and you’re out there for a reason

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