How The LA Clippers Ran Through The Tape Versus Charlotte

How The LA Clippers Ran Through The Tape Versus Charlotte

The LA Clippers broke their two game losing skid with what was an ugly win against the Charlotte Hornets but an ugly win is a win nonetheless James Harden Russell Westbrook and Paul George led the way a good game of mvit zubot helped get the job done but why was it

So difficult against the Charlotte Hornets team without lamelo ball and kawh Leonard missing his third straight game let’s talk about it on today’s locked on Clippers our 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 darn vieri born and raised in LA and going into or 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 vlog of what a very interesting experience at the Charlotte Hornet Clipper game on Tuesday night was you can see my experience there and locked on Clippers free and available

Wherever you get your podcast including YouTube where I want you to let me know what you thought of the game why was it so hard what did you like let me know in the comments and this episode is brought to you by game time game time is the

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Purchase all right Clippers Hornets let’s start with right before the game Ki Leonard out again so remember last episode if you listened I said my concern level goes from a three to a five if he misses that next game I’m starting to think this might be

A one to two week injury which is not a big deal it’s already been about hasn’t been a week yet his last game was against Dallas that was on Wednesday so it hasn’t been a week but that Memphis game we’ll see even if it’s two weeks that’s not the

End of the world it really isn’t that’s why we brought in James Aron to have enough juice to get by without kawh Leonard potentially now the thing about it is one or two weeks as I said is not a big deal but the Clippers always scare me with

This because they do this daytoday thing instead of just telling us the severity of the injuries I had a fan come up to me on Tuesday night saying I think they do it just so we continue to buy tickets not knowing just in hopes that he’s

Going to play and I don’t want to believe it’s that some other people say that it’s because they want to keep a competitive advantage over the other team by keeping them in the dark Maybe in a playoff game I don’t think so in the regular season

Like I don’t know the point is I don’t trust anything the Clippers put out in regards to Kawhi Leonard and injury status so I’m just hoping for the best but anyway this was a really interesting night because the section that I’m in 207 the season ticket holder section it

Was empty on Tuesday night empty all all the people that I know besides maybe one or two weren’t even there life gets in the way people are out of town understandable but they started moving people down from the 300 section cuz the 300s were packed

Which lets me believe and when I was at the game I felt like it was a sellout it was a sellout so second straight sellout I could feel the amount of tourists at the game I could just sense these people that were so excited to be at a game the

Atmosphere was one of the best of the season but it was packed to the brim on a Tuesday night the day after Christmas against the Charlotte Hornets without lamelo ball and no Kawhi Leonard so I loved it the game itself man the Clippers made this one difficult didn’t they we played

With our food big time but thankfully the Charlotte Hornets just aren’t that good and the Clippers have star power and abundance and we were able to get across the finish line and not totally blow it but we made life difficult for ourselves and I think it’s because we didn’t come

Out and play with defensive intensity at all we could not string together stops miles Bridges was getting to the rim fairly easily on just about everyone he was knocking down his three there were just some really weak contests and there were very few players for the Clippers

That I thought actually had a good defensive game by name off the top of my head and what I thought obviously some of this is a little subjective based on how you evaluate defense and what you’re seeing but I think zubot was good I think Westbrook was good I think think

Amir coffee was solid and I thought Kobe Brown was better he had a rough last couple of possessions in the second quarter before he came out but he had better understanding of what was needed from him defensively his rotations were pretty good and the most happy thing for me watching Kobe Brown

Was when he was guarding Terry Rosier and he didn’t go for his shot F and he stayed on the ground and Terry Rosier didn’t get a shot off he forced him to pass we’ve been talking about Kobe Brown and his Reckless Closeouts well I’m happy that you saw a

Little bit of improvement a little bit of progression so that’s a good thing other than that though Paul George three straight games in my opinion with pretty lackluster defense I think it got better as the game went on but outside of like one or two possessions of good

One-on-one defense thought he was lazy with his switches not being up enough not communicating his body language wasn’t great I think he was getting cooked on Twitter a little bit too hard a little bit too hard we still won the game and I always say Paul George needs

To be aggressive he was 10 for 25 in the game yeah that might not be very efficient but what do I always say when we don’t have Kawhi Leonard he should be taking 20 shots at least and I like that he did I like that he was aggressive and

I’m not complaining about him being passive five for 11 from three and that included three big ones in the third quarter absolutely huge because we couldn’t not only could we not string together stops we couldn’t really string together made baskets we really couldn’t but I’ll tell you what

James Harden in my opinion was the guy who really I want to even I don’t know if I want to use the word carried but in the first half offensively kind of did he was making a ton of great plays I thought Westbrook was good as well I

Will say I have to give him his flowers and Paul George did start the game pretty well knocking down some shots but James Harden he was the first half for the Clippers offensively 20 points the double drag was working really well with Harden as the ball handler and you saw

Various people be used as that first screener that pick and pop guy whether it be Terren Amir Russ later in the game Russ was getting some good stuff when he was getting space in front of him caused by James Harden or Paul George getting attention so yeah we used a couple of

Different guys in that action and James Harden was able to make the right read whether it be to a corner shooter or to iich zubot or Daniel Ty IIT zubot in this game really solid as well 18 points 14 rebounds four assists one steal and

One block only thing I’ll say is he made some poor reads in those fouron three situations in the short rle because James Harden and Paul George one thing that really helped the Clippers take this home was they started getting blitzed in the fourth quarter and Steve Clifford admitted after the game he had

Problems with James Harden PJ Washington could not stay in front of James Harden I was on Blow by watches I’ve always been this season and PJ Washington could not stay in front of James Harden so we’re starting to see Harden get toit in the paint which is what the Clippers

Have needed more of since we put two and three together because quite frankly they don’t do it enough and I thought Paul George in the fourth quarter actually did do it more created an affected nine straight points nine when the Clippers went down in the fourth quarter it was getting really sketchy we

Went cold the def like Russ was good defensively but even he had moments where he was just ball watching and falling asleep on his man overh helping or maybe trying to be in the vicinity for a rebound which he did a great job on the boards tonight but I don’t like

It when guys just sag off anticipating a rebound or a pass and just leaving their wide open when they’re a good shooter James Harden as well really not great defensively at all tonight or on Tuesday night I thought he had one or two pokes that were good one led to a steal and

Then two or three good shot contests but overall when he was attacked oneon-one he was a con a lot of times but that being said I still think Harden was my player of the game even with that being said I don’t think he was that great on

That end of the floor but offensively was superb how about the man who brought us home though Russell goat Brook Russell Westbrook brought the life into the building listen we’ve had a lot of great six men Cory mgti Jamal Crawford Lou Williams of montress harell I’ve been at games for

All these guys and none of them get a bigger reception louder than Russell Westbrook when they check into a game for the Clippers Off the Bench he it’s it’s bigger than his Clipper tenure he won people over off the bat because he already has so many fans in the city so

And he’s come on I mean it’s Russell Westbrook for God’s sake he’s a Hall of Famer and he was musty TV and he’s also the best I’ve ever seen even over Patrick Beverly and montress Herold at engaging the crowd he’s so great at making us the fans feel important and

That’s one thing I love about players but man how effective was he in this game immediately when he came into the game was able to score knock down a three he hit that one-legged fade that I don’t think I would love to see the percentage on on that shot this season

But he hit it nothing but net hit a three and was so aggressive in this game rebounding got a couple of huge interceptions a big block late and the end of the game you know after James Harden made that three to make the Clippers go up 96 to 93 Russell

Westbrook hitting that three late in the shot clock I can’t tell you how big of a shot that was I mean absolutely massive and then after that three he had the beautiful pass inside to zubot Bullet Pass with a tight window that led to a Charlotte Hornets timeout put us up eight and

Then the big one if it’s a zubot with a little bucket to put the Clippers up 10 with four minutes to go and we had him from there oh you know what the real dagger was actually was that Paul George Corner 3 from Russ yet again and Russ

Just some big moments down the stretch he really brought us home so you got to give him all his flowers in this game Russell Westbrook had 14 Points 11 rebounds six assists two Steals and a block two turnovers so he kept it you know three to one assist

To turnover ratio I will take that and again another really efficient game five for eight from the field and two for two from three wow two for two from three I didn’t even notice that he made both two for three from the line Clippers win it

113 to 104 but coming up going to be talking more about the overall performance what lineups worked what defensive schemes we threw at them and the performance of one James Harden I got to tell you a little something about eBay Motors our partners at eBay motors have teamed up with

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104 for all the people that I did not see that sit in my section 207 that are listening to this show right now I missed you I missed you and I apologize to all the listeners right now if my voice sounds a little bit horse or croaky because man my head was starting

To hurt late in that game I was yelling a lot hot jeez it’s like midnight right now when I’m recording this but got to get it out for the people right got to get it out for you Clipper Nation the best most loyal fans in the league and

Listen I know you’re going to be thinking the Clippers got to be better I can’t believe you’re so happy Darian smiling and all this stuff look did we play well no we didn’t is there an excuse no there’s not even though we didn’t have Kawai but our

Team should not be fully judged if don’t have kawhai Leonard cuz we aren’t going to win a championship without him we know it it doesn’t matter our team as a whole the Clippers the 2023 24 Clippers need to be judged with Kawhi Leonard alongside these guys okay

Now that doesn’t mean we can’t critique them when he doesn’t play but all that matters is winning all that matters is winning let’s see next game we got to take it one game at a time the Memphis Griz is going to be tough but when you’ve got a guy like James Harden on

Your team you always have a chance to win because the guy is as I’ve said the best pick and rooll player we’ve had since Chris Paul he makes all the right reads in those double drags offensively one-on-one he was having his way in this one he was

Knocking down the three ball he was getting to the rim he was getting to the line again I don’t understand how he gets some of the calls that he gets but it’s on our side now so I’ll take it how about 50% from the field and three in

This one for James Harden 29 Points six rebounds eight assists two Steals and a block those were the three Poco ways I was talking about four turnovers though so two to one assist or turnover ratio you have seen better from James but it is what it is you know I’m not going to

Be too nitpicky he shot 50% 8 for 16 from the field 6 for 12 from three so 75% of his shots were threes and you know what when he’s hitting it at a 50% clip I’m not going to complain seven for eight from the foul line and he played 40

Minutes which was the most of any Clipper and to be honest that stretch in the beginning of the fourth quarter when the Clippers went down James wasn’t in the game and I’m not saying it IM completely turned when he came back in because I remember we did break the

Drought right before he returned into the game and that was when what’s his name Terry Roser made the three to force the timeout and then Daniel TI got a technical foul I didn’t even see that when I was at the game so we went down 91 to 84 because Terry Rosier missed the

The free throw but Norman Powell made a three that started the push and then James and Zoo came in when we were down by six but let me tell you James Harden and Zoo definitely helped turn the game around you know Zeus screening and roll gravity in ways you know bigger than

Daniel Ty he was causing a lot of Havoc just rolling the basket but of course it’s James Harden that really opens it up for aita zubats as we’ve seen since he’s become a Clipper and in this game IIT zubot as I already said 18 points 14

Boards and four assists on seven for 11 shooting in 31 minutes only issue I have with Zoo free throws four for eight from the foul line definitely want to see him be better there the Clippers didn’t shoot super well from the foul line in

This game n 19 for 25 but they got to the line nine more times than the Hornets who shot 12 for 16 from the line Clippers shot 47% Hornets shot 46% the three ball was really what made the difference though for the Clippers if we’re looking at the box score 21% from

Three for the Hornets to 41% from three for the Clippers on 14 for 34 shooting overall from distance and I thought we generated a lot of good looks but Russell Westbrook being two for two that that was definitely a luxury Norman pal being one of five though is unusual

Two straight games that were kind of stinkers for Norm but I will say he was out there in big moments in this one and his spacing still matters seven points three rebounds on two of seven shooting and one of five from three for Norm Kobe Brown got 17

Minutes so the Clippers went nine deep in this one Kobe Brown got 17 minutes he had two points two assists two steals he had a nice pick pocket though and he went all the way that was his one bucket that was beautiful actually in the second quarter one for four overall 0

For two from three Daniel Ty I think it was a tale of two halves for Ty he was good in the first half being in the right place right time nice Baseline Cuts finishing strong second half it felt like the Hornets were going at the rim and he was

Nothing he was falling down on the floor a bunch and it just seemed like it was open season for them but man the C’s point of attack defense just was not good enough in this game Terren man thought first half he looked like the same not confident player that he’s been

A lot this season missed a shot well short from about 10 feet then he missed his three on the left wing Way Long defensively was scored on twice not terrible defense but was scored on one-on-one but then in the second half you started to see more of

Terren man and what we like he was doing a much better job trailing Rosier uh over the screens and he finally got on the board for Four Points putting the ball back up and in on an offensive rebound he had four points and a rebound

On one for four shooting and 0 for one from three made both of his free throws in 20 minutes he didn’t really play that much but at least he got on the board after that 0 for 10 game against the Celtics maybe that can get him feeling a

Little bit better but again I’ve been saying that all season we need to see it from Terrence Amir coffee thought he was pretty quiet as well only played 23 minutes but I thought he did a pretty good job defensively when he was called upon to guard one-on-one and that’s

About it I think he could have been better I mean only getting eight points from Terren and Amir combined is an ideal if you combine Kobe Brown that’s only 10 points from three different guys in a ninan rotation and then Norman pal having a seven-point game 17 from four

Guys you got to think Westbrook Harden zubot and Paul George who were all 14 plus points and Ty for what it’s worth he had 10 points and four rebounds so he still had 10 points on five or seven shooting so you’ll absolutely take that Paul George G to be talking about

His performance and go in even more depth man it’s just so many things are coming to my mind right now I’m talking stats I’m talking this and that little scatterbrain I apologize but coming up going to be talking a little bit more about the schemes what kind of things we

Were doing defensively and what kind of things the Hornets were doing defensively going to be talking about that coming up I got to say a little something about game time you shouldn’t have to worry when you’re buying tickets to your next big event because game time is the fast

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Lowest price guaranteed all right Clippers winning this one 113 to 104 at the stable Center they advaned to 18 and 12 on the season 15-5 in their last 20 games and 12- four at home this season love to see that six gu Five Guys in double figures

For the Clippers in this one James Harden LED the way with 29 Points six rebounds and eight assists but Paul George you know he had an up and down game he did not shoot very well only 10 for 25 but as I said earlier I liked how

Aggressive he was defensively is where I want to see better from P I mean he’s supposed to be a great two-way player I know he can be but it’s just it’s all about how locked in he is and you know it’s I’m not going to dance around it

It’s all effort for seriously attention to detail Paul George come on bro you’re much better than this once we get that we’ll have a much better uh chance of beating these teams without Kawai and looking more convincing when we do it to start the game we had PG on Bridges Amir coffee on

Gordon Hayward Terren man on Rosier we had zubot actually hedging the screens with Rosier having someone rotate onto the big and then waiting until Terrence could recover or whoever was guarding Rosier could recover and then Zoo would get back to his that was interesting because we almost always play zoo and drop coverage

But we wanted to make sure Terry Rosier didn’t get hot so I like that decision from our coaching staff Harden had eight points in the first quarter he started just right away getting us going that 20 points in the first half was Big Time Clippers let it have 55 to 50 they were

Just not really out of the woods to be honest the Clippers he was just too close for comfort all game but it made for an exciting finish and Russell Westbrook making some huge plays down the stretch it was awesome that Russ was able to do that in both halves you know

He only got one stint in the first half but it was a lengthy stint and he brought energy in the building and he was able to give us some good offense even when Harden was out because PG he wasn’t really hitting you know and he was also turning the ball

Over too much let’s see how many turnovers Paul George had so 25 points four rebounds four assists three turnovers per Paul no Steals and no block so like that’s just not like Paul George to not you know get something in those categories and zero free throw attempts that’s not great either but thankfully

He hit those three threes in the third quarter and that big one in the fourth huge shots and the Paul George’s ability to just come off of screens and move without the ball and catch right away and fire it’s better than anyone on our team and that makes him so easy to play

With and so easy to involve in different kinds of schemes I don’t want to you know under estimate how valuable that is so I got to give like Paul George still helped us get across the Finish Line if you’re telling me we win that game without Paul George I think you’re being

A little ridiculous because the thing about PG is he can be very frustrating I get it you know for how much talent he has he can sometimes leave us wanting more and and that’s very very fair but he still is very very good he still is one of our

Guys he still is one of our best players ever we got to support him through the ups and the Downs we’ve committed to this team and PG ultimately still helped us get across the Finish Line in this game and that’s all it’s about is getting the job done and we got it done

So no I’m not that mad why should I be mad it doesn’t matter if it’s ugly it doesn’t do I want us to play better yes it starts in the defensive end it really does but Norman pal is not going to shoot like that most games James Harden sure he won’t shoot like

That most games but he’ll still create good looks and Paul George might shoot better and oh I forgot we have kawh Leonard on our team so let’s not cry so much all right I’ve seen a lot of people being a little too harsh Clippers won a

Game and I’m happy about it do I have anything else to say Oh I thought this was very interesting Daniel Ty in certain lineups when the Hornets had PJ Washington as a small ball five or Mena who had never seen play in the NBA uh as a small ball five for four minutes

Daniel Ty was switching one through five cuz they were switching everything too but Daniel Ty was switching one through five and he was actually holding his own in the first half second half felt like kind of Open Season for the Hornets as I said earlier but Paul George I have to

Say though that that period where he created nine straight points in the fourth quarter was also just huge so yeah we’ll take that we’ll take the win all day long some Bad Endings to quarters by the way that the Clippers have been having lately they got to

Really clean that up really clean that up but yeah we’ll take the W it was a scary one but at the end of the day Clippers win it 113 to 104 next game is against Memphis we got two days off two days off and I’m really hoping we can

Get Kawai back because the Grizzlies are now four and0 since they got johnar back they’re riding a high and you know John’s going to want to put on a show in Los Angeles and I don’t like the Memphis Grizzlies going back to 2013 and 2012 those yellow rally towels just make

Me sick you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Dime dropper pod subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper for even more Clipper content a video of my experience with the game will be out on Wednesday and locked on Clippers free and available wherever you get your

Podcast let me know how you felt about the game why was it hard why was it a good win in or whatever you think why was it difficult in your opinion what did you like let me know and also you know I I do apologize I feel like I’ve

Been awful this episode I I truly do I feel like I’ve been so my thoughts have been all over the place just coming back from the game sometimes it can be really hard I think it’s honestly easier for me to analyze the game when I’m watching on

TV and seeing the replay and all that but let me know if I’m just being hard on myself because I always I always have said I want you guys to get me constructive criticism cuz I always want to get better like this is only my

Second year doing this so I know I’m not perfect especially being a solo host but yeah like please let me know um what you want me to do better some you’re maybe sometimes I’m not enunciating enough or I don’t know just let me know or you can

Just talk about the Clippers and not say anything about me that’s cool with me as well let’s go Clips the ageel proverb continues go Clippers

The LA Clippers would be without Kawhi Leonard for the 3rd straight game but luckily they were able to pull off a 113-104 win over a short handed Charlotte Hornets team. It wasn’t pretty but big plays by James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Paul George late in the game, secured the win for the Los Angeles Clippers.

In this episode, die hard LA Clipper fan and Host Darian Vaziri talks about why the game was so difficult for the Clippers to win, how Russell Westbrook was huge late, and why all that matters is the win.
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