Clippers Fall to Nuggets 98-120

Clippers lose in Denver. Carlo Jimenez joins Adam to rehash the game.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The LA Clippers.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
The game is ended, gather round boys, time to recap,
but the.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Post game coverage is just getting started.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
The success is the failure.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Let's discuss this is Clippers locker Road breaking down today's
action with the pre and post game voice of the Clippers.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Here's Ada Moss Lag Clippers fall by twenty two in Denver,
final score one twenty to ninety eight in favor of
the Nuggets.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Welcome in.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I'm Adam Oslin. This is your post game show coming up.
We got your final box score and Clippers talk on
a five to seventy LA Sports if you want to
get on early eight six, six, nine, seven two five seventy.
But first let's get back out to ball Arena with
your radio voice of the Clippers in Carlo Jimenez. Carlos
Clippers team and James Harden in particular, just came out

(00:51):
a little bit flat. They weren't crisp with their passes
outside of a couple possessions where they had some great
touch passes going on, but that wasn't the norm. Unfortunately,
this team turned the ball over far too often for
the best team when it comes to fast break points
in the league.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
In the Denver Nuggets.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Yeah, I mean the Nuggets finished with thirty six fast
break points at him. Not only the finished with thirty
six fast break points. Here's the bigger number to me.
They go sixteen for eighteen and fast break so the Clippers,
I mean, it's a free brucket buckets every single time
Denver is able to get in the fast break. That's
a tough one for this Clipper team to swallow. There's
such a good half core defense. It's why they emphasize, hey,

(01:31):
let's get back every single time in half court because
they don't have an opportunity to play with our best defense,
which we saw at them. When the Clippers played half
court defense, they forced eighteen steals today. I mean, their
half core defense is phenomenal. It's just getting back that
has been the issue for this Clipper team. That's why
this one probably feels all they played a lot better

(01:52):
than the score would tell you, which is something you
brought up because of how good that half core defense
was in this game. It really was those fast break
points that cost them. To get me, you lose by
twenty two and you give up thirty six fast break points,
there's your math right there, and it.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Was really their offense penalizing their defense because those turnovers
put their defense in really tough positions where you have
to scramble to get back against the best team in
transition in the league.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
As you put it, they.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Made them pay sixteen for sixteen in fast break points
for the Denver Nuggets, leading to a total of thirty six.
It just seemed like the Clippers and James Harden specifically.
We talked about this at the end of the broadcast,
but you know, I asked coach lou about why he
struggled so much in second quarters about a couple of
weeks ago. They said, well, it takes time for him

(02:38):
to ramp back up after playing the entire first quarter,
he comes back in around the six minute mark of
the second quarter. He just doesn't have the same tempo
and rhythm out there. So what's gonna happen when he
has eight days off. Well, I think we got our
answer in this one. It just looked like James Harden
was not quite as crisp as he has been for
this Clippers team over the past couple of weeks.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, and I think there's something to say at them.
And we've talked about this on the broadcast. But rust
is real. I mean rust is real in the NBA.
The Denver Nuggets, this is their first win on tour
more days of rest. I think we brought up with Beesha,
you brought up to the Clippers are what two and
four on tour more days of rest? Is that was
a one and four or two or four one of
those numbers.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I feel like they haven't had that much rest for
that number to be correct. But I swear somebody had
that one of four.

Speaker 4 (03:21):
Yeah, I think one of four is right. I did
look it up earlier today during the press conferences. But
for this Clipper group, it's just it's a tough, tough
task when when you're used to playing every night, when
you're used to traveling, when you're used to getting those
legs under you. Now all of a sudden you have
this extra time off. And we saw tonight that sometimes
too much time off is too much time off. And

(03:41):
then that kind of hurt the Clippers today. They weren't
in rhythm, they weren't able to get out and running.
The good news for them only two days off. Then
you got to play Utah and then things start to
pick up. They're gonna go to Dallas and you're playing
every other day until until Christmas. But for this Clipper
team a little rusty here today, I'm not too worried
about it because things that the coaches talked about were
over that four game stretch that they wanted to work

(04:03):
on was their half court defense. And like we've said,
I thought their half court defense was very good today.
I think they executed offensively, Adam. They got up nearly
forty threes in this They got a forty one threes
in this game, and they were on pace to get
up forty one threes. This wasn't garbage timeo where they
were hucking and even to get the forty. The offensive
movement was there, but they just didn't start hitting them
until the game was essentially over. At the end of

(04:25):
the contest. I think they made four threes in those
final three minutes of the balling game. A tough one
for this Clipper team because you felt like their process
was there. You played the right defense in the half court,
but it was the transition points and the turnovers that
killed you in this contest.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Nikol Jokich, who has been on a tear, it seemed
like the break cooled him off. Having four days off,
he wasn't at his best tonight in this one. He
has spoke about that in the past. He loves every
other day playing that keeps him in rhythm. He didn't
look the same. Still doesn't matter. This Denver Nuggets team
there top ten offense. They found other ways to score
and it was off of Clippers mis cues and mistakes

(05:03):
out there. Still, you brought him up a little bit
earlier with me. But Kevin Porter Junior a bright spot,
a silver lining in this one. He came in and
immediately had an impact.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
He did.

Speaker 4 (05:12):
I thought he was effective off the bench for a
bench unit that was a little stalled out. He finishes
with sixteen points, sixteen of the Clippers of the majority
of the Clippers bench points in this contest. I was
able to get downhill. I thought he would played good
defense in this one. At him. He had four steals
and or two steals in four assists and was efficient
shooting fifty percent from the field. Ken Porter Junior just

(05:34):
continues to look more comfortable and more comfortable with every
single game. Is the reason he was the youngest guy
in league history to have fifty points in ten assists
in a contest. He can score with the best of him,
and we're seeing that, especially these tough shots at him.
I mean, he's a tough shot maker when he gets
inside the paint and he gets to that follow a jumper,
and for ninety percent of the league, that's a bad shot.
But for Kevin Porter Junior, he's shooting at like sixty

(05:55):
percent clip from that five to ten foot range over
there in the mid range, So it's been it's been
fun to see him knock down those shots be excellent
on the offensive end. This Clipper group an opportunity to regroup.
I wonder Adam we saw Nikobatum the start, but he
didn't play much in the second half of this Bowl game.
We'll see if the Clippers change up how they want
to play the starting lineup. Tyleru was very complimentary of

(06:16):
his group pre game. He said, one advantage we have
is we have so many guys who you can insert
into the starting lineup and take away kind of play
plug and play, because they have a lot of lengthy,
tall bigs or fours. Really, when you think about guys
like the Niko Batoom and Kevin Moorder Junior and a
Mere Coffee, I mean all those guys could start for

(06:37):
this Clipper team and have started for this Clipper team,
So we'll see. I mean, I'm sure Tyler and Jeff
Van Gundy will Tye will be up till four thirty
watching the tape, and then Jeff will wake up at
four thirty to watch the tape. So you know someone's
always going to be at the computer looking at this
one for this Clipper team, I'm not too concerned to
those two will definitely be figuring out ways to find
solutions for the Slippers group.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
You know, they're my inspiration for doing Clippers Talk each
and every day. When I see guys work that hard,
I know I gotta step my game up. Stay with
Carlo Jimenez after the Clippers unfortunately fall one twenty ninety
eight in Denver.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Carlo, Okay, so one, we thank you, sir.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
This is for the chat and for Clipperstock. No trades,
no trade, no trade request today, guys do not bring
up a single trade idea. They've lost three in a row.
It's not the end of the world. I don't want
to listen to Clipperstock on the flight back and hear
eight hundred trade requests.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Thanks for getting my back bro, I'm gonna replay that
about five different times here in the post game.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
You guys heard Carlo Jimenez.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
All right, no trade talk the first rule of clipperstock,
no trade talk even after you lose three straight. But Carlo,
hopefully a much sharper Clippers team Monday night, back at
home against the Utah Jazz. Tip time for that once
at seven thirty. We got your pregame show at six thirty.
We will see you then. Safe travels, my friend.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
Safe travels, Adam, I get to see you in person
on Monday.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
Let's go.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Oh, Clippers fall by twenty two. We got more postgame
coming up next right here on the Los Angeles Clippers
Audio Network, the.

Speaker 5 (08:10):
Clippers Wipers.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
You're listening to LA Clippers Basketball, take us with you
wherever you are on the iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
AP Clippers lose by twenty two in Denver to the Nuggets.
Welcome back in I'm out of Mosland.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
What up, Clippernation.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Whether you're listening on a five seventy LA Sports or
on the YouTube side at Clippers Talk, appreciate you. Tough
loss for the Clippers. I understand it. Some people are
gonna be upset tonight especially when I read this box score.
The Clippers shot just forty five percent from the field.
It's not awful. But the Denver Nuggets, after starting off slow,
we're at fifty five percent. They went ten of twenty

(08:49):
nine from three, the Clippers fourteen of forty one. They
got up forty one, but only hit fourteen and a
lot of those were coming in inconsequential time. They got
a couple during garbage time late in the ballgame. The
story is the Clippers nineteen turnovers. Denver did have twenty two,
but the Denver Nuggets had thirty six fast break points.

(09:10):
The Clippers had twenty five, a great number, but Denver
was sixteen of eighteen in fast break transition buckets, Clippers
ten of sixteen. They didn't convert as well as the
Denver Nuggets, and that makes sense because the Denver Nuggets
are the best fast break team in the league. When
it comes to fast break points, they averaged eighteen per game.

(09:30):
They doubled that against the Clippers with thirty six, and
the Clippers were leading by five two minutes into the
third quarter. Jamal Murray had a tough reverse layup on
Aviza Zoo Bots and I thought, uh, Oh, it was
right out of a timeout. Here we go, the Denver
Nuggets are about to lock in and focus in as
they lookedda to start the second half, they looked unfocused.

(09:55):
I think Mike Malone got their attention in that timeout,
and from then on they outscore the Clippers by a
wide margin. Even though I think the Clippers defense was
fine when they could actually play half court defense. But
when you have nineteen turnovers, yeah, it leads to a
lot of easy buckets in transition thirty six for the
Denver Nuggets. Your final box score for the Clippers. Kevin

(10:17):
Porter Junior had sixteen off the bench to match Norman
Powell sixteen with the starters. James Harden had fifteen points
and six assists, but nine turnovers and I want to
say he had six in the first half. He looked
completely out of sync and out of sorts out there
after being out for the last eight days. Remember he

(10:38):
didn't play that game on Sunday against the Houston Rockets.
Did like the performance. As we talked about with Carlo
Jomenez from Kevin Porter Junior Boones Highland, I understand the
logic of putting him in. He's been hot from three.
He knocked down a couple late in this ball game
when they were already down by twenty, but coach Lee
was trying to lean into offense because defensively they were
actually doing okay. Nick oh Kitch guys had a meager

(11:02):
sixteen points sixteen and seven six of nine from the field.
I think he had nine points or eight points in
the first half. The Clippers had held him in check.
Denver didn't look right either, but the Clippers made it
too easy for them with turnover after turnover, especially in
the second half after they had that brief five point

(11:23):
lead early in the third quarter. Clippers fall on one
ninety eight in Denver. Clippers next ball game coming up
Monday night, back against the Utah Jazz into a Dome.
More on that coming up here in the Clippers postgame
show on the Los Angeles Clippers Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
The.

Speaker 5 (11:42):
Clippers.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
You're listening to LA Clippers Basketball, take us with you
wherever you are on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Clippers lose by twenty two in Denver. One twenty to
ninety eight was your final. After the Clippers led by
five two minutes into the third, Denver would open things up.
They did damage They outscored the Clippers in the third
thirty five to twenty two and thirty seven to twenty nine,

(12:11):
and the fourth and the Clippers were their own worst enemies.
Far too many plays where they basically set the rakedown
and then stepped on it unforced turnovers. They were just
giving the basketball up to the Denver Nuggets with nineteen turnovers.
Denver had twenty two, but the Clippers nineteen turnovers That

(12:34):
led to thirty six fast break points for the Denver Nuggets.
They doubled their season average and fast break points were
they're number one at eighteen per game. They had thirty six.
Clippers lose by twenty two in Denver. Next contest coming
up against the Utah Jazz Monday Night Kawhi Bobblehead Night
at into It Dome. Tip offs at seven thirty, pre

(12:55):
game at six thirty. Outside of Los Angeles. We were
leaving you un till then coming up next year on
a sports we got Clippers stock.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
And with that, just like that, another Clipper broadcast is ended.

Speaker 5 (13:09):
Hoarding judging.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
This has been Clippers locker Road, a postgame look. It's
Today's ski.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Every game all season long.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Thank you for joining us for all the action on
the LA Clippers Audio Network.

Speaker 5 (13:24):
Phoning in.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
We're taking your calls on the LA Clippers right now.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
This is Clippers.

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Talk on Aaron on Demand, the Clippers Show of Record.

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Your chance to react to everything.

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Clippers Clippers news happens.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
Let me guess it's about Kawhi. Here we are and
now here. He is the host of your LA Clippers
pre and postgame.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
At follow Adam a Adam Ousley. There's a great underrated
nineties flick called things to Do in Denver when You're
Dead with Andy Garcia and the Clippers. They got cooked
in that second half. They lost by twenty two to
the Denver Nuggets. Welcome in to Clippers Talk. I'm out
of Mosland eight sixty six nine eight seven two five

(14:04):
seventy if you would like to get on tonight on
a Friday night and join me for some Clippers talk.
After a tough loss where the Clippers were right there
and then.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
It was gone.

Speaker 5 (14:18):
The game was gone.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
Denver ran away with it, and they ran away with
it because they had thirty six points in transition thanks
to the Clippers nineteen turnovers. That'll do it. They went
sixteen of eighteen in fast break points, I said, pregame
one of my keys. You can't turn it over against Denver.

(14:42):
They lead the league in fast break points at eighteen
per game. They doubled it and had thirty six. And
there were opportunities still where the Clippers, as poorly as
they were playing early on, they were right there.

Speaker 3 (14:59):
They were right there. They're in the third quarter. And
I hate to.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
Pull a receipt on myself in this way, but I
tweeted it out right as it happened. Right is the
turning point hit. And if you're watching on the YouTube side,
if you're in the chat, I appreciate you, or if
you're listening on a five seventy LA Sports, I appreciate you.

(15:24):
But it just felt like, and I tweeted it out
at the time that Jamal Murray that reverse layup out
of the timeout on a Visa Zoo box gave them
renewed energy and life out there when Denver looked miserable
to start things off in the third quarter. I'll show you,

(15:47):
guys in the chat. I said it as it happened.
You could feel the momentum being ripped away from the
Clippers with just that one play. Sometimes a dunk isn't
just a dunk.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
A three is just the three of block. Is in
just a block.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
They're momentum changing plays. And this was a crazy reverse
layup by Jamal Murray, I said, Murray, tough layup.

Speaker 3 (16:10):
Here they come. That was pretty much it.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
Aaron Gordon then hit a three pointer, and after the
Clippers led by five early in the third, it was
fifty five. All Clippers continued to miss. Harden continued to
turn it over, and he just looked completely out of
source tonight. I compared it to how he looked in

(16:35):
the preseason and earlier this season when James Harden got
off to the slow start and was turning the ball
over relentlessly. Tonight, a lot of those turnovers they're laying
at the feet of James Harden. The Clippers had momentum

(16:56):
after Niko Batoum knocked down back to back three early
in the third quarter, and the Denver Nuggets were turning
it over themselves. They had more turnovers than the Clippers.
They were a mess. They had three turnovers in the
first two minutes.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
Of the third quarter.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
The Clippers defense was incredible. Their half court defense was good.
You're gonna look at the final box score and say,
what do you mean, Adam, they gave up one twenty. Yeah,
because they got thirty six points in transition because the
Clippers offense failed their defense. That's what you saw tonight.

(17:35):
That's what you've seen a lot this season. They got
a top five defense, they got close to a bottom
five offense. Kawhi cannot come back soon enough. He's got
a bobblehead night. On Monday, we had Lob Murray on
in the pregame show. He doesn't believe Kawhi will be
back for that game they're taking on Utah. They shouldn't

(17:56):
need them back for that game if they play a
much crisper, sharper ball.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
Game than they did.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
I mean Murray turned it over to start the third
quarter after the Clippers were down forty eight to forty
seven at the half, after they battled being down. What
were they at one point in that first half. I
want to say they were down by twelve. They battled,

(18:23):
even though they almost lost the non Jokic minutes in
the first half.

Speaker 3 (18:26):
That was this point.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
They were down by as many as thirteen in the
first half. The Clippers started three for thirteen from three,
but then they started to hit some, and by some
I mean some. They were tough from the outside. Overall,
the Clippers ended up fourteen to forty one. That's thirty

(18:49):
four percent from three. But after being down thirteen at
the end of the second quarter, when the starters came
back in and James Harden wasn't turning it over the Clippers.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
It's made a great run.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
They had the lead there too. These are the two
turning points that decide a game. To me, I don't
want to oversimplify it.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
I don't think I am.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
These are critical pivotal moments of the game that end
up typically deciding things. It's a run here or there
that you're not able to come back from or overcome.
Because with the Clippers being down by thirteen, it was

(19:33):
let's see here, thirty eight to twenty six. I didn't
think they were going to score forty before the end
of the first half. At one point, I was that
concerned their offense was brutal. DeAndre Jordan gets that value
from Russell Westbrook. Early second quarter, Denver's up thirty six
to twenty three. That's the nine to forty five mark,

(19:57):
and by let's see here scroll down a little bit
more A little bit more, a little bit more by
the four minute mark. So about six minutes later, the
Clippers have a one point lead at thirty nine to
thirty eight after a Norman Pow three pointer. The starters
got him right back in it when they turned the

(20:17):
basketball over, when they were getting shots up, when they
could actually hit threes. Some of this I think is
just the rust factor, not Russ rust. If Russell Westbrook
got his revenge game out way to go, I don't
think he had some monster game. He had a couple
of good defensive possessions in the second half. He was

(20:38):
talking junk to the Clippers bench. But this wasn't about Russ.
It was about rust and the Clippers having a substantial
amount of it. I have some WD forty in studio
here that I want to bring to Denver. Oil him
up like the tin Man. Four days off for the Clippers,

(20:58):
but remember eight days off for James Harden. He didn't
play Sunday. Now, did he deserve the time off, yes,
but you could see it out there. He wasn't right.
He didn't look like James Harden. It looked like a
preseason game when he had multiple games around double digit turnovers.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
But again.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
The Clippers down thirteen in the second quarter, they bounce back.
Denver did get a couple of big buckets to end
the half after a James Harden turnover, Christian Brown easy layup,
Christian Brown another easy layup, and Nikola Yokas hitting a

(21:42):
three pointer. The Clippers easily could have had the lead
heading into the half, which is somewhat remarkable with how
bad they looked early on, down by thirteen, but it's
the third quarter of me, guys, that's it. Denver was
on the ropes. They looked miserable out there. They looked
like a team that was broken. Three turnovers in the

(22:03):
first two minutes of the third quarter coming out of
the half. Apparently at that point Mike Malone's message did
not resonate with them that time out. After Niko Batoum
hit that second three pointer, that was it. At the
nine thirty one mark, Clippers are up fifty five to fifty.

(22:24):
Jamal Murray comes out and hits a wild reverse layup
over Visa Zubas. Jamal Murray is not having a good season.
I'm sure it boosted morale seeing him make an explosive
play like that, like he was doing pre acl like
he was doing last season during their championship run. He
just has not looked good going back to playing for

(22:45):
Canada this summer. You get that layup, it's fifty five
to fifty two Clippers. Then James Harden misses a floater
and Aaron Gordon hits a three pointer. TI game, Norm Palell,
to his credit, knocked down a three after struggling tonight.
Jamal Murray goes to the free throw line. Norm Powell
misses a three. Then you have Christian Brown getting another

(23:10):
easy one off of a James Harden bad pass. Denver's
up fifty nine to fifty eight. I think they would
not relinquish the lead at that point, the seven thirty
six mark of the third quarter on I don't think
they ever gave it back. In fact, as I scroll
down here, it's confirming it. Yeah, that was it.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
That was it.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
The seven thirty six mark turnover, James Harden, Christian Brown,
easy one, fifty nine to fifty eight. Denver would never
trail again for the last eighteen minutes of the game.
Let me make it twenty minutes of the game. Matth Is
Hard Michael Porter Junior hits that big three, Aaron Gordon

(24:00):
gets fouled. Clippers defense wasn't terrible, but they can't score.
They can turn it over, they can't score. They had
a backcourt violation in the third quarter. They're down sixty
eight to sixty. They need something, anything, and they have

(24:22):
a backcourt violation. Michael Porter Junior or another three. He
had some backbreakers, and then Nikola jokicch went on a
little bit of a run. Russell Westbrook even hit a
free throw, went one of two, but Jokic hit a
three pointer at seventy seven sixty three. The Clippers are

(24:43):
just drowning. Clippers down heading into the fourth quarter by
a score of eighty three to sixty nine. They were
up by five two minutes into the third quarter. They
fell apart on offense and it affected their defense because
it's hard to play in transition and scramble and cover

(25:04):
for somebody else, typically in those cross matchups when you're
running back on defense when they're on a fast break.
Clippers lose this one by a final of one twenty
to ninety eight. Coming up, we'll read the comments. We'll
take your phone calls. Eight sixty six ninety eight seven
two five seventy eight sixty six ninety seven two five seventy.
Clippers dropped to fourteen and twelve on the season. We'll

(25:27):
update you on the Western Conference standings coming up too.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
I'm out of Moslims. This is Clipperstock here on M
five seventy LA Sports.

Speaker 5 (25:35):
LA Clippers.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
You're listening to LA Clippers basketball. Take us with you
wherever you are on the iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
App check Clippers lose by twenty two, Clippers fall one
twenty to ninety eight, and Denver to the Nuggets. I'm
Adam Moslin. Welcome back in. This is Clippers Stock on
AM five to seventy LA Sports.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
And at Clipperstock on the YouTube. Appreciate everybody in here.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
I know there are some disgruntled fans tonight with some
of the lineups from coach Lou. Maybe we'll hear from
coach Lou at some point here if we can find
some postgame audio. As I looked at Katie Newton, who's
got to foot out the door because she's done in
like a week. At her replacement, Daniel West is now

(26:24):
our producer here for Clippers Talk for your Clippers broadcast.
More from Daniel coming up here. But I want to
hear from coach lou after this one, because while some
of it can be attributed to cold shooting, Ice cold
Andre three thousand, ice cold shooting, some of it is

(26:47):
completely on the Clippers with unforced errors, miss cues, poor
timing out there. And maybe it's understandable because of the
schedule and having four days off and James Harden being
out for eight days. Maybe that's it's that simple. Maybe
that's it. Denver looked sloppy too. It was not a

(27:07):
great or well played basketball game out there whatsoever. Denver
had twenty two turnovers, Clippers had nineteen. Clippers lost a
game where they got up six more shots they did
for the first time though against Denver this season, lose
the rebounding battle. Some of that is because the Clippers
were missing more, but some of it was just I

(27:30):
don't know, them not being sharp enough even when it
came to clean the last that is an effort thing.
It's crazy because there were a couple touch passes in
this game, a couple of them from Vitzas Zubats that
were incredible. One of them the Clippers didn't convert on,
but like high high level basketball stuff. Harden had in

(27:57):
the second quarter, a steal and a passed to Zubos
between Jokich and Michael Porter Junior for a big dunk
that was spectacular, and the Clippers went on a twenty
one to two run. In the second quarter when Harden
was playing like himself, Zoo had that spinning dunk on
Michael Porter Junior. There were just a couple of highlights

(28:23):
from a passing standpoint that contradict a game where the
Clippers have nineteen turnovers. It's like they had some of
their best passes in this game and then also their worst.
Just polar opposites, opposite ends of the spectrum there from
the Clippers. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. At times,

(28:47):
it seemed like they were capable. In the third quarter,
there was some amazing ball movement on a Harden to
Zoo to Betoomb to Norm play. I think they were
down by two and Norm Powell missed the three on
the left wing. It was incredible passing Zubats had I

(29:08):
mentioned that pass earlier. I'm trying to think who that
was two, but Chris Dunn. He had a really nice
pass in this ball game. It makes no sense. At
times they look locked in focus sharp at times. They

(29:32):
looked like a team that hadn't played in four days
and their best player hadn't played in eight days. I
don't want to let him off the hook because of that,
but I don't know how else to explain some of
these turnovers. We saw same from Denver standpoint. What they
were doing. Both teams were extremely careless with the basketball.

(29:56):
It looked like their rhythm and timing wasn't there.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
That fair to say.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
It wasn't just James Harden, as he had nine nine turnovers,
nine of their nineteen. That's that's significant. But Jokic had
some bad plays as you don't normally see. Chris Dunn,
who had four steals in the first half, was making

(30:24):
incredible plays out there and almost ripped one from Jokic
as he sagged off of and cheated off of Aaron Gordon,
which typically means Jokis is gonna find Aaron Gordon because
he has eyes in the back of his head, and
instead Chris Dunn got a piece of it, but it
went out bounds. It looked like he was about to

(30:44):
have I think two steals or three steals in a row.
But the Clippers lose one twenty to ninety eight to
the Denver Nuggets, And some people in here are talking
about the lineups and specifically KPJ and Bones Highland being
out there. And if you're watching on the YouTube live side,

(31:08):
you can see that Himothy he is him uh put
up their net rating in sixty minutes, that two man lineup.
Not that it's just two on five or something like that,
but when those two are on the court together in
the sixty minutes they've been out there so far this season,

(31:28):
they have an offensive rating of ninety three. That is
extremely bad. Average offensive rating is like one eleven. Average
good offensive rating is about one twenty. So when I
tell you that, listen to their defensive rating one thirty three,
a minus forty net rating. Does coach lou have any

(31:52):
options right now?

Speaker 4 (31:54):
Do?

Speaker 2 (31:54):
I think it's understandable that he would try it, because
it hasn't been huge minutes yet. Even though you could
say in theory you could see how those two guys
wouldn't play well together, he was looking to juice up
the offense the defense. I mean, Kevin Porter Junior had
a good game. I will say that he came in

(32:16):
made an impact right away, A small bright spot. He
came in around in the three minute mark. Uh, when
there's three minutes left in the second quarter. He missed
a jumper, but then had a great pass to Mobama
for a dunk where he left it for him. He

(32:36):
made a three early second quarter, a tough layup. I
thought he was aggressive, assertive and obviously could get his
own shot and create for himself. Bones Highland, he came
in right around the same time it's a twenty one
to seventeen Denver Nuggets lead, and most of his scoring

(32:58):
was done during inconsequential time. Didn't find the bottom of
the net like many Clippers players, because the first quarter
they started off three for thirteen from three, the second
quarter they went three for ten from three.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
The third quarter they.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
Went was that three for eight from three a little
bit better. And then the fourth quarter, who cares, they
were down. They were down twenty two. Coach lou pooled
James Harden that was the end of the game. And
that was after appropriately so another bad turnover leading to

(33:41):
an easy bucket. I want to say it was Christian
Brown again. Now Julian Strother with the dunk to put
him up by twenty two. After a Bones turnover picked
Russell Westbrook poked it away. He played some good defense.
He was tampsing the Clippers bench a little bit. Russ

(34:03):
was on his revenge stuff even though his shot still
was evading him. You could say, Russell Westbrook, where did
he end up shooting in this game? One of my
box scores. The ESPN side has not even worked once tonight,
like their game log. I've seen this happen before, where

(34:25):
you know, the first quarter it's not working. I've never
seen it go this long where the entire game. Nobody
decided to update it. In fact, I hit him up
on X with a strongly worded letter, very strong. Russell
Westbrook was two of nine oh three from three. So
let's see here. He is two nine, five for twenty

(34:50):
eight in three games against the Clippers so far this season,
five for twenty eight.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
I get it.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
Your team won Victor go the Spoils. But he was
talking a lot for a guy that's five of twenty eight.
But hey, he had some solid defensive plays in this one.
Everybody else was dealing with the evil four letter like
I was. I was dropping some four letters trying to

(35:17):
get that thing to work.

Speaker 3 (35:18):
I rely on that. Uh, some people are saying.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
It's overlapping play when you have Kevin Porters Junior out there,
when you have him next to Bones Highland, I get
that they're similar.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
Bones is a better three point shooter. Not really.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
Tonight Clippers lose one, twenty to ninety eight. Coming up,
I think we got some postgame audio from coach Lou.
I'm gonna be able to find it, Kittie. Whatever you
took the night off, that's fine, but I'm gonna find it.
I'm still here.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
I'm not going anywhere. Clippers dock.

Speaker 2 (36:01):
We got we got you till the bottom of the
hour here. If you're listening on the YouTube side or
on A five seventy LA Sports, appreciate you guys. After
the Clippers drop one badly in Denver, they lose by
twenty two. They're fourteen to twelve on the season. We'll
update you on the standings coming up. I'm at a
maslind and you're listening to AM five seventy LA.

Speaker 5 (36:20):
Sports the Lague Clippers.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
You're listening to LA Clippers Basketball. Take us with you
wherever you are on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
Yeah, summer, saying my guy Matt Mattawarren in the chat
you know it wasn't Michael Myers on Friday at thirteenth.
It was Mike Malone who took apart the Clippers as
the Nuggets dissected them to win by twenty two final
score one twenty to ninety eight. Denver over your Los

(36:52):
Angeles Clippers.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
I'm at a Maaslim.

Speaker 2 (36:53):
This is Clippers sock here on the M five seventy
LA Sports and at Clippers Talk on the YouTube side.
I know some of you guys are gloating about Russell
Westbrook being five of twenty eight from the field in
three games against the Clippers. But Denver one tonight, so

(37:14):
Russ gets to talk. He was doing some chirping. He
was barking over to the Clippers bench after a couple
defensive plays, and the defense was solid. It was We
saw some of that in his time with the Clippers.
We didn't see as much in the playoff series against Dallas,
where I think in the last five, last five games

(37:36):
of that series he was eight for forty two something
like that. He struggled, but he's made an impact with
the Denver Nuggets because they're playing at a much faster pace.
They basically went from bottom five in pace last season
at the top five in pace this season. A lot
of that is the Russell Westbrook effect.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
We got some audio, make it just quotes. I get confused.
There is a difference.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
Sometimes This comes from joey Lynn. TYLERU said, Chris Dunn
kept asking to come out of the game, which is
why he only played twenty one minutes tonight. He is
still recovering from an illness and the altitude was affecting him. Man,
you could see it too. Chris Dunns got that dog

(38:25):
in him, but next to that is lungs and apparently
coming off the illness, he still doesn't feel right. He
doesn't have his cardio back. So a little bit concerning
Joey Lynn also caught up with Russell Westbrook post game.

Speaker 3 (38:44):
Russ was very.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Appreciative of the tribute video that he got back in
LA against the Clippers, but a week ago, Russ said, quote,
it was actually surprising, to be honest, I'm grateful for that.
Shout out to Balmer and the entire Clippers organization for
taking me in and welcoming me. They embraced me and
what I brought to the game, and the fans showed
that I'm appreciative and grateful for that.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
That's cool.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
I like seeing that from Russ, and they won the game.
Russ gets to talk like that, and guys love Russ regardless.
He is an all time player favorite.

Speaker 3 (39:24):
That's who he's been.

Speaker 4 (39:25):
Now.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
Hopefully Chris Dunn gets better because they need him, and
he's been dealing with this illness now for I don't
know a week or more, been under the weather, been
playing through it because he was sick against maybe a
little bit less than a week. He was sick in
the game against the Houston Rockets last Sunday, and he.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
Played through it. He tried to push through it.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
Something else I saw postgame was from the Denver Nuggets
side on X and they got something called the Defense
Player of the Game chain and who got it Jamal Murray.
He was flexing with it. Mike Malone gave it to him.

(40:11):
And the reason for that is he was guarding Norman
Powell lot and Norm coming into this game had had
his way with the Denver Nuggets with thirty seven the
first game where I think he had twenty two points
in the fourth quarter of that one against Denver in
that big victory. It was the second game of the
season for the Clippers, and then the second game he

(40:34):
had twenty eight or twenty nine, and he came in
shooting twelve of nineteen from three against Denver at sixty
three percent, and tonight was just three of ten, six
of fourteen overall, had sixteen points. Jamal Murray took up
the challenge. Played much better on the defensive end. That
is the weakness with the Denver Nuggets. Last season, they

(40:55):
were top ten defensively coming into this one, they were
sixteenth tonight. They looked better there, but the Clippers made
them look pretty damn good too at times because of
all the turnovers, because of the sloppy play, the erratic
passes that just seemed to be a bit outside. Same
with the Denver Nuggets. Both teams didn't look like themselves,

(41:17):
but Denver has the talent advantage. They have Nikola Jokicic
and even though he didn't have a great game, Jamal
Murray not just his defense, but he had twenty points.
And I do think he ignited them with that reverse
layup early in the third quarter. I think that was
a big shot. So Clippers lose one, twenty to ninety eight.

(41:38):
Denver took control and they ran away with this one.
We'll take one more time out here. Eight six six
nine eight seven two five seventy eight sixty six ninety
eight seven two five seventy is the full number, and
we'll preview a little bit of Monday night's game. Kawhi
Leonard bobblehead Night. Could that pretend something? I don't think so.
We talked with Lomurray earlier. I don't think he's playing

(41:59):
on Monday. I think it's too soon. Maybe later next
week when they're in Dallas or Memphis. He's got to
go through contact practices first.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
Guys.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
I don't think you can ramp up fast enough to
be there on Monday, nor she have to against the
Utah Jazz. We'll update you on their score tonight and
talk about with this Jazz team and why they've been
struggling so much so far this season. Clippers lose by
twenty two in Denver. I'm out of Mozland and you're
listening to A five seven LA Sports.

Speaker 5 (42:29):
Clippers.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
You're listening to LA Clippers Basketball, take us with you
wherever you are on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
The song hits a lot harder before tip off and
not after. They lose by twenty two, but I'm still
with it. Clippers falling Denver one twenty to ninety eight.
Clippers had nineteen turnovers. Denver Nuggets had thirty six points
fast break points that is double their season average, which

(43:00):
the highest in the league at eighteen points per game.
And Madame oslind this is Clippers Talk here on M
five seventy LA Sports and at Clippers Talk on YouTube.
Appreciate you, guys. I do want to caution some people
in here. When there's a loss like this, we tend
to try to take too much out of it, extrapolate
and make these long reaching conclusions about where the team

(43:22):
is or is this player still good. People are questioning
Jordan Miller tonight. Him Athy says, Adam, do you think
we're too high on Jordan Miller? He is to arable
by a lot of impact metrics. Absence said Miller got
to try other moves besides the deceleration step. Russ was

(43:43):
timing him tonight, and other teams will begin timing him too.
To cat and mouse game, a game of adjustments with
young players as there's more tape out there and scouts
are paying attention. And Russ did rip him once maybe
twice when he got to the basket. I'm a big
Jordan Miller fan, and nothing that I've seen so far

(44:05):
has changed that. Even though his first miss was a
really bad way off three, even though yeah, Russell Westbrook
got the best of him with the basket, He's a
young player in this league that hasn't given enough minutes
out there to say whether or not those metrics, the
advanced numbers are meaningful or something you should read into.

(44:27):
At this time, I'm not going there. I think you
have to give him a lot more time. And with
no Terrence Man with no I saw DeAndre Jordan tonight,
with no Derek Jones Junior, you got to remember that
part of the equation tonight for the Clippers. Jordan Miller
should continue to get some minutes. Would I like to

(44:49):
see less of the KPJ.

Speaker 3 (44:51):
Bones Highland minutes? Probably?

Speaker 2 (44:53):
At this point you know my feelings about Bones Highland.
I'm not sure if he's long for being a clip.
Once December fifteenth opens up and more guys are eligible
to be traded, I'm glad he's getting this opportunity right now.
And I thought it made some sense because he was
ten for his last twenty from three the last two
games to give him run against Denver when you need

(45:15):
some offense. They just didn't have his best game out there.
Sometimes guys get overly psyched up to go against their
former employer, especially when there was some bad blood between
he and Jamal Murray KPJ.

Speaker 3 (45:28):
I thought was solid. I thought he was good.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
But should those two be playing on the court next
to one another. The Clippers are in a position right
now where if they don't play but two more minutes.
He didn't play many in the second half after he
hit those two big three pointers to start the third.
If they don't play him enough, they don't play a
mirror enough, you're gonna see those two out there. Will

(45:51):
you see him Monday night against the Utah Jazz? Probably
Utah has I say that, and I think of PMS
right away to point break.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
They have.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
They've lost seven of eight. They just lost to night
to the Phoenix Suns. They were competitive, they were at home.
They lost one thirty four to one twenty six. We
were monitoring that game. It was closer than that. But
they're five and nineteen. They're the worst team in the

(46:24):
Western Conference record wise.

Speaker 3 (46:28):
Actually, you know what the New.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Orleans Pelicans have played a couple more games than they're
five and twenty one. They're a mess all kinds of injuries.
But as our friend will Updyke would say, you're not
playing their record. A team can step up and beat you.
Portland did it to the Clippers. Probably shouldn't have happened,
but those losses typically happen over an eighty to two

(46:52):
game season. To everyone, the Clippers cauldnot overlook this Utah
Jazz team just because of the record. They shouldn't be
this bad. It's mostly the same team that got off
to the hot start last season and everybody was like, wow,
how is Utah at the top of the West for
like three days.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
It didn't last.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
We know they might be trying to capture the flag,
and Danny Ainge has his sights on other things, but
market In has not looked right so far this season.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
Overall.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
That first game against the Clippers, I was shocked at
how poorly he played and just, I don't know, looked
like a lack of intensity out there.

Speaker 3 (47:37):
I have great respect for him. He's a very good player.

Speaker 2 (47:40):
He was just six of twelve and it's.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
Thirty nine minutes against the Clippers.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
He took twelve shots in thirty nine minutes.

Speaker 3 (47:45):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
Well, that's your best player, and the Clippers won that
first matchup one sixteen to one oh five. That was
back on November seventeenth. Marketing finished with eighteen points. He's
coming off a game tonight. Yes, he had nineteen. The
game before that he had eight. The game before that,
he had thirteen. I don't know what's going on. I

(48:07):
know he got paid. I don't think he's resting on
his laurels or anything like that. I'm not going to
accuse a guy that maybe just slow start to the
year for whatever reason. But with him, Walker Kessler being back,
Colin Sexton, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson off the bench, they're

(48:28):
not devoid of talent. You can't tell me this Utah
Jazz team on paper doesn't look better than their actual record.

Speaker 3 (48:35):
They do.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
They should be better. So the Clippers have to be
much sharper with their play, and those unforced errors hopefully
get cleaned up over the next two days because the
Clippers have more time off. So James Harden will have
played what one game in ten days now before we
get to Monday. I'm hoping he looks more like himself.

(49:02):
The Clippers need him to be the guy who I
was talking about being an under rated or dark horse
for the MVP conversation, because he's been that good so
far this season and he's the main reason the Clippers
are still two games above five hundred without Kawhi Leonard.
So Monday Night tip off it into a dome at

(49:22):
seven thirty, pregame show at six thirty, it is Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
Bobblehead Night.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
Before we get out of here, I do want to
thank the Clippers organization, Ralph Lawler, Brian Seeman, Noah Eagle,
Carlo Jimenez, big brother, Jake Warner, thinking about you bro
back here in the studio, Executive producer Katie Newton, new

(49:50):
producer Daniel West, Dan the Man.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
Happy to have you.

Speaker 2 (49:56):
I hope this has been a positive experience so far.
I didn't freak out that much because they got down
twenty toda. I didn't throw anything, just kleenicxuh. The callers,
the chatters, I appreciate you guys outside of Los Angeles.
We'll talk to you on Monday Night. But of course,

(50:18):
more Clippers talk on the YouTube side over the next
two days I'm out of MAZ and we'll talk to
you then.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
This has been Clippers Talk right here on your home
for the LA Clippers Audio Network. Don't miss a single
edition all season long, after every game.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
The volume is truly impressive, and.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
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Speaker 2 (50:40):
Clippers Talk Maybe