Re: 2024 NBA Playoffs - West 1st Round: #4 Los Angeles Clippers vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (DAL leads 2-1)
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2024 5:50 am
DaPessimist wrote:How strong is Luka??
Because the guy was bullying Kawhi tonight on the block.
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DaPessimist wrote:How strong is Luka??
Because the guy was bullying Kawhi tonight on the block.
ChipotleWest wrote:They're now calling Kawhi "iffy" for Game 4, saying his knee didn't respond as they hoped.
Johnny Firpo wrote:ChipotleWest wrote:They're now calling Kawhi "iffy" for Game 4, saying his knee didn't respond as they hoped.
He looks terrible, they definitely have a better chance without him if he plays at this level.
Handlez wrote:Mavs defense is LEGIT.
THAT is what matters most now.
ChipotleWest wrote:They're now calling Kawhi "iffy" for Game 4, saying his knee didn't respond as they hoped.
ChipotleWest wrote:Johnny Firpo wrote:ChipotleWest wrote:They're now calling Kawhi "iffy" for Game 4, saying his knee didn't respond as they hoped.
He looks terrible, they definitely have a better chance without him if he plays at this level.
I'm starting to get deja vu for Game 4 already if Kawhi doesn't play.
It's at the same time as last Sunday 3:30 pm eastern, and no Kawhi? I seem to recall Clippers winning that one. Hope the team doesn't party too much Saturday night and not show up in the first half. 8 points in a quarter sounds like partying the night before.
ChipotleWest wrote:ryguy613 wrote:SK21209 wrote:It’s weird to think that Kawhi and PG have been with the Clippers almost as long as CP3 and Blake were. They had Lob City for 6 seasons, this is the 5th season with Kawhi and PG. This whole run with them has felt weird since Kawhi has missed so much time.
degenerative knee issues dont get better with age. not trying to be mean, its just a fact. he needs to be on a team where he can take 35 games off, while the team still wins most of those games, and then wish on a star that he can be healthy in the post season. if all those conditions arent met, we're gonna keep getting the same results
So true, which makes it so dumb that they added Kawhi to the Olympic team.
ryguy613 wrote:Clemenza wrote:ChipotleWest wrote:
Stop trying to give the Clippers an advantage.
We dying for some Bones Hyland minutes right about now.
cmon bro. its not THAT bad
LaLover11 wrote:Do clippers blow it up if they lose this series?
LaLover11 wrote:Do clippers blow it up if they lose this series?
stoo wrote:i remember a few weeks ago people were saying how Clippers are clearly the best team in the west.
og15 wrote:Bob8 wrote:og15 wrote:I'm not even sure what you're going on about here, sorry.
I'm not really understanding what you're arguing here. Where are you getting things like Kawhi beating them alone from? The poll results in here for example are impacted by how much people trusted Kawhi's health. Most people don't believe a Clippers team without Kawhi or with a very limited Kawhi is better than the Mavs.
The initial comment this is based on was:
"Crazy thing is The Clippers still haven't see the Real Luka or Kyrie yet and that's really scary."
The response is that sure, but the Mavs even more so haven't seen anything close to the real Kawhi who is the Clippers best and most impactful player. Luka has still averaged 33/10/8 on 56% TS and Kyrie 27 ppg on 65% TS.
Both teams have upside left and the Clippers have even more upside possible from Kawhi than the Mavs do with Luka and Kyrie since those two haven't been injured.
Kawhi doesn't need to beat the Clippers "alone", I'm not sure if you're dragging arguments from YouTube comments or Reddit or something into this discussion, but I don't know what you're arguing because no one in this thread is saying the things you are debating against.
Maybe you should check, who I was replying to. To help you, it was, "You would be very naive to not be scared of a healthy Kawhi Leonard. He's certainly capable of being the best player in the series."
My position is, I don't care what Kawhi is theoretically capable of, Mavs have 1:1 and have 2 home games next. Pretty solid position with Kawhi playing or not. And imho Kawhi is not looking scary at all. (Yes I know, he's just rusty.) I would imagine that current result impacts poll too, don't you think?
Luka was overall solid, but not great, do you understand what happens with Clippers' defensive game plan, if he starts hitting those step backs with better %?
Kyrie's far best Q was Q3 in game 1, when game was already decided. I expect from him far bigger impact on winning in next games.
Kawhi could and probably will play better too, but nobody should be scared of that. Mavs can win against any kind of Kawhi, because they have much better roster than 3 years ago, when it was freeway in the paint and around the paint with disgruntled KP and unmoving Boban. Mavs D is light years better then 3 years ago, so even, if we miraculously see 3 years younger and totally fit Kawhi, he won't be able to do what he did back then.
Btw. I'm not arguing with you, you're for some unknown reason arguing with me, not liking what I'm debating. Maybe I should stop debating and agree with you?
Bob, I am sorry. I was thrown off by the whole idea that players are scared of others.
Teams are always conscious of the performance of great players, so of course Dallas is not non-chalant about how the performance of Kawhi can impact the series and they shouldn't be. Similarly, Ty Lue is quite aware that there are greater levels of performance possible from Kyrie and Luka each game. Your goal is that you're not allowing great performances every game and by both.
Dallas accomplished what they needed to do, winning a road game, Clippers have to do the same now to keep the series more comfortable for them.
Both teams are different from when they met in the past, but what we know is that Kawhi if healthy is capable of performing against anyone. The difference he makes for the Clippers is consistency, Harden is not consistent, George is not top level consistent, Kawhi has a performance consistency that matches the top tier of players which is what makes his impact great.
Certainly if the Clippers can't get that, their chances of winning are far lower because Harden is much older and less reliable as a scoring force than when he was in his prime, and even then he could be prone to some disappearing acts. Paul George is a solid player, but he's simply not a super consistent star, which is part of why he's been in the next tier from the top stars.
Both teams will have to keep adjusting to whatever is happening, that's playoff basketball. You just have to hope you come out on top in more games than not, that's all a team can do in a close matchup.