This year’s condensed season offered little time to rest between games and was played under the threat of pandemic postponements, but the consensus among players and coaches is that it was much easier than the restart last summer in Orlando, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. Former Clippers coach Doc Rivers called it “1,000 times worse” to be stuck for weeks at the Disney World complex.
“Half the players didn’t want to be there,” said Rivers, whose L.A. team squandered a 3-1 lead in the second round last year. “The bubble almost depended on the teams that committed to being there and teams that didn’t. I had a team that obviously was not happy with being in the bubble.”
Clippers forward Paul George spoke for most of the players when he talked about the difficulties of being confined to a strange environment. Players had to remain on a limited portion of the Disney campus and had little contact with the outside world for fear of bringing COVID-19 into the environment.
“This year has been easier because I have outlets,” George said. “I’m able to live a normal life. I can go home. I can see my family, spend time with my family and interact with people outside of this team. That alone has been a big difference to be back to some normalcy.”
There’s more from Los Angeles:
- The Clippers are facing a 2-0 series deficit just as they did in the first round, but the Jazz may be tougher to overcome, suggests Mark Medina of USA Today. No team has ever been able to climb out of multiple 0-2 holes in the same postseason, and the top-seeded Jazz are a much deeper team than the Mavericks squad that L.A. defeated in the first round. “They weren’t ranked No. 1 in the West for no reason. This is a tough team. But we’re approaching this the same way Dallas was,” George said. “As good as they’re playing and as tough as this matchup is, we still feel like there’s moments throughout this game and this series that we’re making plays that are self inflicted. It’s a lot of uphill. But we’re optimistic that we can get this under control.”
- For tonight’s Game 3, the Clippers are reverting to the smaller lineup that was successful against Dallas, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Nicolas Batum was back in the starting five, with Ivica Zubac coming off the bench.
- In case you missed it, Serge Ibaka will miss the rest of the playoffs after undergoing season-ending surgery on his back.
Rivers quoting from his new book, Top 100 Reasons You Can’t Blame Doc Rivers for Anything.
Uh, in case you didn’t notice, Clips are once again underperforming. Looks like PG’s normalcy hasn’t made a difference and neither has a new coach.
Too soon… PG & KL 60+ pts gm3… teams are just going backnforth with hotness each game… Doris Burke is repping for the stars as usual, always too awed, a tool.
The bars not high; but Doris is a lucky get Imo if your forced to watch a ESPN/ABC telecast
And yes Tooo soon
The Clippers avoided the dreaded 3-0 deficit by winning game 3. It will be Denver’s turn tomorrow to avoid getting swept by the upstarts from Phoenix.
I’ve noticed. But nothing Lue’s done (or hasn’t done) this year excuses the “let’s not and say we did” coaching job Rivers did last year. Anyway, if he’s exonerated, why won’t he shut up about it? He’s still presenting his case at every turn.
Plus, didn’t Rivers bring Lue into the organization? A kindred spirit that also believes a coach is basically a spectator and critic at large. Lue, at least, is willing to work in the playoffs. Appears to enjoys it, at least the high profile moves that might yield him credit for fixing his team’s messes (even if he’s responsible for them).
What happens in Philadelphia if/when the Sixers go up 3-1 against the Hawks and end up losing in 7 just like Doc did with Orlando, Boston, and the Clippers? That would just be so friggin’ hilarious.
Even with last night’s win, Clips could still easily lose this series but to his credit PG13 has shown up this postseason.
At some point Lue needs to figure out this team is elite when playing small ball and only so so when playing a traditional big then adjust accordingly.
Of the three teams left in the West, LA arguably has the two best players on its roster. Lue needs to start leaning into what’s worked and stop tinkering with lineups that haven’t.
The Claw made some deluxe moves. I wasn’t rooting for it, but Lue could not have schemed anything that matters as much; and PG is a little more mature.
“We blew 3 straight double digit leads in close-out games but it’s OK because the players didn’t want to be there”
How does Doc Rivers have a job? Lmao
Because he’s won a championship, has quite a great coaching win loss record and has made the sixers legit again after they were heading in the wrong direction. So I guess that’s how.
lol boston’s superteam wasnt hard to coach & Sixers are facing weaker teams so far than last year. they will get bounced by the nets anyways
I seem to remember all of Boston and sports media completely $#!++!ng on him his first couple of years in Boston before they added Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, etc. I wonder what changed?
Not even going to go back on the things from the last few years, including him talking about not knowing players on his own team could do certain things they could do before they were there, and after he finally played them, like Montrezl Harrell…the only reason he was able to figure out some of his options at times this year is b/c they got rid of certain pieces that made it less obvious what their rotation should be, which was their issue last year, and they had injury/covid situations that took away his need for decisions
I’ve also never seen a person complain more than him, in every possible situation, in my life. He got hired by a team that fired a coach for the same reason he got fired in LA, which makes very little sense. They’re there b/c they should be, not b/c of anything he has done, no offense to him. I’m just saying, he says and does a lot of dumb things, but it’s never his fault
How many more games will Lue start Zubac in these playoffs until he realizes they’re getting crushed playing a traditional center (in both series)?
I’ll put the over/under at 2.5
Zubac has to play to contain Rudy. Clippers shot well and played team D. That’s why they won gm3. They are lucky Jazz are hurting. Cause they are not Mavs. Mitchell is the key. But they are a solid team. That use everyone. Mitchell can play off of them. Not like Mavs playing off of Luka. Team D is the key to win this series for Clippers. PG sure quieted the half time ABC crew. Especially the self promotion JRose. Jalen has to be the worst analyst out there. Really don’t understand how he has a job. It’s all about getting paid with him. They thrashed PG, both Js. Time to BowDown.
Yes sir, totally agree with you Al