Sunday is the final day of the regular season, but the matchup between the Warriors and Clippers is virtually a playoff game, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The winner will wrap up an automatic playoff berth, while the loser could slip to seventh place and a spot in the play-in tournament.
“High stakes, huh?” Clippers center Ivica Zubac said after Friday’s one-point victory at Sacramento. “It’s been like that forever. Imagine if we didn’t win all these games.”
L.A. has won all three meetings between the teams this season, but they haven’t faced each other since December 27. That was about a week before Kawhi Leonard made his season debut after missing the first 34 games due to knee issues and a little more than a month before Golden State added Jimmy Butler in a major deadline trade. Both teams have been moving up the standings since then, heading toward Sunday’s clash.
“It’s basketball. The outcome is going to tell what happens,” Leonard said. “So, it’s just going out and playing, that’s all you can do. Play and have fun. Everybody wants to win coming down the stretch.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- After wrapping up the No. 3 seed Friday night, the Lakers are very confident as they approach the playoffs, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Austin Reaves said it felt like five regular seasons wrapped into one because of all the roster changes, but the team wound up in a good place. “We feel very comfortable with what we got in the locker room, from front office, coaching staff to players,” Reaves said. “We’re all locked into one goal and that’s to win a championship. We can play different ways and then we got the best player to ever play the game (in LeBron James) and then probably, arguably (someone who is) going to be one of the best players to ever play the game with Luka (Doncic). And then around that, we have guys that are just bought into winning and that’s what you need when you’re trying to make a run like that.”
- The Lakers made a great decision by hiring J.J. Redick as head coach and were fortunate that UConn’s Dan Hurley turned down their six-year, $70MM offer last June, contends columnist Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times (subscription required).
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday that he hasn’t given up on a front line of Butler, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga, even though the experiment hasn’t gone well so far, according to Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. Golden State has a minus-24.9 net rating in the 38 minutes they’ve been on the court together, and Gordon notes that none of them can stretch the floor as a consistent three-point threat. Gordon also observes that the Butler trade left Kuminga with a reduced role. “He’s handled things really well. He’s working. He’s staying ready. He’s playing hard when he’s out there,” Kerr said. “But the bottom line is when we traded for Jimmy, Draymond became our (power forward) and (center).”
I often wonder how Reddick would be received in basketball fan circles if he played at any other university. He had a very solid career and is clearly intelligent. But he went to Duke so some people seem to hate him no matter what.
It’s weird because Kyrie went to Duke and I think the people who hate Redick probably still love Kyrie. It must be something else.
Redick was a Caucasian Dukie. Nobody hated Grant Hill. Christian Laettner on the other hand…
Hill is a million times more likeable than Laettner in every way, so there’s also that.
No people dislike him because he had no experience coaching, yet was chosen for the Lakers job and white dudes get so many breaks when it comes to coaching. Vogel, Nurse, Budenholzer. I personally like Reddick, not his fault Lakers jumped him to the head of the line. But he’s a symbol for it like it or not.
What are you on about, Malone and Jenkins just got fired for making the playoffs. Doc Rivers… exists? Don’t be this ignorant.
The Lakers stuff has nothing to do with it, that is more LeBron hate than anything. We’re really talking about his college / early playing career if it’s his Duke association being discussed.
> I often wonder how Reddick would be received in
> basketball fan circles if he played at any other
> university.
I’m guessing you aren’t old enough to remember what JJ was like he was at Duke. He’s part of the reason white players from Duke are disliked. He’s long grown out of it, but he was a ***ch.
Just looking at these teams… clippers are so lucky to have zubac playing the way he is…he is what the Lakers and Warriors are missing.
Of course, the Lakers have 3 stars and some decent role players…
Warriors have a chance if Steph is out of control…
I might actually prefer the T Wolves chances than any of these 3 teams… going to be a great playoffs in the west
Zubac was a Laker. But, they gave up on him to soon. Bigs take longer to develop.
Exactly, Zubac is going to absolutely cook the Warriors today, thanks to Kerr’s idiotic small ball obsession that doesn’t work and plays horrid defense. Get ready to watch Zubac back down GP2, Hield, Podz and Moody on his way to 30+ points.
Steph or Kawhi is the story today – or will it actually be Kerr or Lue that makes the difference?
Vogel won a championship with the Lakers and Ham got to a WCF. Both were fired one year later. Lets hold on before we anoint JJ as some special coach.
Playoffs are a completely different way to coach than the regular season. Its all about match ups and adjustments.
Kerr turned multiple 50-60 win teams into play-in teams 3 years in a row, all because he can’t stop playing 4 SGs at once. Yet he remains in place even though he stinks as a HC. Why god, why
the clippers/warrior game will come down to the 4th quarter. Clippers played their old stars over 40minutes last game so can they bounce back in the 4th when their legs start to run out on them. For warriors its can the other players step up when Curry is double teamed all night. Curry needs to understand he will need to pass the ball early.
With the exception of that Spurs game last week, GSW’s MO all year has been cooking teams defensively in the 4Q. I think Zubac will be the one who turns the game for the Clippers, because GSW can’t guard him with 6’2″ GP2, but Kerr will nonetheless attempt the thing that no longer works in this league.
GSW should be trimming the roster tonight, but Kerr will argue playing 12 players is more important in a game like this. Kerr also doesn’t ever hype up any games, its all a bland “whatever” – no wonder the GSW sometimes lacks fire and passion, Kerr refuses to do the basics of his job.
Kerr needs to bring in Post early mid first quarter. Post will force Zubac out of the Key to guard his 3 pt shooting. Looney needs to block Zubac out of the key on offenbse to get rebounds. You are right if Kerr stubbornly plays Green as the center Zubac’s size will hurt the warriors on rebounding.
Davey J said:
> because GSW can’t guard him with 6’2″ GP2, but Kerr will nonetheless attempt
> the thing that no longer works in this league.
Davey, you put your finger on the biggest matchup question: can GSW play big enough to defend Zubac? Zubac has destroyed us on the glass this year (averaging >15 rebounds per game), and in all those cases we played bigger than we will today, starting TJD and double-teaming Zubac constantly.
Draymond may be starting at C, but we’re dead meat if Kerr is uses him to defend Zubac for 24 minutes.
The defensive plan should have Draymond at the 4 as a help defender, focusing on all of Kahwi, Harden, and Powell, and Zubac. This is the most important game of the year for Post and Looney, IMO — those two have to keep Zubac off the boards, and allow Draymond
@Davey @aristotal I Watched Clips-Warriors.
Did somebody give you guys the script to the game before they played it? You called it:
Terrible interior defense because we played small ball. Zubac killed us.
Terrible perimeter defense because we used small guards. Harden, Kahwi and Dunn go 12-19.
W.T.F is it with Kerr and GP2? On offense he’s afraid if the ball. He won’t take wide open shots. On defense jump shooters don’t even see him. Or GP2 fouls them on three point attempts.
Btw We have no reliable bench scoring without Kuminga. Buddy, Looney, Post and GP2 gave us 16 points. Moody gave us 4 points.
Hmmm its almost like we know ball or something!!