Ivica Zubac recorded the first triple-double of his NBA career in the Clippers’ win over the Rockets on Wednesday, compiling 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. The veteran center achieved the feat when he assisted on Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s late three-pointer.
Zubac, who signed a three-year extension in September, almost didn’t get a chance to make some personal history.
“I wanted it,” Zubac told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “T. Lue (coach Tyronn Lue) wanted to sub me out, then everyone was like, ‘No, no, no.’ He asked me and I was like, ‘I’ll stay.’ I wanted it. I told Bogie ‘I’ll get it to you and you got to shoot it no matter what,’ and he did. Bogie is a big-time shot maker. So, I told him he’s never paying for dinner again. I’m glad he made that shot.”
The Clippers’ sixth straight win kept them tied with the Nuggets for the fourth-best record in the West.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Kings sixth man Malik Monk won’t be available for at least two weeks due to a calf strain. It’s a case of very bad timing for the club as the postseason approaches, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee notes. “It’s super unfortunate because we depend on him a lot,” interim Kings coach Doug Christie said. “In many ways, he is the leader of the team, definitely on the emotional side. A lot of the energy, the things that go on in the locker room, practice. He’s the head of the snake in many ways. He’ll still be around, obviously, but two weeks is two weeks and we need him. We need Malik’s energy, his shooting, his athleticism.”
- A bad loss to the Spurs on Wednesday left the Warriors in a precarious position. They’re now in seventh place in the West with two games remaining. If the Grizzlies win their final three games against the Minnesota, Denver and Dallas — plus the Clippers beat the Kings on Friday and the Nuggets beat the Rockets on Sunday — then the Warriors would be stuck in the play-in tournament, regardless of whether they win their final two games, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. Golden State has games remaining against the Trail Blazers and Clippers. “A good team takes care of business the next two and goes from there,” Stephen Curry said. “We have to prove we’re a good team.”
- Warriors wing Brandin Podziemski had a rough outing on Wednesday, scoring just seven points in 33 minutes. In his previous four games, Podziemski averaged 23.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists. His surge in the second half of the season has fueled the Warriors’ chase for a top-six spot, Slater writes. “He was pressing early,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He was trying too hard to be an All-Star instead of just taking the next step. And we had a lot of guys who could all play. He didn’t stand out in camp. He didn’t play well enough to earn what he’s earning now.”
The Dubs will be fine…
That Grizzlies, Clippers, Nuggets scenario is not going to happen.
They fooled around because it was the Spurs. They’re an old team so they figure they can turn it on at the end. Didn’t work out did it?
They almost went to overtime and that would’ve been tragedy also. Curry already had 37 minutes under his belt lol horrible. Just immature crap And supposedly they have three dogs?
Harry B straight up OWNS GSW. They should try and acquire him instead of letting him cook them.
They play down to their competition sometimes. That is their big problem. They were shooting too many 3s and didn’t go inside. For me the perfect playoff match up would be the Rockets since the rockets motivated them with all the smack talk by the rockets.
I want to get rid of Steve Kerr and hire Mike Malone.
Podziemski needs to shoot more. Take out Moody.
You don’t waste the talent.
arc89
I said this 3 weeks ago. Did you hear me?
Podziemski will be a top-20 player during 2026-27 season.
Lucky to be a top 20 player in San Francisco.
Take out Moody?
Sillivan, you’re the greatest basketball commentator on this site. Always love your expertise and basketball analysis !!
Pods has been great. Even curry has an off night. Cut the kid some slack smdh
It’s sort of amazing to see how important Post was to the 2nd unit in regard to spacing. I’m actually looking forward to see if he continues to develop and get better next year as well. I def like his moxi.
Gary, IMO, to be fair, the Big 3 played well enough, they just didn’t get any support. None. This loss is on Podz, Moody, and, Hield… and on Kerr.
Some things have to be fixed to make it out of the play-in and win a playoff series. Similar to last season, we have to improve the way we defend outside shooting.
Thoughts:
– if Moody can’t get out of this slump, he has to go back to the bench. More than the terrible shooting (1-7 from deep), his defensive awareness and effort have declined. If this version of Moody plays > 30 mins, we lose to any good team.
– Podz was awful, let’s hope that doesn’t last.
– Buddy Hield made some 3’s, but, it’s time to admit it: the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Defensively, he constantly misses rotations and can’t defend the 3-point line. On the second-unit offense, he has a knack for stopping the ball and making the wrong play.
– Without GP2 or Kuminga, our 3-point defense is awful. Whether it be lack of size, athleticism, or effort, our other defenders just don’t contest 3’s well. The Second Spectrum data from last night shows that Moody, Buddy and Steph were almost never close enough to shooters to have an effect. (It’s reminiscent of last year, with Steph, Klay, and Chris Paul).
@ Gary
Kerr’s smallball obsession is responsible for the loss. TJD played well in the 2:47 he was given, and clearly would have helped against the Spurs’ bench guys if given more time.
What “Small Ball” obsession?
You don’t think Kerr is obsessed with smallball (when his tallest starter was 6’7″)?
He played his two 6’9″ guys a total of just 14:55, while the Spurs had Mamu and Biyombo play 33:23.
What Grizzlies, Clippers, Nuggets scenario are you talking about.
Per the article, it’s GSW missing finishing in the top 6 because “If the Grizzlies win their final three games against the Minnesota, Denver and Dallas — plus the Clippers beat the Kings on Friday and the Nuggets beat the Rockets on Sunday — then the Warriors would be stuck in the play-in tournament, regardless of whether they win their final two games”.
It’s annoying, but this probably isn’t the Wariors year, despite the rotations existing that -could- get them the title this year. Kerr is not bright enough to find those rotations quickly (he takes MONTHS to do something other coaches get like 2 weeks to figure out) and he is stuck in his ways and his idiotic over-reliance on small ball and playing too many players is easy to plan for if you are an opponent.
That said, the issue now is the inconsistency of the 6 man rookie unit: Podz, Moody, Kuminga, TJD, Santos and Post. Those 6 guys are going to be incredible next season, but they are still “too new” at this, and unfortunately Buddy Hield isn’t a champion, so he can’t be plugged in key moments like Kerr is using him currently. GSW is “rebuilding while contending” which was previously thought impossible, but it is going to come with warts, like last night’s season-deflating loss to a bad team who isn’t trying to win.
Kerr should be fired, because he is stale and has never “owned” another HC, yet gets relentlessly owned by every other HC who understand actual in-game tactics, not “play 4 guards at once”.
“This probably isn’t the Warriors year”
Yeah, we know.
You don’t know for sure though. They can still win it all. Arrogance gets punished in this league, as proven last night.
I just agreed with you, and you called me arrogant.
Interesting,
No, I’m calling people who think the Warriors are not title-contenders arrogant.
You just misframed my quote on purpose to “win” an argument that I was never making.
Interesting.
I’m not arguing with you. I agreed with what you wrote.
“This probably isn’t the Warriors year”
So you disagree with what you wrote?
Not their year and can win it all? Clear as Mud. There you go looking for attention again. Sites no.1 troll. 6th, 7th seed really doesn’t matter. Warriors have had to go real hard real early just to stay afloat. Every poster who has ever posted will be looking for you come elimination day. Again, you’ve bought this on yourself.
@Nrg82 , no. YOU are the site’s no.1 troll.
A troll tries to destroy discussions and irritate people. That’s the only thing you do.
Davey may have some bad takes but he is trying to talk hoops. Just block him if you don’t like him. Instead of destroying the site.
Woah woah woah. Let’s calm down. I thought I was the biggest hater troll? This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.
DaveyJ said –
> …the issue now is the inconsistency of the 6 man rookie unit: Podz,
> Moody, Kuminga, TJD, Santos and Post.
We agree that consistency from young players comes with consistent roles & minutes. We disagree that Kerr wants to keep and develop them. That’s not a criticism of Kerr. It’s gotten him to where he is now.
By this season’s end, after 11 years as a HC, Steve Kerr will have failed to develop a single young player into a star. That fact speaks for itself. For young players and bench players, Kerr’s horizon never extends beyond the present game. Kerr’s stated primary goal is to find “combinations” that work now. If a talented player doesn’t fit into a combination, he plays less Lottery picks are treated no differently, regardless of potential. 2-way G-Leaguers are preferable to lottery picks for this reason.
Brandon Podziemski looks to have a real chance at developing into a star over the coming years. But, IMO, Kerr isn’t committed to any of the other young players, and would prefer to have a more established player as the 5th starter next year.
Kerr clearly disagrees with the front office about investing in Kuminga, so the front office is likely to trade him this off-season. I believe that Moody will also be either, one, traded as part of this upgrade, or, two, moved to the bench behind the new 5th starter.
Davey, you’re already cashing it in?
What do you mean this is probably not the Warriors year?
I don’t figure you as a Fairweather fan. Don’t jump ship just yet. The regular season hasn’t even ended and you’re calling it a year?
I’m disappointed because you’re the biggest homer in the history of homers.
If something happens where they lose in the playoffs a few weeks from now, then start telling us about next season, not a second before.
There’s work to be done and lots of it. The fat lady hasn’t even cleared her throat yet Let alone stood up to walk to the microphone.
Gary , I feel like nobody can out-homer me, but I agree with Davey’s conclusions:
1. We need the young guys to win a ‘Chip, but, although improved, they still aren’t ready. Inexperience leads to inconsistency. And mistakes.
2. They’re not ready because we didn’t adequately commit to them in the past.
The owner and GM said this past summer we were committed to Podz, JK, Moody (and TJD) as our future. Kerr then proceeded to waste 2/3’s of the season playing them behind journeymen like Lindsey Waters, Denis Schroeder, Kyle Anderson, etc.
Another season and the youth should be ready. Hopefully, the Big 3 will still be able.
@Gary I mean maybe I’m just feeding the haters so when GSW wins it all, it will sting even more because everybody is probably breathing a sigh of relief right now thinking they are toast…but the playoffs are a different story to the regular season…
If I say “GSW is awesome and unbeatable” = I get grief
If I say “GSW is washed and wont win it this year” = I get grief
Can never win, even when I do win, so I just mute the clownshow haters (not you Gary)…
Give us your list of hater trolls again please
Clippers sre playing well now. They also need wins. Not looking good for Warriors. Does it matter now. Their first round opponent is going to be a tough matchup. No matter who it is. Yeah I don’t think Warriors want to play TWolves first.
West is going down to last day.
If I was Kerr Id look to try and replace some (a lot) of the Dray actions with more Jimmy
Looks like Dray has lost a step and those passes are incredibly flat nowadays.
He might be pressing/showing the outlet too much and on the same hand defenders don’t have to worry about the fake/roll as much anymore as they feel the slip as well
Jimmy can make all those passes and is so smart he doesn’t need the 10 years exp in the system to make them/ feel them today
Nah Dray is incredible this year, the only thing he stinks at is shooting 3’s and he should not shoot any more and instead just drive the lane.
That’s a great point cap. But green loves that role and he’s the incumbent for now.
But I do believe what you’re suggesting will show up more and more in the playoffs.
I do believe Greymond will relinquish that a little more, But not totally because you need Jimmy on the wing to create whereas green starts things from the top. He also hits the three pointer enough where you don’t mind that he shoots it.
Might be a little too much recent bias on my behalf
I caught your last 2 games full and Dray really looked bad to me, perhaps tired. You just can’t pass the ball that flat these days with everyone having 6’10 wingspans
You are right, Draymonds passing sometimes is SO sloppy for how high IQ he is, that ties into the “mind staying sharp while body declines” thing that comes for all 30+ players. Every time Dray throws a tricky pass into the stands, its evident. However, his swipes and steals this year are as good as ever. I don’t think that means playing him less, rather telling him point blank “no 3’s” or “no tricky passes” and hope he adjusts. Kerr as usual, never tells his players to adjust.
Cap- no recency bias, you’re right, Draymond has fallen off the last few games. And, I agree that some of it is likely fatigue, as expected, because he’s playing all his minutes at the 5.
Not an “excuse”, but a fact that Kerr and Draymond have talked about publicly for 2 years: he can’t play all his minutes at the 5, or he wears down, especially by the end of the season. It’s to be expected for a 6’6” big in his mid-30’s .
It’s also why TJD was given the starting C spot at the beginning of this season, with Draymond at the 4.
Kerr is currently using Draymond in exactly the way that Kerr said would break him by season’s end.
Green’s turnovers are a problem. In the last 5 games, he avgd 3.4 tOs/gm
I don’t get people criticizing Kerr over “Small Ball”. Why do you think the Warriors need a slow, immobile, unskilled 7-footer? The league is passed those days.
No one said GSW needs a “slow, immobile, unskilled 7-footer” – but he has a decent 6’9 player in Jackson-Davis that he almost never plays, even in a close game right after he played well.
@Giants74 that’s not what Small Ball is and you know it. Not having a 7-foot C is not the definition of Small
ball.
Small Ball is about playing smaller at multiple positions to get quickness and shooting mismatches, including at SG, SF, and PF. The starters are Steph, BP, Moody, Butler, and Green. 5 guys that are all smaller than average. That’s Small Ball.
Steve Kerr also likes to play 3 or 4 guards at once to spread the floor. The problem is that on defense the other team has mismatches. Why do you think other teams shoot the 3 ball against the Warriors so well?
Giant74 said:
> Why do you think the Warriors need a slow, immobile,
> unskilled 7-footer?
I don’t get you continually asking this question because I have NEVER seen a poster suggest that. You seem to do it every time a poster criticizes Kerr for playing Small Ball.
Kerr, indisputably, plays small more than any HC in the NBA. It usually works. Why don’t you present the merits of that strategy as you see them, as opposed to an obvious straw-man about oafish 7-footers?
Well Ari I understand why giant 74 is asking that. It’s because really that seems to be the only type of player available. Valiucuions, Plumlee, Zeller, Len, type guys.
If you want someone better, it’s gonna cost 15 to 20 or $25 million a year and that’s the problem with paying a guy like Steph Curry 60 and Jimmy Butler 60.
I get the feeling the Warriors will work hard to get a legitimate center for the team this summer. They can’t roll with the squad they have now.
Jackson Davis probably goes and Looney probably goes and somehow they need to find a big man so their 3 headed center would be new guy, plus Post, then Greymond last resort.
They’re playing Green at the center a lot second half of this year, but they cannot do it next year. Absolutely cannot.
Gary,
Those are all good points regarding acquiring a franchise C, but my point, and I think Davey’s as well, is that the criticisms of Kerr’s Small Ball are around playing small at ALL positions, not just at C.
Playing with only 1 big (Draymond) is Small Ball.
Playing Steph, Buddy, and Podz at once is Small Ball.
Playing GP2 as a PF is Small Ball.
These tactics work some of the time, maybe most of the time. But they can also fail catastrophically.
Playing Small Ball costs more than not protecting the paint. When your perimeter defenders are undersized, the opposition has record-setting shooting days.
Ari I understand all that small Ball stuff. I was just addressing possibly why giant 74 writes “why acquire a slow immobile center?” when others bring up small ball talk.
> Ari I understand all that small Ball stuff.
I knew that, sorry. Just venting. IMO, it cost us the Spurs game. We looked like last year’s team.
There is also 2nd part to my question. The NBA really doesn’t put to much effort into developing players these days. It is one-and-done. The GLEAGUE seems like a big waste of money.
Pete Newell said it takes 3 years to develop a big man. In his day, they spent 4 years in college. So, drafting and developing a big man, while being expected to make the playoffs, is next to impossible.
They did try that with Wiseman. Remember the coach that died. He had an International reputation for developing players. He was credited with developing Zubac and Jokic. His role was to work with Wiseman. How could they defend a title and develop Wiseman at the same time?
The origins of small ball can be traced back to the 60s Celtics. Wilt, and the Warriors, could never get past them.
Gary, Regarding C’s for next year, here’s a completely different prediction: they’ll retain all 3 of Post, TJD, and Looney.
(Looney will gladly take $4 Mill to stay — ZERO chance that Kerr, Draymond, and Steph let Looney go before they retire.)
Kerr will NEVER support spending significant money on a center. He’ll always view Draymond as his #1 center (even though Draymond shouldn’t play more than, say, 16 mpg at C), and any other C would have to fit with Draymond when he plays PF.
There are only 3-4 established centers in the NBA that Kerr would want: Jokic, Adebayo (who’s basically a bigger Draymond), AD, maybe KAT (a stretch 5 that can rebound), and, maybe, Myles Turner (a true stretch 5). And NBA centers know that GSW is not the place to get paid.
The current 3 C’s behind Draymond give the GSW exactly what it wants:
1. 3-headed, multi-purpose combo to Draymond: Post is the “stretch 5”, TJD is the “speed 5”, and Looney the defensive specialist.
2.. Super cheap, high value: combined, all 3 centers cost <$9M per year.
“Kerr is currently using Draymond in exactly the way that Kerr said would break him by season’s end.”
“Kerr is currently using Melton in exactly the way that Kerr said would break him by season’s end.”
“Kerr is currently using GP2 in exactly the way that Kerr said would break him by season’s end.”
@DaveyJ did Kerr really say those things about GP2 and Melton? I only heard him say that about Deaymond
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kerr said something to that effect about GP2 because he’s 32 years old and everyone knows he’s got some chronic conditions.
But I don’t think he’d say that about Melton?
I can recall something Kerr said about Melton over the summer that he needed to be careful because he was coming off of back injury. Be careful about how he used him, how many minutes, etc.
and what did Kerr do? Play Melton too many minutes when he is like Payton, a 10-20 MPG guy, if you play him more, he WILL break.
@EMS Kerr didn’t use those exact same words, that would be crazy, but pretty much he admitted knowing who his fragile players were, and breaks them because he plays small ball too much when he should be playing more twin towers lineups with two of Post, Loon and TJD along with Steph, Dray and Jimmy.
@DaveyJ said:
> he should be playing more twin towers lineups with two of
> Post, Loon and TJD
I never thought I’d be saying this as a Dubs fan: a “jumbo” lineup with TJD and Post could be effective in several situations.
TJ-D played PF, not C, at Indiana, and he was extremely effective at exploiting size mismatches, mainly by backing defenders down after an entry pass. He’s got a strong base and a well-developed back-to-the-basket package, which we saw Podz feed this past summer on the Olympic Select team.
I don’t think Looney would be effective in a jumbo lineup, though. He’s too light to take advantage of size mismatches.
@aristotle
If I could flag @hoopsrumors mods and force them to change things about these comments sections my only 2 requests would be:
1. To allow @aristotle and @DaveyJ to reply to each others comments and replies 100% of the time, instead of the 5% it currently is.
2. Make the “mute” button go 2-ways, so if someone mutes someone, neither user can see the other users posts.
Additionally to your reply @Aristotle (whom I cannot reply to for some reason, even though neither of us have muted the other), hasn’t Kerr’s use of positions made you adjust your thoughts here? I mean he literally plays 4 SGs together. All Looney has to do is get offensive rebounds and score at the rim, and put a body on anyone over 6’8″ that is currently backing down Podz and Moody, be at PF or C, it kinda doesn’t matter. What matters is Kerr allowing these huge scoring quarters for the opps the second he goes small, and that is what has to end ASAP. It literally has not worked all season, yet he remains committed to switching to small no matter the situation. GP2 is getting cooked by everyone over 6’5″ right now. Honestly, Steph, Jimmy and Dray with Loon and Post might be the best overall offensive lineup. Defensively Looney is bad but Post is improving (cant wait til he adds 20 lb this offseason), that lineup might work right now but the long term plan should be to let Looney go in the offseason and replace him with the best 7 footer who plays defense, grabs boards and dunks feeds that they can.
@Davey, agree pretty much across the board on the criticisms. I’m taking this as an opportunity to lay out more of my thinking…
It blows my mind to see Kerr go back to the 3 and 4 guard lineups because the data indisputably shows that it has not worked for us over the last 2 seasons
You point out that these guard-heavy lineups lead to opponents’ big scoring runs. That’s correct. The numbers show something even more specific: those small lineups lead to terrible 3-point defense…which is death in the modern NBA.
We give up batches of open 3’s partly because the smaller players pack the paint to help rebound, but, also, because Steph, Buddy, Podz, and GP2 lack the length and/or athleticism to prevent & contest 3-pointers.
Fans don’t realize that the mere presence of long, athletic wings like Wiggins, JK, and Butler prevents 3 point attempts. It’s the opposite effect of Buddy, Steph, or Podz being 9 feet away from an open shooter. When the shooter doesn’t get a good look, he does something other than attempt a 3-pointer.
We saw this also in the first half of 2023-2024, when Kerr wanted to play Steph, Klay, CP3, and GP2 together. Our good defensive rebounding numbers disguised the fact that we didn’t defend the perimeter. In late January, 2024, Kerr acknowledged the problem and changed, only to come back to going guard-heavy in the last week and the play-in game.
Plainly, the defensive data says Kerr should:
– Never play Steph and Buddy together. They are both poor at defending the 3-point shot. Playing them together with GP2 and Podz is even worse.
– Use GP2 selectively. While GP2 complements Steph well offensively and is a superb on-ball defender, and although he gets close to 3-point shooters, he is usually too short to contest players’ 3 point attempts. GP2 is also an incorrigible fouler of jump shooters.
– Moody is a ‘plus’ on-ball defender, but he still gets caught in a lot of screens (like Steph and Buddy). He’s neither part of the problem nor the solution.
– The starting 5 is as small as we should ever get. Don’t replace Moody with Buddy or GP2 against an opponent with shooters. The data plainly shows how much it hurts when we do.
So, that’s my take. The real “Small Ball” problem now that Wiggins is gone and Kerr has permanently demoted JK is not one of being outmatched in the paint. It’s that we can’t defend the 3-point line, which leads to opponents’ scoring runs.
@Aristotle – I mean, if the Warriors continue the trend of “firing coaches who won titles in the last 5 years” they should be firing Kerr for returning to his “play GP2 in every key moment even though he’s simply not a starter in this league and is too fragile on top of that and no metrics support this useage.” If GSW do not win a title this year, its 100% on Kerr. Kerr had a 55-60 win team and got 48 out of them. Anyone can do that. Kerr is so bad and if we lose tomorrow its going to be in a close game that Kerr screwed up by playing his worst players too much or at all. We should only be playing 8 players tomorrow, I bet we dont.
Gui Santos should be playing more and GP2 and Buddy way less. Kerr always defaulting to small ball and never changing up his style gets any HC cooked in any league. Time for him to go.