An earthquake, a debacle, a choke not far from being all-time… This night, the Clippers fell a third time in a row against the Nuggets, one loss too many. While we were all waiting for the Battle of Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals, Doc Rivers’ men come home to everyone’s surprise. But how to explain such a fiasco?
This is the question that was on everyone’s lips after the Clippers’ loss in Game 7 to the Nuggets. Three defeats in a row after leading 3-1, a big lead that flies away on several occasions, a horrible second half in attack during the decisive match … in short, the Kawhi Leonard gang completely collapsed in the moment to conclude, when the Clippers were in an ideal position to play the first Conference Final in their history. We almost want to talk about professional misconduct, and memories of past failures inevitably come to the surface. Still groggy by the script of the series, the main actors of this debacle tried to put words on the evils, starting with coach Doc Rivers, who notably emphasized the physical limitations of his team (via ESPN).
“We did not live up to expectations. Point bar. I am the coach, and I take all the responsibility.
I was never comfortable, even at 3-1. I knew that in terms of physical condition, there were guys who couldn’t play for too many minutes and that was difficult. Two or three times a game, we were really starting to find our rhythm, and a guy had to come out. It’s like that. “
Over the last three games, the Clippers have each time taken the water in the second half: 67-49, 64-35, 50-33. It stings very strongly. During Game 7, the Angelinos struggled particularly offensively, chaining bricks (only 15 points at 6/22 shooting in the fourth quarter including 1/10 from far, 13/45 including 3/17 from the parking lot for 33 points on the l ‘entire second half) and being unable to find their comfort zone against a Denver defense that has nothing to do with that of the start of the Playoffs. For Kawhi Leonard, who also missed out (14 points at 6/22), the lack of chemistry hurt the Clips.
“We just couldn’t get our shots in. We come back to alchemy, that’s when we have to know what to do to find our spots, especially when there are two-way holds or when the racket is closed. We need to be smarter as a team. Our basketball IQ needs to be better. “
Lack of chemistry, lack of automatisms, too many absences, irregularity, and even sufficiency. These terms have been used a lot this year when talking about the Clippers. The band’s intrinsic talent has never been questioned, but Californians have rarely been able to find their stride this year. And unfortunately for them, it was seen at the worst time, in elimination matches in the Playoffs, against a Denver team that is doing very well collectively under the leadership of its two stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
“We had to face a lot of adversity. Guys had to come back (leave the bubble, editor’s note) for good reasons. With the injuries in the regular season and in the bubble, we haven’t been together often, ”said Paul George. “There was obviously pressure and title expectations. […] We did not meet these expectations. But I think internally we’ve never approached this year saying it’s the title or nothing. You know, we can only progress by being together and rubbing shoulders. The more alchemy we have, the better. It’s kind of the story of our season. We just didn’t have enough time together. “
Yes, it was only Year 1 of the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George Clippers, and we’ve seen other great teams fail in the first year before reaching the top. Yes, Los Angeles will undoubtedly progress collectively by playing together more often. But Clips are built to win now. They dropped a lot to play for the title this year, so we shouldn’t hang around too much either, especially since Kawhi and PG can potentially be free agents in the 2021 offseason. So if it wasn’t the ring or nothing this year, it will clearly be the case year round. next.
Still no Conference Final for the Clippers, but rather a new choke that is part of the heavy past of the California franchise. It will be a very long offseason for Los Angeles, and there will be even more pressure next year, where anything other than a title would be seen as a failure.
Text source: ESPN
–
