<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-gets-painfully-honest-on-beating-clippers-in-six-games');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Luka Doncic gets painfully honest on beating Clippers in six games');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Luka-Doncics-gets-painfully-honest-on-beating-Clippers-in-six-games.jpg"></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Luka Doncic gets painfully honest on beating Clippers in six games</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-04T06:44:34-07:00">May 4th, 6:44am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-04T06:45:12-07:00">May 4th, 6:45am</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Benjamin Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in covering sports news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic knows his team really went to the brink in defeating the L.A. Clippers, during the Western Conference NBA Playoffs. Doncic <a href="https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1786617615995072735" rel="noopener">confessed to being exhausted</a> following the conclusion of the series.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Doncic speaks. “I’m tired.” <a href="https://t.co/mBsxRCAo3Q">pic.twitter.com/mBsxRCAo3Q</a></p><p>— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) <a href="https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1786617615995072735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“It’s important to get rest now,” Doncic said, per the Dallas Morning News. Doncic was particularly pleased that the team was able to defeat the Clippers in six games, which means the club gets a little extra rest before starting the next playoff series.</p><h2>Doncic and the Mavs</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Luka-Doncic-smiles-during-Mavericks-Clippers-Game-4.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Mavericks defeated the Clippers on Friday, 114-101, to win their series in six games. The Mavs were paced by Kyrie Irving, who finished the game with 30 points. Doncic poured in another 28, playing a heavy load of minutes to push Dallas past the pesky Clippers. Doncic had a double-double, as he dished out 13 assists. He also finished the game with 7 rebounds. The team had three other players finish in double figures in scoring, including P.J. Washington.</p><p>The star guard Doncic is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-star-luka-doncic-enters-elite-kobe-bryant-led-club-with-wild-playoff-feat">playing a leading role</a> for his Dallas team. On the season, he averaged nearly a triple-double. His astonishing stats included a scoring average of nearly 34 points a contest. He also averaged more than 9 assists, and more than 9 rebounds a game.</p><p>In the playoff series against the Clippers, Doncic battled <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-luka-doncic-dallas-game-6-injury-report">some cold shooting</a>. He shot only 1-for-10 from three-point range in Game 6. That continued a streak of cold shooting from the perimeter in this series, and Doncic will have to find his stroke if the Mavericks are going to advance to the NBA Finals. In the last four games of the Clippers series, Doncic made 7-for-41 of his threes.</p><p>Rest might help the situation for Doncic, who has played an enormous amount of minutes recently. The guard has played at least 40 minutes a game in four of the last five contests. That’s higher than his season average, which was 37. His legs may be a reason why he’s not shooting the ball as well as usual. On the season, Doncic is making 38 percent of his three-point attempts. He is also shooting about 49 percent from the field.</p><p>Doncic certainly can’t win on his own, so it is promising that the Mavericks helped pass the wealth around. Irving’s offense can certainly offset an off-night for Doncic. Dallas also had a great effort defensively in Game 6. The Clippers were held to only 41 percent shooting from the field. Los Angeles also struggled from the perimeter, making under 26 percent of their three-point shots.</p><p>Dallas fans certainly hope Doncic is well-rested for the next series. The Mavericks play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Game 1 of the series is scheduled for Tuesday. The ball is scheduled to tip at 9:30 Eastern.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Luka Doncic gets painfully honest on beating Clippers in six games

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/clippers-vs-thunder-results-simulated-with-nba-2k24');   ga('set', 'title', 'Clippers vs. Thunder Results Simulated With NBA 2K24');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Clippers_vs._Thunder_Results_Simulated_With_NBA_2K24.webp"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Clippers vs. Thunder Results Simulated With NBA 2K24</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-21T12:06:20-08:00">February 21st, 12:06pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-21T12:06:20-08:00">February 21st, 12:06pm</time><address><a>Massimo Marchiano</a>Massimo Marchiano is the published author of "Dawkin: A Tall Tale", a sci-fi western novel. When he's not writing about cowboys and aliens, he's watching his favorite Philly Sports team lose (or winning with them himself in his favorite video games).</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>We’ve got the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-clippers" rel="noopener">L.A. Clippers</a> vs. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder" rel="noopener">Oklahoma City Thunder</a> Results Simulated with NBA 2K24. Both teams are playing extremely well this season, with L.A. rebounding from an early season slump that saw them start 8-10. Since then they’ve gone 28-10 and are directly by OKC in the Western Conference Standings. Meanwhile, the Thunder remain just a game and a half behind the Minnesota Timberwolves, with a chance to catch up if they win on Thursday night.</p><h2><b>Clippers vs. Thunder Results Simulated With NBA 2K24</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p><b>The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the L.A. Clippers 124-122, according to our NBA 2K24 Simulation. </b>However, before we step into the details, we want to clarify a few things.</p><p>Firstly, we tried using the most updated rosters on NBA 2K24. However, considering that some players are considered day-to-day on their injury reports, we won’t know the full lineups until the game actually starts. Therefore, we just went with what we knew for sure in terms of roster lineups and such. We also put the AI at Hall-Of-Fame Difficulty while setting quarters to 12 minutes. Without further ado, let’s dive into the details.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">TEAM</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">QUARTER 1</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">QUARTER 2</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">QUARTER 3</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">QUARTER 4</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">FINAL</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">L.A.</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">28</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">26</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">31</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">37</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">122</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">OKC</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">32</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">27</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">34</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">31</td><td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center;">124</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><p>Overall, this closely contested matchup between both teams continued all the way until the final minutes. While OKC slowly built up a lead in the first three quarters, L.A. almost rallied in the end for a comeback. In fact, until the final buzzer, L.A. had a chance to win this one.</p><p>However, thanks to the efforts of Chet Holmgren and Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, OKC’s offense remained unstoppable for most the affair. The two stars combined for a total of 77 points in 76 minutes of play. Furthermore, Holmgren converted 16-0f-20 free throws while adding 11 rebounds to his stat total. Gilgeous-Alexander passed the ball often, earning 14 total assists throughout the affair.</p><p>Additionally, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams added more support, combining for 27 total points, 9 rebounds, and seven assists. However, the Thunder hurt themselves at multiple points, turning over the ball 8 times in the affair. Thankfully, they only allowed 9 points off turnovers.</p><p>Meanwhile, L.A.’s top three players, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Paul George all played very well. All three players scored 20+ points, with Leonard leading the charge (31). However, the Clippers were hurt by a big discrepancy in offensive percentages. In fact, the Thunder outperformed L.A. in Field Goals, Three-Pointers, and Free Throws. Despite gaining more Time of Possession, the Clippers were unable to mount a comeback.</p><p>Overall, the Clippers managed to make the score 122-123 when Terance Mann made a three-point shot. In less than two seconds, they fouled Josh Giddey, who missed a free-throw. However, with one last shot, the Clippers tried but missed, losing the game 124-122.</p><p>The game itself made for one of the most entertaining simulations we’ve done yet. Both teams look to be solid playoff contenders, should they continue to perform well. However, they still have a lot to prove as we head into the final stretch of the season.</p><p>Additionally, check out some important game stats:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">STAT</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">L.A. Clippers</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Oklahoma City Thunder</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Field Goals</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">48/89 (54%)</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">49/79 (62%)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">3-Pointers</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">16/36 (44%)</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">8/17 (47%)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Free Throws</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">10/13 (77%)</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">18/22 (82%)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Offensive Rebounds</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">8</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">4</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Defensive Rebounds</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">30</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">36</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Steals</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">8</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">6</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Blocks</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">0</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">3</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Turnovers (Points Off)</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">7 (10)</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">8 (9)</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Team Fouls</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">14</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">9</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Biggest Lead</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">5</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">11</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Time of Possession</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">24:17</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">23:41</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><p>To be honest, we couldn’t tell you if this prediction feels accurate. We honestly feel either team could win this matchup this Thursday. With the 2nd place spot of the Western Conference up for grabs, both teams desperately need this win.</p><p>The biggest challenge for both teams is trying to overcome the Timberwolves, who reign at the top spot of the Western Conference. While we believe all three teams should make the playoffs, grabbing that No. 1 Seed goes a long way to winning it all. So a win tomorrow night definitely helps both teams a lot.</p><p>We hope you enjoyed this NBA 2K24 Simulation between the Clippers-Thunder matchup, which you can watch above. If you’re interested in checking individual player stats skip to about 1:27:20 for player stats and more. The L.A. Clippers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder <a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule" rel="noopener">Thursday Night</a> at 8:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM PT.</p><p>In other news, check out the latest for NBA 2K24<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-2k24-season-5-headlined-by-suns-devin-booker" rel="noopener"> Season 5, which features Phoenix Suns’ Superstar Devin Booker</a>. Overall, the new season brings a new Season Pass with 80 free rewards. Furthermore, it brings new content for The W Online, as well as a collaboration with Bad Bunny. Additionally, check out the patch notes for Season 5, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-2k24-season-5-release-date" rel="noopener">which improves gameplay and player likeness.</a></p><p>Lastly, feel free to check out <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-2k24-myteam-locker-codes" rel="noopener">the latest locker codes</a> or <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-2k24-2ktv-episode-24-answers" rel="noopener">episode of 2KTV for free rewards.</a></p><p>For more <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/gaming" rel="noopener">gaming</a> and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba" rel="noopener">NBA</a> news, visit <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/" rel="noopener">ClutchPoints.</a></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Clippers vs. Thunder Results Simulated With NBA 2K24

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-frank-vogel-kevin-durant-clippers-russell-westbrook-kawhi-leonard');   ga('set', 'title', 'Suns: Frank Vogel’s brutally honest admission on how Phoenix stacks up against Clippers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/vogel-1.webp"></figure><h1>Suns: Frank Vogel’s brutally honest admission on how Phoenix stacks up against Clippers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-01-09T15:16:00-08:00">January 9th, 3:16pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-01-09T15:16:00-08:00">January 9th, 3:16pm</time><address><a>Trevor Booth</a>Trevor Booth is a beat writer covering the Phoenix Suns, in addition to working as an associate editor. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in sports journalism from Arizona State University in 2021. Booth is passionate about his faith, video games, sports with friends and making the most of his time with his girlfriend when he's not working.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Phoenix Suns have three of the best pure scorers with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-kevin-durant-spills-truth-clippers-james-harden-nets-departure" rel="noopener">Suns looked like</a> an incomplete team with those three in their 138-111 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, who themselves have James Harden and Russell Westbrook — who have each won MVP — former NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.</p><p>“They’ve got a complete team,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel, who have used 11 different starting lineups and had their Big 3 available for six games. Phoenix has also had to adjust with role players moving to the lineup and others stepping up outside of their championship expectation to fill.</p><p>Beal, Booker and Durant have been on the floor for 221 possessions and have been incredibly effective. They <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/team/24/lineups?on=984&amp;on=344&amp;on=231#tab-four_factors" rel="noopener">have a plus-26 point differential</a>, 140.3 points per 100 possessions and a 10.4 percent turnover mark, all of which are near the 100th percentile in the NBA per Cleaning the Glass.</p><p>“They’re really deep,” Vogel said. “Four Hall of Famers and they’re just further along than we are right now. It’s going to take time. We’ll be OK.”</p><p>Los Angeles is set on its roster, something the Suns have not been able to have.</p><p>Phoenix’s defense, still, struggled again versus a team that is expected to be a key opponent in its pursuit of an NBA championship.</p><p>“We’re still figuring it out, but we’ve got to do it a little bit faster,” said Beal, who played his fifth straight game and only 10th with the team.</p><p>The Suns’ fourth-quarter run they allowed is a microcosm of their season. With Booker and Beal in and out of the lineup outside of Durant and center Jusuf Nurkic, who have played 30 and 35 games, respectively, Phoenix is looking to solve a puzzle that seems more and more impossible to complete.</p><p>Beal is trying to adjust to point guard while Booker and Durant have had inconsistent set-ups. Durant is the Suns’ best scorer but is yet to be featured in sets consistently, including his spots at the mid-to-high post and in the short corner. His post-ups have led to great success for Phoenix.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Wednesday, I asked Kevin Durant about what he saw from the Suns spacing, specifically off his post-ups, with him passing out of the advantage</p><p>Per Synergy, the Suns are:</p><p>· 1st in PPP off the post when defenses commit — 1.296<br>· 1st in PPS off post-ups that include a pass — 1.26 <a href="https://t.co/vPX9NfkPNE">pic.twitter.com/vPX9NfkPNE</a></p><p>— Stephen PridGeon ☯️🏁 (@StayTrueSDot3) <a href="https://twitter.com/StayTrueSDot3/status/1723086643752562881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Suns, who are coached by Vogel, a guy who has led teams to the top defensive rating three times since 2012, which is the most in the span, are No. 17 in defensive efficiency.</p><p>“I’m confident,” Booker said. “I’m confident in everybody in here.”</p><p>The Suns, who are 19-18, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-yuta-watanabe-2023-24-season-kevin-durant-leadership" rel="noopener">return to play</a> the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena Thursday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Suns: Frank Vogel’s brutally honest admission on how Phoenix stacks up against Clippers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/sixers-news-will-daryl-morey-keep-giant-james-harden-painting-up-in-living-room');   ga('set', 'title', 'Will Sixers GM Daryl Morey keep his giant James Harden painting up in his living room?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/sixers-news-will-daryl-morey-keep-his-giant-james-harden-painting-up-in-his-living-room.jpg"></figure><h1>Will Sixers GM Daryl Morey keep his giant James Harden painting up in his living room?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-11-01T15:28:33-07:00">November 1st, 3:28pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-11-01T15:28:33-07:00">November 1st, 3:28pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a>Jack Winter is a veteran NBA writer and editor based on the West Coast. He currently lives in Oakland, covering the last legs of the Golden State Warriors' dynasty.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The relationship between James Harden and Daryl Morey has fractured beyond repair, at least when it comes to basketball. Harden called his longtime general manager and biggest champion a “liar” on multiple occasions over the summer, insisting he’d never play for a team Morey was involved with ever again. The former league MVP <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-james-harden-sixers-trade" rel="noopener">finally got his wish</a> on Monday night, Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers sending him to the LA Clippers in exchange for a package headlined most by future first-round picks and salary flexibility.</p><p>Needless to say, that’s not the end Morey envisioned when he first brought Harden to Philly at the 2022 trade deadline. After their mutually beneficial partnership with the Houston Rockets fizzled without a championship, both Morey and Harden surely believed re-teaming with the Sixers could lead to them hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy alongside Joel Embiid.</p><p>As the dust clears on Harden’s failed tenure in the City of Brotherly Love, though, you won’t hear Morey <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38790362/paintings-silence-history-final-straw-james-harden-daryl-morey-era" rel="noopener">expressing anything but appreciation</a> for the player he once called a better scorer than Michael Jordan.</p><p>“James changed my life,” Morey told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne after Harden was dealt to the Clippers. “He’s one of the all-time greats. As time goes on, people will think about him in much more historic terms. What he did to change the game and change the NBA will get recognized more as the Twitterverse and the people who don’t understand how good he is fade away.”</p><p>His resilient admiration of Harden isn’t relegated for public consumption, either. Morey also says he has no plans to take down the life-sized portrait of Harden he had commissioned by Croatian artist Filip Peraić in summer 2018.</p><p>“It’s one of my prized possessions,” Morey said.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Will Sixers GM Daryl Morey keep his giant James Harden painting up in his living room?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/clippers-news-kenyon-martin-comes-to-russell-westbrooks-defense-after-low-result-on-espns-player-rankings');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kenyon Martin comes to Russell Westbrook’s defense after low result on ESPN’s player rankings');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Russell-Westbrook-playing-with-Kenyon-Martin.jpg"></figure><h1>Kenyon Martin comes to Russell Westbrook’s defense after low result on ESPN’s player rankings</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-10-14T13:12:42-07:00">October 14th, 1:12pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-10-14T13:12:42-07:00">October 14th, 1:12pm</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Ben Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-kenyon-martin-believes-carmelo-anthony-can-still-play-basketball-highest-level">Kenyon Martin</a> wants to shout it from the rooftops. That’s just what he did while coming to the defense of Russell Westbrook.</p><p>The former NBA All-Star is calling out ESPN for its player rankings for the upcoming NBA season. Martin is especially upset that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-russell-westbrook-pushed-back-against-notion-that-2023-is-championship-or-bust-for-la">Los Angeles Clippers guard</a> is ranked below a few rookies on the list of best players in the league.</p><p>“Show me f*cking 93 other people better than Russell Westbrook in the NBA. You got two people on the list that ain’t played one f*cking NBA minute,“ Martin said on the Gilbert Arenas show.</p><p>Martin used <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1713255798758162880">several other profanities</a> to defend Westbrook on the show.</p><p>ESPN ranked Westbrook near the bottom of this year’s list of top players, at No. 94. He was outranked by many NBA veterans and even some rookies including San Antonio Spur Victor Wembanyama.</p><p>Westbrook is entering his first full season with the Clippers. They will surely need his experience and scoring if they are going to make a playoff run this year. Entering his 16th season in the NBA, Westbrook averaged 15.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game with LA last season after joining the team in post All-Star break. He’s played in more than 1,000 career games and was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2017.</p><p>The ranking might be used as a point of pride for Westbrook, who is nearing the end of his career. The guard who played at UCLA in college was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in 2008 as the fourth overall pick. He’s one of the most talented players in league history to never win a championship, and he no doubt knows that his window to get a ring is closing.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kenyon Martin comes to Russell Westbrook’s defense after low result on ESPN’s player rankings

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-clippers-make-final-decision-on-james-harden-trade-talks-with-sixers');   ga('set', 'title', 'RUMOR: Clippers make final decision on James Harden trade talks with Sixers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Clippers-make-final-decision-on-James-Harden-trade-talks-with-Sixers.jpg"></figure><h1>RUMOR: Clippers make final decision on James Harden trade talks with Sixers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-09-17T13:08:42-07:00">September 17th, 1:08pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-09-17T13:08:42-07:00">September 17th, 1:08pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a>Jack Winter is a veteran NBA writer and editor based on the West Coast. He currently lives in Oakland, covering the last legs of the Golden State Warriors' dynasty.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As training camp fast approaches, it seems increasingly unlikely James Harden will get his wish of a trade to the LA Clippers. Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers’ refusal to accept a mediocre return for the future Hall-of-Famer, though, isn’t the only obstacle that could prevent Harden from playing the 2023-24 season in his native Los Angeles.</p><p>After initial talks between the Clippers and Sixers following Harden’s trade request went nowhere, LA reportedly <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2023/09/17/clippers-cease-trade-talks-for-76ers-james-harden-per-report" rel="noopener">decided to move on</a> from trying to acquire him.</p><p>“[The Clippers] tried to trade for James Harden, and that deal didn’t happen,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on <a href="https://www.espn.com/espnradio/newyork/podcast/archive/_/id/3634017" rel="noopener"><i>The Hoop Collective</i></a>, per Wilton Jackson of Sports Illustrated. “And from what I understand, it was the Clippers who said, ‘Okay, there’s no deal here. We’re gonna move on.’ And while I assume that they could certainly make a deal midseason, I assume that this is what they’re gonna go with.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sixers-news-james-harden-makes-final-35-6-million-contract-decision-ahead-of-2023-nba-free-agency" rel="noopener">Harden rocked the league</a> by opting into the final year of his contract and requesting a trade from Philadelphia on June 29th, the day before he was expected to become a free agent. Reports of his preference to play for the Clippers immediately followed, with both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George apparently endorsing the idea of LA trading for the 10-time All-Star.</p><p>The Sixers indicated last month that they are comfortable holding onto Harden unless Morey’s desired trade package materializes. That inevitably fraught dynamic became even more combustible when <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-james-harden-rips-daryl-morey-after-failed-trade-attempts" rel="noopener">Harden publicly laid into Philly’s top decision-maker</a> on a promotional trip in China, insisting he’d never again play for a team being run by Morey.</p><p>The Sixers tipoff training camp on October 3rd.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

RUMOR: Clippers make final decision on James Harden trade talks with Sixers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-news-devin-booker-paul-george-exchange-blows-after-suns-star-claims-pg-baited-klay-thompson-into-specific-4-rings-answer');   ga('set', 'title', 'Devin Booker, Paul George exchange blows after Suns star claims PG baited Klay Thompson into specific ‘4 rings’ answer');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NBA-news-Devin-Booker-Paul-George-exchange-blows-after-Suns-star-claims-PG-baited-Klay-Thompson-into-specific-_4-rings_-answer.jpg"></figure><h1>Devin Booker, Paul George exchange blows after Suns star claims PG baited Klay Thompson into specific ‘4 rings’ answer</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-08-08T15:00:12-07:00">August 8th, 3:00pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-08-08T17:26:41-07:00">August 8th, 5:26pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a>Jack Winter is a veteran NBA writer and editor based on the West Coast. He currently lives in Oakland, covering the last legs of the Golden State Warriors' dynasty.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Add another chapter to the simmering personal rivalry between Paul George and Devin Booker.</p><p>Appearing on <i>Podcast P With Paul George Presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment</i>, Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@podcastpshow" rel="noopener">admitted he “regretted” flashing</a> a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-klay-thompsons-stance-4-rings-taunt-towards-devin-booker-revealed" rel="noopener">four-finger championship ring taunt</a> to Booker early last season. The Phoenix Suns superstar initially showed respect for Thompson’s honest reflection in a social media comment, but then directly challenged George for stirring the pot in a follow-up post.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CvshTXCuLvn/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading"><div style="padding: 16px;"><p> </p><div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div><div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div><div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 24px;"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div><p> </p><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CvshTXCuLvn/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" rel="noopener" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by NBA on ESPN (@nbaonespn)</a></p></div></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Asked for his thoughts on Booker’s query while live streaming, let’s just say George fanned the flames of their burning feud.</p><p>“My thoughts on Bookers’ comments? I mean, he didn’t really say nothing other than ‘Is that what you wanted to hear?’ I don’t really care,” George said. “That’s Klay’s answer, know what I mean? That’s Klay’s answer. I asked a question, Klay gave his response. That’s Klay’s answer. I don’t know what that was supposed to mean. Sorry-a** response.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paul George responds to Devin Booker’s comments:</p><p>“Sorry a** response. But I don’t know what that was supposed to mean.”<br> 👀 <a href="https://t.co/TSnu34RPii">pic.twitter.com/TSnu34RPii</a></p><p>— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RTNBA/status/1689000738309939201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Animus between the All-Stars dates back at least two years. During the Clippers’ March 3rd, 2021 visit to Phoenix, George took exception to a hard foul by Cam Payne, immediately calling him out. Booker quickly came to his teammate’s defense, sparking a heated exchange during which he repeatedly called George “soft.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>Booker and George then exchanged shoves several months later once league action resumed in the Orlando bubble after they came together on a fast break.</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>There’s clearly still no love lost between Booker and George. Needless to say, go ahead and clear your plans for the first meeting between the Suns and Clippers in 2023-24, a rematch of Phoenix’s first-round playoff victory over LA in May.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Devin Booker, Paul George exchange blows after Suns star claims PG baited Klay Thompson into specific ‘4 rings’ answer

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-mavs-lakers-suns-among-6-kyrie-irving-meetings-to-start-free-agency/');   ga('set', 'title', 'RUMOR: Mavs, Lakers, Suns among 6 Kyrie Irving meetings to start free agency');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Mavs-Lakers-Suns-among-6-Kyrie-Irving-meetings-to-start-free-agency.jpg"></figure><h1>RUMOR: Mavs, Lakers, Suns among 6 Kyrie Irving meetings to start free agency</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-06-30T12:23:23-07:00">June 30th, 12:23pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-06-30T12:43:55-07:00">June 30th, 12:43pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kyrie Irving isn’t just meeting with the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns in free agency.</p><p>Once the player movement period officially tips off at 3:00 p.m. (PT), the eight-time All-Star will also <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsreiter/status/1674856299035774976" rel="noopener">take free agent pitches</a> from the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers, according to Bill Reiter of CBS Sports.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here are the teams that Kyrie Irving will meet with today once free agency begins:</p><p>👉 Mavs<br>👉 Suns<br>👉 Heat<br>👉 Rockets<br>👉 Lakers<br>👉 Clippers</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsreiter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sportsreiter</a>) <a href="https://t.co/XwY55iih1M">pic.twitter.com/XwY55iih1M</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1674857432969879553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-kyrie-irving-re-signing-mavs-close-done-deal" rel="noopener">Dallas can offer more money and years</a> than any other suitor in the Irving sweepstakes, and were reportedly favorites to sign him before news of the 31-year-old’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-kyrie-irving-meeting-phoenix-free-agency" rel="noopener">plans to meet with Phoenix</a> broke on Friday.</p><p>The Heat, Rockets, Lakers and Clippers have all been connected to other star point guards this offseason as trade and free agency rumors swirl, too. Miami is still <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-the-real-reason-why-heat-are-not-giving-up-on-damian-lillard-trade-pursuit" rel="noopener">waiting out Damian Lillard</a>, while both the Rockets and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-fred-vanvleets-path-to-la-nba-free-agency-trades" rel="noopener">Lakers are interested in signing Fred VanVleet</a>. The Clippers, meanwhile, are <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-kawhi-leonard-paul-georges-feelings-clippers-james-harden" rel="noopener">favorites to land James Harden</a> after his stunning opt-in and trade request from the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.</p><p>It remains to be seen just how serious Irving’s threat of leaving Dallas in free agency really is. Like the Brooklyn Nets before them, the Mavericks would surely prefer to extend Irving below his maximum salary, on a multi-year deal that includes a team option or partial/full guarantees—the same negotiating tactic that ultimately led to Irving requesting a trade from Brooklyn at the deadline.</p><p>There’s conflicting intel about Miami’s meeting with Kyrie Irving, by the way, as Anthony Chiang of the <i>Miami Herald </i>reports the <a href="https://twitter.com/Anthony_Chiang/status/1674859364480434176" rel="noopener">Heat will <i>not</i> be pitching him</a> on the first day of free agency.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

RUMOR: Mavs, Lakers, Suns among 6 Kyrie Irving meetings to start free agency

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-jr-smith-gets-real-on-los-angelesfans-turning-on-russell-westbrook');   ga('set', 'title', 'JR Smith gets real on Lakers fans turning on Russell Westbrook');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Lakers-news-JR-Smith-gets-real-on-LA-fans-turning-on-Russell-Westbrook.jpg"></figure><h1>JR Smith gets real on Lakers fans turning on Russell Westbrook</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-05-07T09:47:43-07:00">May 7th, 9:47am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-05-07T09:48:40-07:00">May 7th, 9:48am</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Russell Westbrook found a home with the LA Clippers after the trade deadline, playing some of the best basketball he has in years. The former MVP was especially effective during his new team’s short-lived playoff run, ably picking up ample offensive slack left by injuries to Paul George and Kawhi Leonard while serving as a true impact defender.</p><p>The Clippers, no surprise, are reportedly <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-paul-george-drops-truth-bomb-on-russell-westbrook-suns-series-future-with-la" rel="noopener">hoping Westbrook re-signs</a> this summer. No matter where he plays going forward, though, it’s pretty safe to say the veteran point guard will be better off than he was during an ill-fated tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers.</p><p>J.R. Smith addressed that dynamic over the weekend, telling Brandon ‘Scoop’ Robinson he was pleased to see <a href="https://twitter.com/hoops_bot/status/1654870731824709633" rel="noopener">Westbrook thrive with the Clippers</a> after his stint as a Laker proved disastrous.</p><p>“I understand what he was going through. Given the passion that he has for the game and then seeing people around you who are supposed to be ‘the closest to you’ and your teammates and your organization, kind of flip on you, and then the fan base…He’s a LA guy. He’s from LA. I’m pretty sure he grew up a Lakers fan,” Smith lamented. “So to have that type of experience with your home team, with your home city is really tough. Fortunately, I’m happy to see him go to the Clippers and have the success he’s had. Now he’s still able to have some type of reputable space when it’s all said and done and all over. When he’s not playing anymore he went to a better situation than where he was at.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">JR Smith: “I understand what [Westbrook] was going through. Seeing people around who are supposed to be ‘the closest to you,’ your teammates and organization kind of flip on you, and then the fanbase… it’s really tough <a href="https://t.co/Tez12uSzcH">pic.twitter.com/Tez12uSzcH</a></p><p>— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) <a href="https://twitter.com/hoops_bot/status/1654870731824709633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Lakers fans quickly turned on Westbrook upon his acquisition in summer 2021, deriding his missed shots at home with jeers of ‘Westbrick’ and openly booing him. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-russell-westbrooks-eye-opening-comments-on-critics-affecting-his-family" rel="noopener">Westbrook’s family</a> even took the brunt of some criticism, leading him to publicly call out Lakers faithful.</p><p>Reports indicate LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who helped engineer his trade from the Washington Wizards, didn’t exactly make Westbrook’s time wearing purple-and-gold much easier.</p><p>Smith knows how difficult it can be to play with James. The pair are friends and won a title together in 2016, but who could forget the lambasting Smith received for his infamous gaffe in the waning moments of Game 1 of the 2018 Finals, marring one of the greatest performances of James’ career?</p><p>Resonating more with Smith than any perils of being James’ teammate, though, was the harsh treatment Westbrook received from hometown fans—a lot like the type Smith got from New York Knicks fans earlier in his career.</p><p>“Being booed at home is a really tough thing. I got booed at the Garden; I’m from Jersey. I understand that, I know that and it’s hard,” Smith said. “But the end of the day, Russ is a competitor and I don’t think he really pays attention to too much outside noise. If you know the game and you’ve been around the game, I think he was way more of a respect for it. But if you don’t I don’t even really think he cares, honestly.”</p><p>Smith turned his career around after leaving the Knicks in 2014. Here’s hoping Russell Westbrook’s trajectory continues on that similar path as his time with the Lakers gets further in the rearview mirror.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

JR Smith gets real on Lakers fans turning on Russell Westbrook

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/clippers-tyronn-lue-reacts-to-lebron-james-calling-him-out-over-anthony-davis-strategy');   ga('set', 'title', 'Clippers’ Tyronn Lue reacts to LeBron James calling him out over Anthony Davis strategy');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Clippers-news-Tyronn-Lue-reacts-to-LeBron-James-calling-him-out-over-Anthony-Davis-strategy.jpeg"></figure><h1>Clippers’ Tyronn Lue reacts to LeBron James calling him out over Anthony Davis strategy</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-04-07T13:39:25-07:00">April 7th, 1:39pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-04-07T14:27:24-07:00">April 7th, 2:27pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his seventh season as the LA Clippers beat writer for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content below:</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Ahead of the LA Clippers’ showdown with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, head coach Tyronn Lue said he wasn’t planning to double-team Anthony Davis. That, of course, turned out not to be the case as Lue repeatedly threw double-teams at Davis throughout the night.</p><p>The Clippers came out on top, <a href="https://www.nba.com/game/lal-vs-lac-0022201196/box-score#box-score" rel="noopener">defeating the Lakers</a> 125-118.</p><p>Davis finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks on 7-of-14 shooting. Davis had been averaging 25.8 points and 11 rebounds on 56.3 percent shooting per game over his last four games against the Clippers, so it made sense to throw mixed looks at Davis, including double-teams.</p><p>But during Tuesday’s practice before the game, Tyronn Lue said he wouldn’t send any double-teams at Davis, with the plan to be defending him one-on-one with Ivica Zubac.</p><p>“It’s gonna be hard, you’re dealing with a great player,” Lue said. “We’re not gonna double-team him, like we have before in the past. And so, Zu had that responsibility of just trying to be physical, trying to guard him. The things I thought Zu did well is guard him in the post a little, guard him in the post pretty well, but the pick and rolls is what hurts you, him rolling, getting behind you, the pick and pops and stuff like that. So on the post ups, Zu will be mano-a-mano and we just try to take everybody else outta the game.”</p><p>Lue clearly didn’t do that, sending double-teams at Davis and forcing him into his worst game against the Clippers since May 2021.</p><p>After the Clippers defeated the Lakers, <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1644404939828133888" rel="noopener">LeBron James was asked</a> about Tyronn Lue’s strategy, which he responded with, ‘you didn’t really believe that, did you?’</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here’s LeBron saying ‘you believed that?’ when told that Ty Lue said he wasn’t gonna double-team Anthony Davis:<a href="https://t.co/TIAC509566">pic.twitter.com/TIAC509566</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1644404939828133888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Clippers practiced for the final time this season on Friday, and Lue was asked about James’ comments.</p><p>“I didn’t see it,” <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1644403613970862081" rel="noopener">Tyronn Lue said</a> with a smirk as if he got away with something. “He knows me well. Just something different put on their mind. We know AD has been playing great and you can’t allow a player like that to single-handedly beat you. So we just try to take him out of the game and make him do some different things.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ty Lue on LeBron James calling him out for saying he won't double Anthony Davis:</p><p>"He knows me well. Just something different we put on their minds… You can't let a guy like that single-handedly beat you, so we just tried to take him out of the game."<a href="https://t.co/jhrECETTvf">pic.twitter.com/jhrECETTvf</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1644403613970862081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Clippers and Lakers entered Wednesday’s game with identical 41-38 records, so the winner of that one would have a major leg up on <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-3-reasons-why-la-should-not-duck-kevin-durant-suns-first-round-nba-playoffs" rel="noopener">avoiding the play-in tournament</a>.</p><p>As it stands, the Clippers are the fifth seed in the West and have two games remaining against the Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-playoff-scenarios-clippers-loss" rel="noopener">Lakers have two games</a> as well against the Suns and Utah Jazz.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Clippers’ Tyronn Lue reacts to LeBron James calling him out over Anthony Davis strategy

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/clippers-news-russell-westbrooks-pre-trade-lakers-role-slammed-by-scout');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Russell Westbrook usage before trade slammed for incompetence');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Lakers_-Russell-Westbrook-usage-before-trade-slammed-for-incompetence.jpeg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ Russell Westbrook usage before trade slammed for incompetence</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-04-04T14:57:12-07:00">April 4th, 2:57pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-04-04T14:57:12-07:00">April 4th, 2:57pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The addition of Russell Westbrook hasn’t quite helped the LA Clippers vault toward top-tier title contention. But their sustained inconsistency certainly isn’t the fault of Westbrook, who’s fared pretty much <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-russell-westbrook-receives-rave-reviews-early-tenure" rel="noopener">as well as could’ve been hoped</a> with the Clippers individually after he signed with Ty Lue’s team off the buyout market.</p><p>The former MVP is averaging 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game with LA on what would be a career-high 55.6 true shooting percentage, just below league-average. A more telling sign of Westbrook’s workable fit with the Clippers? He owns a <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612746/onoffcourt-advanced?DateFrom=02/24/23&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=NET_RATING" rel="noopener">+3.6 net rating</a> in LA, per NBA.com/stats, a top-four mark on the team since his signing.</p><p>The Los Angeles Lakers, no surprise, didn’t do as well with Westbrook on the floor before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-grading-the-3-team-russell-westbrook-dangelo-russell-trade" rel="noopener">finally moving him</a> at the February trade deadline. His net plus-minus with the Clippers’ in-arena rivals was -17, an indicator of his multi-season struggles to find a niche alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis—despite Westbrook’s personal numbers with the Lakers improving compared his debut campaign in purple-and-gold.</p><p>Breaking news: Personnel synergy matters, especially when slotting role players around high-usage superstars, let alone two. The types of players who thrive next to James and Davis re always going to be different than those at their best next to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.</p><p>Ahead of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-lakers-clippers-postseason-showdown-play-in-tournament" rel="noopener">most significant matchup</a> of the teams’ shared history on Wednesday night, though, one NBA scout still can’t believe the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2023-04-04/clippers-lakers-showdown-russell-westbrook-better-fit" rel="noopener">Lakers tried to change Westbrook’s game</a> to optimize his fit with James and Davis.</p><p>“Asking Russ to be a 3-and-D guy is like asking Wilt [Chamberlain] to be a point guard,” an anonymous scout told Andrew Grief of the <i>Los Angeles Times</i>.</p><p>The notion Darvin Ham and company relegated Westbrook to a pure 3-and-D role this season is misinformed. His <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/201566/advanced?SeasonSegment=Pre+All-Star" rel="noopener">27.6% usage</a> with the Lakers was actually slightly higher than in 2021-22, once again exploding back to aggressive alpha-dog levels with James off the floor.</p><p>It’s not like Los Angeles wasn’t letting Russ be Russ. The biggest difference between his play with the Lakers and Clippers is that Westbrook has dialed his usage back to career-low levels, committed harder to defense and is finally hitting some mid-range jumpers.</p><p>Combined with LA’s desire for an experienced set-up man and ability to space the floor around him with at least three shooters, those developments hardly make Westbrook’s success with the Clippers a shock—nor any indictment of how the Lakers tried to make his ill-fated partnership with James and Davis work.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Russell Westbrook usage before trade slammed for incompetence

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/clippers-news-3-things-kawhi-leonard-russell-westbrook-will-watch-in-final-week-of-2022-23-season');   ga('set', 'title', '3 things Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook will watch in final week of 2022-23 season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Clippers-news-Paul-George-reveals-Kawhi-Leonard_s-reaction-to-Russell-Westbrook-move.jpg"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>3 things Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook will watch in final week of 2022-23 season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-04-03T12:55:19-07:00">April 3rd, 12:55pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-04-03T13:12:32-07:00">April 3rd, 1:12pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his seventh season as the LA Clippers beat writer for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content below:</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The final week of the 2022-23 NBA season begins today, with a nearly every team still playing for something. Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, and the Los Angeles Clippers are knee-deep in the action, currently the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Paul George is expected to be out for the remainder of the regular season, so they’ll desperately need to find some wins.</p><p>With the NBA’s play-in tournament starting on April 11th and the NBA playoffs starting on April 15th, the Clippers will look to avoid the former and sneak into the latter. If you’re a Clippers fan, the good news is that the team is currently the West’s fifth seed for the moment with a 41-38 record. The bad news, however, is that they’re in a four-way tie in the loss column, as the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and New Orleans Pelicans all have 38 losses.</p><p>The West is a mess, so here are three things you must know regarding Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, and the Clippers entering the final week of the NBA’s regular season.</p><p><b>——Tiebreaker Situation——</b></p><p>The Los Angeles Clippers (41-38) enter Monday, April 3rd, as the fifth seed in the West. They only tiebreaker they will hold for certain at the end of the year is that against the Lakers. The Clippers are 3-0 against the Lakers this season, with one final matchup on Wednesday. The Lakers can enter that matchup with the exact same record as the Clippers, essentially making this a battle to avoid the play-in tournament.</p><p>The Clippers lost tiebreakers to the Thunder (3-1), the Timberwolves (2-1), and the Pelicans (3-0). They tied their season series with the Warriors (2-2) and can also tie their series with the Suns (2-1) on the final day of the regular season.</p><p>In case of an identical record at the end of the season as well as a tied season record, the next tiebreaker is the conference record… unless the two teams are in the same division. If it’s between two opponents in the same division, their division record will be the tiebreaker, and if that’s also identical, then the conference record will be the next tiebreaker.</p><p>Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, and the Clippers are 7-7 against the Pacific Division while the Warriors are 6-9. The Warriors have one division game remaining, so the most wins they can have is seven. The Clippers have two division games remaining, so one more division win for LA OR a division loss for Golden State would give them the tiebreaker over the Warriors.</p><p>Should the Warriors win their final division game and the Clippers lose both of theirs — it’s unlikely the two will then finish in a tie, but if they do — the next tiebreaker would be conference record, which Golden State currently leads by three games.</p><p>Of the Clippers, Suns, Warriors, Timberwolves, and Pelicans, LA currently has the worst conference record of the group. They also have one more loss than the Lakers, but they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here are the Western Conference standings entering the final week of the NBA season.</p><p>The Clippers are in a 4-way tie in the loss column for the 5th seed, and currently only hold a tiebreaker against the Lakers. <a href="https://t.co/Z9hRPMLqNE">pic.twitter.com/Z9hRPMLqNE</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1642983354076372993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>In short, in order to remain a top six seed and avoid the play-in tournament, the Clippers will need to win out AND hope for at least one Pelicans loss over their final four games. A loss by the Warriors, especially against the division rival Kings, would help significantly as well.</p><p>Here’s a look at the full Western Conference tiebreaker situation entering the final week of the season:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">FINAL: DEN 112 GS 110</p><p>And just like that, the Lakers now control their own destiny for the 5 seed in the West — setting up LeBron vs. KD.</p><p>With the Warriors loss in Denver, 1 remaining H2H  against the Clippers, and LA having tiebreaker over GS … if they win out, it is theirs <a href="https://t.co/Lz9MEiAAaY">pic.twitter.com/Lz9MEiAAaY</a></p><p>— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1642723079381209090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>If you’re unsure what any of this means or have questions about different tiebreaking scenarios, feel free to tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly" rel="noopener">@TomerAzarly</a> and I’ll try to respond to them all.</p><p><b>——Remaining Schedules——</b></p><p>The LA Clippers (41-38) have three games over these next seven days: Wednesday vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, Saturday vs. the Portland Trail Blazers, and Sunday at the Phoenix Suns. Since one of those is a back-to-back, Kawhi Leonard’s status will have to be monitored, but Russell Westbrook would be expected to play both.</p><p>The Golden State Warriors (41-38) have three games remaining: Tuesday vs. the OKC Thunder, Friday at the Sacramento Kings, and Sunday at the Blazers.</p><p>The Los Angeles Lakers (40-38) have four games remaining: Tuesday at the Utah Jazz, Wednesday at the Clippers, Friday vs. the Suns, and Sunday vs. the Jazz.</p><p>The New Orleans Pelicans (40-38) have four games remaining: Tuesday against the Kings, Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies, Friday vs. the New York Knicks, and Sunday at the Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><p>The Minnesota Timberwolves (39-40) have three games remaining: Tuesday at the Brooklyn Nets, Saturday at the San Antonio Spurs, and Sunday vs. the Pelicans.</p><p>Will every team have incentive to play their best players to try and win every game? There are multiple scenarios in which teams like the Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Kings can simply secure their spot if another team’s win/loss goes their way.</p><p>Aside from defeating the Lakers on Wednesday, the Clippers could certainly use some help from the Kings and Grizzlies when taking on the Pelicans.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“We know if we take care of our own business, we control our own destiny.”</p><p>Russell Westbrook on if there’s a lot of watching the standings. <a href="https://t.co/9adyJZmUCw">pic.twitter.com/9adyJZmUCw</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1641316071822041089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><b>——Paul George’s Injury——</b></p><p>Wednesday, April 5th will mark two weeks since the MRI on Paul George’s injured right knee revealed a sprain. George suffered the gruesome looking injury against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, March 21st, and was set to be re-evaluated, ‘in two-to-three weeks,’ the team announced. He’s already expected to miss the remainder of the regular season, and his re-evaluation period is expected to be sometime between April 5th and April 12th.</p><p>As reported by ClutchPoints shortly after the injury, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-latest-paul-george-injury-update-has-la-breathing-sigh-of-relief" rel="noopener">Paul George’s major ligaments</a> reportedly suffered no serious damage, with most of the concern involving the surround tissue. His return-to-play hinges on his overall mobility with the knee — ie. cutting, running, jumping, etc — and if the Clippers don’t see the necessary mobility, he won’t be able to return.</p><p>If and when George is cleared to return, there is also expected to be a ‘ramp-up’ period for the Clippers star, which likely won’t be short.</p><p>A return for the first round of the NBA playoffs seems incredibly unlikely albeit not impossible. The next week of Paul George’s recovery and his re-evaluation will tell a lot about the Clippers hopes for this season. If George can’t return soon, there will be a lot on the shoulders of Kawhi Leonard to carry this team alongside Russell Westbrook until he possibly can return.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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