<!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-ivica-zubac-hits-memorable-nba-milestone-amid-jazz-blowout');   ga('set', 'title', 'Clippers’ Ivica Zubac hits memorable NBA milestone amid Jazz blowout');   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/2024/12/Ivica-Zubac-hits-memorable-NBA-milestone-amid-Jazz-blowout.jpg"></figure><h1>Clippers’ Ivica Zubac hits memorable NBA milestone amid Jazz blowout</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-16T21:18:27-08:00">December 16th, 9:18pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-16T21:18:27-08:00">December 16th, 9:18pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Clippers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-ivica-zubac-playing-kawhi-leonard-role">Ivica Zubac was ticketed by many</a> to have a huge 2024-25 season, stepping into a bigger scoring role for the Los Angeles Clippers in the aftermath of Paul George’s departure as well as Kawhi Leonard’s continued injury problems. And Zubac has indeed been putting up the best season of his professional career, and his solid play continued as the Clippers ran the Utah Jazz out of the building early on in their Monday night clash.</p><p>Entering the night in need of just five points to <a href="https://x.com/BA_Turner/status/1868869499199668668" rel="noopener">cross the 5,000-point mark</a> for his career, the Clippers center didn’t waste too much time in getting to that mark. By making a dunk with 4:12 remaining in the first quarter of what is shaping to be a blowout win for LA, Zubac scored the 5,000th and 5,001st points of his career, as noted by Brad Turner of the LA Times.</p><p>It’s not easy to cross the 5,000-point mark in the NBA, especially for someone who did not get as much usage in the past as Zubac. Even though he has been a consistent starter for the past 6.5 seasons of his career, he has routinely deferred to his other more ball-dominant teammates, from Leonard to George to James Harden to Lou Williams.</p><p>But the Clippers have recognized how efficient Zubac is from the interior, as his hook shot proficiency has made him one of the deadliest roll men in the association. He may have been slowing down as of late from a torrid start to the 2024-25 campaign, but Zubac continues to be heavily featured in LA’s offense, with Harden making the most of his partnership with the 27-year-old center.</p><p>Zubac has played a major role in the Clippers’ better-than-anticipated start to the 2025-25 season, and he will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, especially when he signed a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-ivica-zubac-agrees-to-3-year-58-6-million-extension">three-year, $58.6 million extension</a> with the team this past offseason.</p><h2><b>Ivica Zubac and the Clippers lull the Jazz to sleep early</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Clippers-center-Ivica-Zubac-rebounds.jpg"><figcaption>© Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Jazz have been one of the worst teams in the league this season, and the Clippers were quick to put them in their place on Monday night. Thanks to an incredible start from James Harden, the Clippers ran out to a 44-20 lead at the end of the first which then ballooned into an 81-47 lead at the half — with Harden even outscoring the entire Jazz team in the first quarter (24-20).</p><p>Ivica Zubac helped establish a rhythm for the Clippers on both ends of the floor, and at the time of writing, he has put up 17 points and 11 rebounds en route to what will be their 15th win of the season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Clippers’ Ivica Zubac hits memorable NBA milestone amid Jazz blowout

<!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-ivica-zubac-playing-kawhi-leonard-role');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Clippers’ Ivica Zubac is playing ‘Kawhi Leonard role’');   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/2024/10/Clippers-news-How-Ivica-Zubac-is-playing-Kawhi-Leonard-role.jpg"></figure><h1>How Clippers’ Ivica Zubac is playing ‘Kawhi Leonard role’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-28T11:08:34-07:00">October 28th, 11:08am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-28T11:08:34-07:00">October 28th, 11:08am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Clippers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-kawhi-leonard-dealt-doubtful-injury-update-season-opener">Kawhi Leonard being out indefinitely</a> due to a knee injury, Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac has embraced a bigger role. The Bosnia and Herzegovina native is averaging <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/z/zubaciv01.html" rel="noopener">22.7 points, 14 rebounds, and 4.3 assists</a> per game while shooting 59.2% from the field. He spoke to Law Murray of The Athletic about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5878852/2024/10/28/ivica-zubac-clippers-offense/?source=emp_shared_article" rel="noopener">a relationship he built</a> with his former Serbian head coach Dejan Milojević.<br><br>“He pushed me a lot to trust my left hook shot,” Zubac said after scoring a team-high 23 points in the Clippers’ 112-104 win over the Warriors on Sunday. “Most of the teams take away my right hook. He always said, ‘Just trust in it. You’ve got a good touch. You’ve got a good left hand. We want to see that more.’”</p><p>Unfortunately, <a href="https://abc7news.com/golden-state-warriors-dejan-milojevic-funeral-serbia-honoring-coach-deki/14415449/" rel="noopener">Milojević died in January 2024</a> and it left a big void with Zubac. The former Golden State Warriors assistant coach would have Zubac over to his house when the Clippers visited the Warriors. When Los Angeles faced off at the Chase Center, the memories flooded back to Zubac.</p><p>“Not seeing him behind the bench, it’s tough,” Zubac said. “He was an amazing dude. Every time I would come into the city, I would go to his apartment. His wife (Natasa) would make us dinner, we would play cards or do something. He was a really special guy. Learned a lot from him in Mega, and even throughout my years in the league, he kept giving me advice.<br><br>“I really miss him.”</p><h2><b>Clippers’ Ivica Zubac channeling his inner Kawhi Leonard</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ivica-Zubac-embracing-Kawhi-Leonard-role.jpg"><figcaption>© Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Luckily, the Clippers have seen an expanded role, especially with the left hand. Many teams would deny Zubac to the right side of the floor because of the lack of a left hand. Now, teams don’t have an answer for it. The Clippers big man has always been skilled in the low-post.</p><p>Last season, he averaged 1.27 points per possession on 1.3 post-ups per game, according to Synergy. Only one player averaged a better number, which was the Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (1.30 points per possession on 3.2 post-ups per game).</p><p>That same year, Leonard was the primary post-option. He scored 1.07 points per possession on 1.7 post-ups per game. It’s fewer points than Zubac scored. Since Leonard is an All-NBA talent, and is a much more prolific scorer, they gave him more opportunities. Still, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-ivica-zubac-agrees-to-3-year-58-6-million-extension">Zubac signed a three-year, $58 million extension</a> and is in the long-term plans for the franchise.</p><p>Everyone has stepped up for the Clippers. From Norman Powell to Terrance Mann, they’re continuing to build an identity of grit, toughness, and perseverance. For Zubac, his interior presence is helping the Clippers outscore foes by 20 points per game in the paint. They’ll continue to rely on him heavily, whether or not Leonard comes back.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Clippers’ Ivica Zubac is playing ‘Kawhi Leonard role’

<!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-james-harden-ivica-zubac-react-heartbreaking-loss-suns');   ga('set', 'title', 'Clippers’ James Harden, Ivica Zubac react to heartbreaking loss vs. Suns');   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/2024/10/THUMB-01.jpg"></figure><h1>Clippers’ James Harden, Ivica Zubac react to heartbreaking loss vs. Suns</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-24T05:21:36-07:00">October 24th, 5:21am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-24T05:21:36-07:00">October 24th, 5:21am</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his ninth season as the LA Clippers beat writer and NBA reporter 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 as well as coast-to-coast coverage of the NBA.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>INGLEWOOD, CA — The Los Angeles Clippers <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-james-harden-tyronn-lue-derrick-jones-jr-react-first-game-intuit-dome">opened the doors of the all new Intuit Dome</a> on Wednesday night in what was an absolute show from start to finish. Unfortunately, James Harden and Ivica Zubac’s club fell short against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns in overtime.</p><p>The Clippers dropped their opener, 116-113, despite <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-fans-react-steve-ballmers-intuit-dome-features">the incredible home-court advantage</a> that was finally on full display.</p><h2><b>Clippers lose to Suns despite James Harden’s big nights</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMAGN-01.jpg"><figcaption>Steven Bisig-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>After a slow start in which he shot just 2-of-11 from the field in the first half, James Harden finished the Clippers’ season opener with <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202410230LAC.html" rel="noopener">a near triple-double</a>: 29 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists.</p><p>The complete final line for Harden wasn’t pretty — shooting just 10-of-28 from the field with eight turnovers in 40 minutes — but it was indicative of the workload he’ll have as the Clippers continue to navigate life without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.</p><p>Head coach Tyronn Lue hopes he can keep up this type of performance and workload for his Clippers.</p><p>“I hope so, just not as many minutes,” Tyronn Lue said following Harden’s 40 minutes of play. “I think the overtime put him into a spot we didn’t really want to be in for as minutes, but we had no choice at that point.</p><p>“We need him to be special until Kawhi gets back, so good first game, good first start. We’ve got to continue to get better, like we talked about and just go from here, but this is a good game for us to learn some lessons, understanding what we’re trying to do and capitalize on it. So, we’ll get back to the drawing board on Friday.”</p><p>James Harden has continuously been asked if he’s capable of taking on a bigger scoring and playmaking role for this Clippers team. This isn’t Houston James Harden anymore given he’s 35 years old, but he believes he has more to give than what he showed on Wednesday night.</p><p>“A lot of positives out of that game,” Harden said. “A lot of positives. I think we played extremely hard, which is going to be our calling every single game. Individually for me, I got to play way better. I think it was just having that week off, getting adjusted to the pace of the game. All of the above. Shooting the ball well is something that I can control, taking better shots and then just turning the ball over. Just getting a quality shot possession by possession, which gives our defense the opportunity to get back in transition and get our half-court defense set. My play has to be a lot better. So I seen a lot of really good things out of our group. I think everybody played well and the great thing about it is we can improve. So, that’s definitely some positives right there.”</p><h2><b>Ivica Zubac’s big night for Clippers</b></h2><p>In his first start as a legitimate second or third option, Zubac finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes of play. He was in foul trouble early, which limited his impact and changed Tyronn Lue’s first-half rotation.</p><p>Once the second half kicked off, he and Harden found their stride together and carved out the Suns’ defense.</p><p>“Tonight, to start the game, they kept going under a lot of our screens and I had to get a better angle, To start the game, I wasn’t holding the screen long enough and didn’t allow James to put the guy on his back and we made that little adjustment later on, just holding the screen longer so he got more room to go downhill against a big. There’s still, we got to get into that game rhythm now. There’s still stuff, I wouldn’t say learning, it’s just adapting to the different defenses, and got to be quicker and better adapting to different coverages.”</p><p>Zubac is projected to have a big season for the Clippers given the scoring hole they’ll facing. He played 34 minutes before fouling out in the overtime loss, which would obliterate his preivous career high.</p><p>The Clippers don’t have much time once they hit the drawing board. They’ll face the 2023 NBA Champion Denver Nuggets on the road before traveling to San Francisco for the Warriors home opener.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Clippers’ James Harden, Ivica Zubac react to heartbreaking loss vs. Suns

<!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-ivica-zubac-agrees-to-3-year-58-6-million-extension');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ivica Zubac, Clippers agree to 3-year, $58.6 million extension');   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/2024/08/Ivica-Zubac-Los-Angeles-Clippers.jpg"></figure><h1>Ivica Zubac, Clippers agree to 3-year, $58.6 million extension</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-30T17:52:40-07:00">August 30th, 5:52pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-30T18:13:46-07:00">August 30th, 6:13pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his ninth season as the LA Clippers beat writer and NBA reporter 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 as well as coast-to-coast coverage of the NBA.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-kawhi-leonard-la-officially-release-schedule-2024-25-nba-season">the NBA regular season</a> nears, the Los Angeles Clippers made another move <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-predicting-kawhi-leonard-la-look-like-2024-25-regular-season-nears" rel="noopener">towards finalizing their core</a>. On Friday, Ivica Zubac and the Clippers agreed on a contract extension that would keep Zubac in L.A.</p><h2><b>Ivica Zubac, Clippers agree to extension</b></h2><p>According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Ivica Zubac and the LA Clippers have agreed on a <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1829657538603991192" rel="noopener">three-year contract extension</a> worth $58.6 million.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Los Angeles Clippers C Ivica Zubac has agreed on a three-year, $58.6 million contract extension, Mike Lindeman and Jeff Schwartz of <a href="https://twitter.com/excelbasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@excelbasketball</a> tell ESPN. Zubac gets max available for his three seasons and now is guaranteed four years and $70M. <a href="https://t.co/F7cSfEEqku">pic.twitter.com/F7cSfEEqku</a></p><p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1829657538603991192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Zubac had one year and $11.7 million remaining on his deal with the team. His new deal will pay him an annual average of $19.5 million per season. The three-year extension gives him a total of four years and $70 million on his deal.</p><p>Wojnarowski adds that <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41059737/clippers-ivica-zubac-reach-3-year-586m-extension-agents-say">the deal Zubac and the Clippers agreed</a> to, “is the maximum deal available to him for three seasons under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.”</p><p>Clippers’ President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank said earlier this offseason that the team was hoping to reach an extension agreement with Ivica Zubac when the time was right.</p><p>“Zu had a career year,” Frank said in May 2024. “I think James [Harden] had a lot to do with unlocking it. Zu I think led the league in shooting percentage between six and eight feet, he developed a floater with either hand. I think he was second in points produced out of post-ups behind [Kristaps Porzingis]. He’s 27, he continues to work. He loves to play every single night and hates when he got injured, it just kills him not to play in a game. He’s our longest tenured Clipper. An extension makes sense, we love Zu and love to keep Zu here.”</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Ivica-Zubac-dunks-the-basketball-in-the-LA-Clippers-playoff-game-against-the-Dallas-Mavericks.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Ivica Zubac has improved year over year and is now a dependable source of offense and defense for the Clippers. He’s improved his scoring every year for the last four seasons and averaged a career-high 11.7 points per game to go along with 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game in 2023-24. In his eighth season in the league, the 26-year old Ivica Zubac played 68 games and played 26.4 minutes per game.</p><p>During the playoffs, Zubac averaged 16.2 points and 9.3 rebounds on 60 percent shooting. He was arguably the Clippers best player in their first round series against the Dallas Mavericks, which was a loss in six games.</p><h2><b>Terance Mann next up?</b></h2><p>For the Clippers, the last remaining piece they need to finalize is Terance Mann and his contract extension.</p><p>Back in May, Lawrence Frank also said the Clippers had interest in extending Mann, who has spent his first five years with the Clippers and turned into a legitimate starting-caliber player.</p><p>“Terance is very much a fabric of the team,” Frank added. “He got off to a slow start to do the season which we gotta do some hypnotism or something with him, but he always gets off to a great close and great finish. So after struggling shooting the ball – and a lot of it, Terance was dealing with a high ankle sprain early in the year. So again, he’s a no excuse guy. So I think it impacted his shooting.</p><p>“But then, post-All-Star Break, basically once January 1 hit, he shot at a very high level. Really proud of how he competed against one of the game’s great players in Luka Dončić and I thought defensively, he tried to make things as hard as possible for an MVP candidate. And you love the fact that Terance is a competitor, and so very much, Terance is part of the fabric of the group.”</p><p>This offseason, the Clippers completely revamped their roster. They lost Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Mason Plumlee, Daniel Theis, and Brandon Boston in free agency. Meanwhile, the team added Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, Kris Dunn, Mo Bamba, Kevin Porter Jr., and Cam Christie.</p><p>The LA Clippers have about a month before training camp begins on October 1st. Their regular season is set to tip off on October 23rd against the Phoenix Suns. That game will also be the first time the Intuit Dome opens its doors for a regular season basketball game — and the third once you factor in the two preseason games the Clippers are planning to play in Inglewood.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ivica Zubac, Clippers agree to 3-year, $58.6 million extension

<!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', '/ivica-zubac-dario-saric-involved-in-brawl-after-olympic-qualifying-loss-to-greece');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ivica Zubac, Dario Saric involved in brawl after Olympic Qualifying loss to Greece');   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/2024/07/%F0%9F%9A%A8%F0%9F%9A%A8%F0%9F%9A%A8-Ivica-Zubac-Dario-Saric-involved-in-brawl-after-Olympic-Qualifying-loss-to-Greece.jpg"></figure><h1>Ivica Zubac, Dario Saric involved in brawl after Olympic Qualifying loss to Greece</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-08T13:18:44-07:00">July 8th, 1:18pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-08T15:51:15-07:00">July 8th, 3:51pm</time><address><a>Christopher Smith</a>Christopher Smith is an associate editor covering a variety of sports with a beat focus on the Chicago Sky for ClutchPoints. The Aurora, Illinois native earned a degree in philosophy from Creighton University, where he also competed as a Division 1 Cross Country runner.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Team Croatia has faced an uphill battle before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/duke-basketball-news-star-cooper-flaggs-humbled-take-amid-team-usa-select-appearance">the 2024 Olympics</a>. Veteran NBA players and Croatia national basketball team members Ivica Zubac and Dario Saric played against Greece in a qualifying game on Sunday. Croatia lost, but an incident after the game is making headlines.</p><p>Ivica Zubac and Dario Saric were reportedly involved in <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2024/07/08/nba-players-ivica-zubac-dario-saric-nightclub-brawl-fight-greece-croatia-basketballl-team/" rel="noopener">an intense physical altercation</a> at a nightclub near Athens early Monday morning, per TMZ Sports. A video shows Zubac in a scrap with someone as several other men rush up to him to break up the fight.</p><p>Meanwhile, Saric ran into the crowd to try to help Zubac. But he ended up on the receiving end of a chokehold by another unidentified man.</p><p>Eventually, security members gained control of the altercation and got both players out of the area. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.</p><p>Zubac and Saric came off an 80-69 qualifying tournament loss to the Greece national basketball team, which ended Team Croatia’s hopes of making the 2024 Olympics. Zubac scored 19 points in the matchup, while Saric contributed 14.</p><p>Both frontcourt players are coming off impressive stints with their NBA teams. Ivica Zubac helped the Los Angeles Clippers go 51-31 during the 2023-24 season, which placed them fourth in the Eastern Conference standings.</p><p>The 7-foot center averaged a career-high 11.7 points, along with 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clipper-news-ivica-zubac-reacts-to-paul-george-leaving-for-sixers">Zubac’s teammate since 2019</a>, Paul George, left the Clippers during the NBA Free Agency period. Zubac looks to carry more of a load in 2024-25.</p><p>On the other hand, Dario Saric is coming off a one-year stint with the Golden State Warriors with averages of 8.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, and a 37.6 percent 3-point shooting clip. Saric is fresh off signing a two-year free agency deal with the Denver Nuggets.</p><h2><b>Ivica Zubac, Dario Saric prepare for 2024-25 season</b></h2><p>Zubac and Saric’s Team Croatia squad may be eliminated from the Olympics. Yet, their loss is a blessing in disguise. Both players can focus on preparing for the 2024-25 season with their respective teams. </p><p>As mentioned, Zubac’s Clippers are trying to fill the void in Paul George’s absence. The star forward left Los Angeles to join Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Zubac gave George great respect amid his teammates’ summer departure.</p><p>“That’s a great friend,” Zubac told George Efkarpides of Amerikanos24 in early July. “We played together for five seasons. It’s definitely tough seeing him leave. He was a big piece. It’s gonna be hard to replicate for us.</p><p>“He did so much, but there’s a business side [to basketball]. Unfortunately, that was the best decision for him. We’re gonna miss him a lot, but we signed some new guys. We got to work with what we have already, and I’m sure we’re gonna have a great season.”</p><p>The Clippers are losing a big piece but still look to remain competitive with the talent they retain.</p><p>On the other side of the Western Conference, Dario Saric joins a highly touted Nuggets team. Saric will play with three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and try to help Denver win their second franchise championship.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ivica Zubac, Dario Saric involved in brawl after Olympic Qualifying loss to Greece

<!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', '/clipper-news-ivica-zubac-reacts-to-paul-george-leaving-for-sixers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ivica Zubac reacts to Paul George leaving Clippers for 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/2024/07/IMG_3185.jpeg"></figure><h1>Ivica Zubac reacts to Paul George leaving Clippers for Sixers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-02T14:27:59-07:00">July 2nd, 2:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-02T14:38:11-07:00">July 2nd, 2:38pm</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.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Ivica Zubac and the Los Angeles Clippers are facing an uphill battle towards championship contention after the departure of star Paul George in free agency.</p><p>George has notified the Clippers that he intends to leave them in free agency and plans to sign a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers when players are allowed to sign contracts in a few days.</p><p>Ivica Zubac, who played for the Croatian National Team in an international friendly against Luka Doncic and Slovenia.</p><p>Croatia defeated Slovenia, 108-92, with Zubac recording 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Dario Saric added 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the win.</p><p>In the loss, Luka Doncic finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists on just 8-of-23 shooting from the field.</p><p>After the international win, Ivica Zubac took time to speak with George Efkarpides of Amerikanos24 about his good friend and former teammate in Paul George.</p><p>“That’s a great friend,” <a href="https://twitter.com/tomerazarly/status/1808253446459646068" rel="noopener">Zubac said postgame</a>. We played together for 5 seasons. It’s definitely tough seeing him leave. He was a big piece. It’s gonna be hard to replicate for us, he did so much, but there’s a business side [to basketball]. Unfortunately, that was the best decision for him, we’re gonna miss him a lot, but we signed some new guys. We got to work with what we have already and I’m sure we’re gonna have a great season.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ivica Zubac on Paul George leaving for the Sixers:</p><p>“That’s a great friend. We played together for 5 seasons. It’s definitely tough seeing him leave. He was a big piece. It’s gonna be hard to replicate for us, he did so much, but there’s a business side [to basketball].… <a href="https://t.co/8wTZOKou73">pic.twitter.com/8wTZOKou73</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1808253446459646068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>George would not able to make his decision and signing official until July 6th, but he already told the Clippers he will not be returning to the organization.</p><p>Early Friday night, the <a href="https://twitter.com/tomerazarly/status/1807572229926125602" rel="noopener">Clippers put out a statement</a> regarding Paul George and the meeting the two sides had.</p><p>“Paul has informed us that he is signing his next contract with another team,” the Clippers said. “Paul is a tremendous talent and an elite two-way player. We feel fortunate for the five years we spent with him. Over that span, he went to three All Star Games, made the most 3-pointers in franchise history and helped lead the team to a place it had never been. His performances in Games 5 and 6 against Utah in 2021 won’t be forgotten by anyone associated with the Clippers.</p><p>“We traded a lot to pair Paul and Kawhi, and in exchange, we had five seasons of contention. Even though we fell short of our ultimate objective, we appreciate the chances we had with Paul.</p><p>“Heading into this offseason, our roster was constructed three great players 33 and over, two of whom could become free agents. We wanted to retain them on contracts that would allow us, under the constraints of the new CBA, to continue building the team.</p><p>“We negotiated for months with Paul and his representative on a contract that would make sense for both sides, and we were left far apart. The gap was significant. We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract. We explored an opt-in and trade scenario, but it would have left us in a similar position under the new CBA, with very little asset value to justify the restrictions.  </p><p>“We will miss Paul. At the same time, we’re excited by the opportunities we’ve now been afforded, including greater flexibility under the new CBA. Kawhi is an all-NBA player and we believe T Lue is the best coach in the league. We will field a highly competitive team this season, and moving forward, use our organizational advantages to bring top talent to Intuit Dome.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The LA Clippers have released a statement on Paul George and his departure from Los Angeles:</p><p>"Paul has informed us that he is signing his next contract with another team. Paul is a tremendous talent and an elite two-way player. We feel fortunate for the five years we spent with… <a href="https://t.co/mcoK2Wlup1">pic.twitter.com/mcoK2Wlup1</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1807572229926125602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>George spent five seasons with the Clippers averaging 23.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists,  and 1.5 steals per game on 45.5 percent shooting from the field, 39.7 percent from three, and 87.9 percent from the free throw line.</p><p>While the Clippers may have lost George this summer, they’ve agreed to free agent deals with Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, Kris Dunn, and Mo Bamba.</p><p>They’re also <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-after-nba-draft-focus-shifts-paul-george-james-harden-russell-westbrook">expected to part ways</a> with guard Russell Westbrook and forward PJ Tucker, both of whom picked up their player options for the 2024-25 seasons.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ivica Zubac reacts to Paul George leaving Clippers for 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', '/clippers-news-ivica-zubac-crucial-injury-update-ahead-heat-contest');   ga('set', 'title', 'Clippers’ Ivica Zubac gets crucial injury update ahead of Heat contest');   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__Ivica_Zubac_gets_crucial_injury_update_ahead_of_Heat_contest.webp"></figure><h1>Clippers’ Ivica Zubac gets crucial injury update ahead of Heat contest</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-04T07:34:58-08:00">February 4th, 7:34am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-04T07:34:58-08:00">February 4th, 7:34am</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 Los Angeles Clippers have been rolling this season despite the injuries they’ve had to deal with, but they could very well be getting some much-needed frontcourt help in the form of Ivica Zubac.</p><p>Zubac, who has been out since January 12th with a right calf strain, has been <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1753907123694801205" rel="noopener">upgraded to ‘Questionable’</a> ahead of the Clippers upcoming contest against the Miami Heat on Sunday.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ivica Zubac (calf) has been upgraded to QUESTIONABLE for tomorrow's game against the Heat.</p><p>Paul George is not listed on the Clippers injury report.</p><p>Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and everyone else is good to go.</p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1753907123694801205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Clippers big man has missed the last nine games as he recovered from the effects of a right calf strain suffered sometime in early January. According to Zubac, who spoke exclusively with ClutchPoints following the calf strain he sustained, the injury popped up after the Clippers’ road win against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 12th.</p><p>“I felt some pain after the Memphis Grizzlies game [on Friday night], but it was not a lot,” <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-ivica-zubac-details-calf-injury-as-he-navigates-first-career-extended-absence" rel="noopener">Ivica Zubac told ClutchPoints</a> in an exclusive interview. “And then the next day I didn’t feel anything. So, you know, nothing was out of character, nothing was different.</p><p>“I was just trying to get ready for the [Wolves] game and when I got out on the court for the pregame warmups, that’s when I felt it. I started moving a little bit, I started feeling a sharp pain. I tried to [warm up]. Then we came out for the layup lines, and the medical staff came out with me to put me through some different motions and stuff to see if I can go and, you know, I tried it, but it didn’t work. So that was a late scratch for the game and I thought I was good, you know, it’s nothing major, but we did an MRI and here we are.”</p><p>It was announced on January 16th that Zubac would be re-evaluated in four weeks. This upcoming Tuesday marks three weeks since the team released that update on the big man, who joined the team on their road trip on Wednesday when the Clippers took on the Washington Wizards.</p><p>Zubac being able to travel was a great sight, but being able to return over a week ahead of schedule would really change the dynamic of the Clippers once again, especially defensively.</p><p>Daniel Theis started the first game where Zubac was out as an extremely late scratch, but Mason Plumlee has started eight straight games for the Clippers. If he’s able to return against the Heat, which is the front-end of a back-to-back set that includes the Atlanta Hawks, he will have missed a total of nine games due to this injury.</p><p>In eight games as a starter, Mason Plumlee has averaged 7.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game on 63.2 percent shooting. Plumlee has filled in admirably for Zubac, as has Theis.</p><p>Zubac has dealt with calf injuries throughout his career, but he’s never needed to miss more than six games in a season since joining the Clippers. Since his arrival during the 2018-19 season, the Clippers have a 222-138 record in the 360 games that Zubac has played in, which is good for a 61.8 winning percentage. Over 82 games, that would amount to a 50-win season.</p><p>When it was first announced that the Clippers would be without their “Iron Man” for a couple weeks, Tyronn Lue said it would be an adjustment.</p><p>“It’s different because you’re always used to big Zu being on the floor,” Tyronn Lue explained. “He has always been reliable and has always been an Iron Man, like you said, always available and so to miss this much time, an extended period of time, it’s going to be hard on us, but more so it’s hard on him. He wants to be out there and so I just feel bad for Zu.”</p><p>In 38 appearances this year, Ivica Zubac is averaging 12.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game on 65.5 percent shooting from the field.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Clippers’ Ivica Zubac gets crucial injury update ahead of Heat contest

<!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-ivica-zubac-details-calf-injury-as-he-navigates-first-career-extended-absence');   ga('set', 'title', 'Exclusive: Ivica Zubac details calf injury as he navigates first career extended absence');   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/Ivica-Zubac-Los-Angeles-Clippers.webp"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>Exclusive: Ivica Zubac details calf injury as he navigates first career extended absence</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-01-18T09:53:27-08:00">January 18th, 9:53am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-01-18T10:09:32-08:00">January 18th, 10:09am</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>LOS ANGELES, CA – Across six seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Ivica Zubac has missed just 12 games due to injury. The Croatian big man, who came into the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves having played 360 out of possible 372 games, is now facing an extended absence from basketball for the first time in his NBA career due to what the team is calling a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-iron-man-ivica-zubac-gets-worrisome-injury-update" rel="noopener">right calf strain</a>.</p><p>Zubac appeared in all 38 games to start the season for the Clippers and was their defensive anchor as they put together a dominant 23-7 stretch dating back to November 17, 2023. He entered Sunday’s road matchup in Minnesota with a chance to inch the Clippers closer to the top spot in the Western Conference, but quickly noticed something wasn’t right as he began his usual warm up routine.</p><p>“I felt some pain after the Memphis Grizzlies game [on Friday night], but it was not a lot,” Ivica Zubac told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “And then the next day I didn’t feel anything. So, you know, nothing was out of character, nothing was different.</p><p>“I was just trying to get ready for the [Wolves] game and when I got out on the court for the pregame warmups, that’s when I felt it. I started moving a little bit, I started feeling a sharp pain. I tried to [warm up]. Then we came out for the layup lines, and the medical staff came out with me to put me through some different motions and stuff to see if I can go and, you know, I tried it, but it didn’t work. So that was a late scratch for the game and I thought I was good, you know, it’s nothing major, but we did an MRI and here we are.”</p><p>The official announcement from the team is that Zubac will be re-evaluated in four weeks after suffering a right calf strain. The four-week mark would be just before the 2024 NBA All-Star break. Given the seriousness of a calf strain and the injuries it can lead to if not treated accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Zubac have to miss even more time to make sure he’s 100 percent past the injury.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Ivica-Zubac-Kawhi-leonard-Daniel-Theis-Mason-Plumlee-Los-Angeles-Clippers.webp"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><p>Zubac played 22 minutes against the Grizzlies on Friday, finishing with six points, 11 rebounds, and two blocked shots. It was one of the lower scoring games of the season for the center averaging a career-high 12.4 points per game this season to go along with 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks on 65.5 percent shooting</p><p>“I mean, I didn’t feel when it happened, that was a crazy part,” Zubac continued to ClutchPoints. “I just felt pain after the game, so I don’t know when it happened, what play, how it happened, nothing. I just felt a little soreness after the game, but I thought I just got hit in it, so I didn’t really mind it, you know, and it’s not a lot of soreness, so that’s all it is.”</p><p>Ivica Zubac has dealt with calf injuries throughout his career, whether his teams label them as soreness or strains. He missed time with a right calf strain in <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1630380444264042496" rel="noopener">February 2023</a> as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1490477523704205314" rel="noopener">February 2022</a>. He’s never had to miss more than six games in a season since joining the Clippers.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ivica Zubac missed the last 2 games with a right calf strain, but appears to be heading in the right direction with the upgrade for tomorrow's game. <a href="https://t.co/GSqnKR9z2G">https://t.co/GSqnKR9z2G</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1630380444264042496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ivica Zubac is out here warming up. He’s questionable with a sore calf. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Clippers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Clippers</a> <a href="https://t.co/yNV0l5xxKF">pic.twitter.com/yNV0l5xxKF</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1490477523704205314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Clippers have accumulated a 222-138 record in 360 games that Zubac plays in, good for a .618 winning percentage. Over 82 games, that would amount to a 50-win season.</p><p>So how does Zubac approach this unfamiliar territory of missing significant time midseason and appropriately rehabbing an injury without being too eager to return?</p><p>“I mean… I don’t know. I’ve never missed this much time in the league, so we’ll see. I’ll take it day by day, do everything I can, whatever is is my possibility, you know, whatever I can do to get back as soon as possible, get stronger, gonna lift a lot, gonna get some rest too, and you know, do everything I can to get back as soon as possible.”</p><p>The Clippers won their first game since Ivica Zubac’s diagnosis was officially released on Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In total, Zubac will miss 14 games before he’s re-evaluated just before the All-Star break. Even if he makes good progress, he’s unlikely to be cleared to play anytime before the break given the gravity of the injury.</p><p>Being out for an extended period is going to be a major adjustment for Tyronn Lue and the Clippers, who will have to heavily rely on Mason Plumlee and Daniel Theis to make up for Zubac’s absence.</p><p>“It’s different because you’re always used to big Zu being on the floor,” Tyronn Lue said on what it’ll be like to play without Zubac for a long stretch of time. “He has always been reliable and has always been an Iron Man, like you said, always available and so to miss this much time, an extended period of time, it’s going to be hard on us, but moreso it’s hard on him. He wants to be out there and so I just feel bad for Zu.”</p><p>Patience and a positive mindset is going to be crucial for Zubac in his recovery. He takes solace in the fact that the Clippers are playing well and expects them to continue their winning ways while he’s trying to get back on the court.</p><p>“Just knowing the team’s doing well. We’re playing well and they’re gonna hold it down for me. But I also look at it this way: it’s better that this happened now than after the All-Star break, right before the playoffs, or in the playoffs, so this is better than that. Unfortunately, it happened, but it could’ve been worse, so I’ll take it.”</p><p>The Clippers, 26-14, are in the midst of a four-day break from play, and they’ll resume their season on Sunday afternoon when they host the Brooklyn Nets.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Exclusive: Ivica Zubac details calf injury as he navigates first career extended absence

<!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-iron-man-ivica-zubac-gets-worrisome-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Clippers ‘Iron Man’ Ivica Zubac gets worrisome injury update');   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/Ivica-Zubac-Kawhi-leonard-Daniel-Theis-Mason-Plumlee-Los-Angeles-Clippers.webp"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>Clippers ‘Iron Man’ Ivica Zubac gets worrisome injury update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-01-16T17:09:11-08:00">January 16th, 5:09pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-01-16T17:23:47-08:00">January 16th, 5:23pm</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">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES, CA – Ivica Zubac has been an iron man throughout his NBA career, but the Los Angeles Clippers center is going to miss some significant time for the first time in his career.</p><p>On Tuesday, the LA Clippers announced Ivica Zubac would miss at least the next four weeks with a right calf strain. It’s unclear when the injury was suffered, but Zubac’s last game was the Clippers’ road win over the Memphis Grizzlies on January 12th. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ivica Zubac will be OUT for the next 4 weeks with a right calf strain. He’ll be re-evaluated and his status determined from there.</p><p>Huge blow for the Clippers, who have a 222-138 record (.617) all time when their defensive anchor play.</p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1747425350618149292?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Ivica Zubac had appeared in all 38 games for the Clippers until Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was initially listed as questionable for that game with right calf tightness and was cleared to play, but ended up being a last minute scratch. His name was even announced by the Wolves PA announcer during the starting lineup introductions, but Daniel Theis ultimately started the game.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">So Daniel Theis started in place of Ivica Zubac, who was listed as questionable but then listed as a starter. <a href="https://t.co/XRZjGLHFwq">https://t.co/XRZjGLHFwq</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1746687408845029646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>In his eighth NBA season, Ivica Zubac had been averaging 12.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks on 65.5 percent shooting from the field. The points, blocks, and field-goal percentage were all career highs for the Croatian big man.</p><p>Zubac had been relatively healthy throughout his career, and hadn’t missed more than six games in a season due to injury prior to this right calf strain.</p><p>Four weeks from Sunday’s road game against the Timberwolves, when he was initially ruled out, would be February 11th. The team has two games after that before the All-Star break, so there’s a very real chance the Clippers don’t see their starting center in action until the All-Star break.</p><p>Ivica Zubac has played in 360 out of a possible 372 games since joining the Clippers in February 2019. The Clippers have a 222-138 record in the 360 games Zubac has played for a .617 winning percentage.</p><p>The good news for the Clippers is that Mason Plumlee, who recently returned from a sprained left MCL sprain, is fully cleared and has been putting extra work into his conditioning work before and after games, as well as during shootarounds.</p><p>With Ivica Zubac expected to miss at least a month, Mason Plumlee is expected to start in his place.</p><p>Daniel Theis has found a good role for himself as the Clippers’ backup big man, so it’ll be interesting to see if Mason Plumlee takes over as the starting center to keep everyone in their similar roles.</p><p>More to come…</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Clippers ‘Iron Man’ Ivica Zubac gets worrisome injury update

<!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-ivica-zubac-trade-block-james-harden/');   ga('set', 'title', 'RUMOR: Clippers put Ivica Zubac on trade block amid James Harden buzz');   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/nba-rumors-clippers-making-ivica-zubac-available-in-trade-talks-ahead-of-free-agency.jpg"></figure><h1>RUMOR: Clippers put Ivica Zubac on trade block amid James Harden buzz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-06-30T11:29:38-07:00">June 30th, 11:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-06-30T11:29:38-07:00">June 30th, 11:29am</time><address><a>Dan Fappiano</a>Dan Fappiano is a Connecticut based sports journalist and a graduate of both Tunxis Community College and Central Connecticut State University. Dan has spent time covering high school and professional sports in both the print and online medium. He hopes to see his beloved Chicago Bears win a Super Bowl someday.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Coming off of another postseason collapse, the Los Angeles Clippers are looking to make some changes this offseason. One of them could be a major trade for James Harden. But with or without Harden, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-kawhi-leonard-paul-georges-feelings-clippers-james-harden/" rel="noopener">Clippers are considering</a> trading a current member of the team’s core.</p><p>Los Angeles has made Ivica Zubac <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/2023-nba-free-agency-should-we-be-preparing-for-james-harden-to-end-up-with-the-clippers-171832820.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmVsbG8uY29tLw&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIf8Vn8HKo9F9azEKJc-QyjUNpnqH391fvqIrx3nLOZaAPGameXlSFHbrO63OuZcjQfw2WLZWpUM0h9zoWBUTQCP7qqle6v1rEMbtuamZAiD1PFoLHqfMiCf0LFCrCKYQwZmPX1WZBmO76Wvd_3FC6YzfinmkApAEqjekwLvMqUG" rel="noopener">available in trade conversations</a>, via Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer. If traded, the Clippers would look to retain Mason Plumlee to fill Zubac’s role.</p><p>While Harden opted in to his contract, he did so to pursue a trade away from the Philadelphia 76ers. Immediately after his decision was announced, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-russell-westbrook-james-harden-trade-clippers/" rel="noopener">Clippers were named</a> as a potential landing spot. A big three of Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George would strike fear amongst NBA opponents. However, Harden costs a lot of money and Los Angeles would need to cut corners in certain areas of their roster.</p><p>Ivica Zubac has been a crucial part of the Clippers’ success since joining the team in the 2018-2019 season. Over his five seasons with Los Angeles, Zubac has averaged 9.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and one block per game.</p><p>However, while Zubac might be great at defending the paint, the Clippers have hit a brick wall as an organization. Los Angeles has made the playoffs four of the last five years. Still, they’ve reached the Western Conference Finals just once. There, they lost in six games to the Phoenix Suns.</p><p>The Clippers might look to completely revamp their roster as they look to add more firepower for a deeper playoff run. In that situation, Zubac could see himself get traded for James Harden or another immediate difference maker.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

RUMOR: Clippers put Ivica Zubac on trade block amid James Harden buzz

<!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-torrey-craig-hilariously-shades-ivica-zubacs-defense-ahead-of-game-2-vs-clippers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Torrey Craig hilariously shades Ivica Zubac’s defense ahead of Game 2 vs 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/2022/02/Suns-Devin-Booker-Chris-Paul-Torrey-Craig.jpeg"></figure><h1>Torrey Craig hilariously shades Ivica Zubac’s defense ahead of Game 2 vs Clippers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-04-17T19:21:37-07:00">April 17th, 7:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-04-17T19:23:20-07:00">April 17th, 7:23pm</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>A Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, Rex claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Phoenix Suns lost Game 1 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers at home, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-kevin-durant-reveals-key-difference-in-evenly-played-game-vs-clippers" rel="noopener">115-110</a>, but there are still some positive takeaways for them from that contest. Take for example the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-x-factor-2023-nba-playoffs-vs-clippers-its-not-deandre-ayton" rel="noopener">performance of Torrey Craig</a>, who dropped a surprise package on Los Angeles’ defense, scoring a playoff career-high of 22 points on an efficient 9-for-12 shooting from the field in 27 minutes.</p><p>When asked whether he knew that he was going to have a great offensive night in Game 1, Torrey Craig hilariously shaded Clippers center Ivica Zubac’s defense.</p><p>“I mean, if Zubac was gonna be guarding me, yeah,” Torrey Craigh said to a gaggle of reporters ahead of Game 2 of the Clipper-Suns series this coming Tuesday night.</p><p>The Clippers entered the series with much of their defensive focus unsurprisingly on how to slow down the likes of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and Chris Paul, but Torrey Craig made a case why he’s someone’s deserving of such attention as well.</p><p>“I mean, we know CP, we know Booker, we know KD, what they can do,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue <a href="https://arizonasports.com/story/3520310/torrey-craig-in-middle-of-a-clippers-suns-chess-match/" rel="noopener">said</a> after Game 1, per Kevin Zimmerman of Arizona Sports. “And Craig’s been playing great. I mean, not to take away from him, but you know, we want him taking more shots.</p><p>In any case, Torrey Craig is carrying more confidence in his offense going into Game 2 than he had entering Game 1. At the same time, he knows his role on the team, with still Durant and Booker as the primary options for a Suns team that can’t afford to lose Game 2 and head to Los Angeles down 2-0 in the series.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Torrey Craig hilariously shades Ivica Zubac’s defense ahead of Game 2 vs 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', '/clippers-news-truth-behind-russell-westbrook-revealed-ivica-zubac-win-lakers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Truth behind Russell Westbrook revealed by Ivica Zubac after Clippers’ win vs. Lakers');   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-Ivica-Zubac-reveals-truth-behind-playing-with-Russell-Westbrook-after-win-over-Lakers.jpg"></figure><h1>Truth behind Russell Westbrook revealed by Ivica Zubac after Clippers’ win vs. Lakers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-04-06T06:56:29-07:00">April 6th, 6:56am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-04-06T07:00:18-07:00">April 6th, 7:00am</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">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-russell-westbrook-taunted-lebron-james-all-night-clippers-win" rel="noopener">Los Angeles Clippers came up</a> with arguably their biggest win of the season by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. Ivica Zubac and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-anthony-davis-shares-russell-westbrook-plan-that-backfired-in-loss-to-clippers" rel="noopener">Russell Westbrook played big roles</a> as Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell led the way past LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ club.</p><p>The Clippers defeated the Lakers 125-118 in what was a double-digit lead for most of the night. Norman Powell finished with a team-high 27 points off the Clippers’ bench, while Kawhi Leonard scored 25. Ivica Zubac chipped in 17 points and 13 rebounds, marking his 26th double-double of the season, while Russell Westbrook added 14 points and four assists.</p><p>Westbrook didn’t play in the entire fourth quarter and played just 21 minutes total on the night. The Clippers didn’t need him to play much more, as Powell, Bones Hyland, and Terance Mann all had it going off the bench. Hyland came alive in the fourth quarter to help secure the win.</p><p>Despite what some will tell you, there was significance to the game. Aside from both teams being tied at 41-38 with a golden opportunity to escape the play-in tournament, the game was also Russell Westbrook’s first time playing against his former team since they traded him away at the deadline.</p><p>Westbrook took a few days off after the trade and ultimately decided to join the Clippers in a move that no one was sure how it would pan out.</p><p>“Honestly, I didn’t know,” <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-what-lakers-clippers-showdown-means-for-wild-west-playoff-picture" rel="noopener">Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said</a> of how he initially thought Westbrook would fit when he first joined. “I just know I love his approach and how he plays every night. The passion which he plays with every night as far as just playing hard defensively, attacking the basket, and pushing the ball in transition allows to get easy baskets. And so that’s one thing that I was looking forward to. I didn’t know he would be this good, this quick. I mean, he’s only played, I don’t know, 12, 14, 15 games or whatever, but he’s been good for us all around the board and from practice to games to helping with our young guys, mentoring T-Mann and Bones and those guys. So he has been terrific.”</p><p>There was a lot of negativity surrounding his exit from the Lakers, most of which was due to the bad fit. One reporter who covered the team claimed Russell Westbrook’s departure from the Lakers <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-russell-westbrook-los-angeles-jazz-trade-source-says-vampire-is-removed" rel="noopener">was like removing a vampire</a> from a locker room.</p><p>That quote was heard around the league, and even made its way back to the Clippers’ locker room.</p><p>After Wednesday night’s game, Ivica Zubac came to Russell Westbrook’s defense, saying the Clippers <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1643873053112438784" rel="noopener">really wanted</a> to get the win for him.</p><p>“It’s not about individual stuff, but we knew what was said about him and everything,” Ivica Zubac said. “And when he came over here, it’s the complete opposite of who he is. He’s a great dude, a great leader, always happy, always positive. You know, helping everyone on the court helped me a lot. He leads us on and off the court. He’s a great dude. So we just wanted to prove everyone wrong. Prove all those rumors, all that stuff that was said about him wrong. It just makes it better that it came in the biggest game of the season.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ivica Zubac stood up for Russell Westbrook postgame:</p><p>“We knew what was said about him and when he came over here, it’s the complete opposite of who he is. He’s a great dude. Great leader. Always happy… We just wanted to prove everyone wrong.”<a href="https://t.co/9yyNQA8syC">pic.twitter.com/9yyNQA8syC</a></p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1643873053112438784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The key now will be to see how Westbrook’s game translates into the postseason and into a specific matchup. The regular season is completely different from the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see how he and Tyronn Lue find the best possible wars for him to contribute.</p><p>Russell Westbrook has played 19 games with the Clippers so far, averaging 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on 48.5 percent shooting from the field and 33.3.percent from 3-point range.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Truth behind Russell Westbrook revealed by Ivica Zubac after Clippers’ win vs. Lakers

<!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-brandon-ingram-delivers-strong-take-on-ex-lakers-teammate-ivica-zubac');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram speaks on ex-Lakers teammate, Clippers big man Ivica Zubac');   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/Ivica-Zubac-Brandon-Ingram-Los-Angeles-Clippers-New-Orleans-Pelicans-Los-Angeles-Lakers.jpeg"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram speaks on ex-Lakers teammate, Clippers big man Ivica Zubac</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-04-01T15:03:04-07:00">April 1st, 3:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-04-01T22:56:51-07:00">April 1st, 10:56pm</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>LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Clippers big man Ivica Zubac and New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram have come a long way from their years with the Los Angeles Lakers. Ingram has developed into an all-around All-Star for the Pelicans, while Zubac has turned into one of the best defensive big men who can score the ball if needed for the Clippers.</p><p>The two started their NBA careers together with the Lakers coming from very different backgrounds. Ingram was selected second overall by the Lakers in the 2016 NBA Draft while Zubac was selected 30 picks later with the 32nd overall pick.</p><p>The duo played two-and-a-half seasons together with the Lakers until the Magic Johnson-led front office traded Ivica Zubac to the Los Angeles Lakers for Mike Muscala. With LeBron James on their side, the Lakers were concerned about having to pay Zubac in the offseason and opted to pursue a shooting big man.</p><p>The Lakers ended up missing the playoffs that season while Zubac helped the Clippers to the postseason. In the offseason, the Lakers traded Brandon Ingram in a package to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for superstar Anthony Davis, who had been holding out after months of rumors that he wanted a trade to Los Angeles.</p><p>Since the two went their separate ways, Brandon Ingram leads Ivica Zubac, 6-5, in the head-to-head battle, including a 2-0 record against him this season. In total, the Pelicans have won eight of the last nine games against the Clippers, including the play-in game ahead of the 2022 postseason.</p><p>Prior to the the last <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-odds-clippers-vs-pelicans-prediction-pick-how-to-watch-4-1-2023" rel="noopener">Clippers-Pelicans game</a>, Zubac and Ingram <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1639815193692897280" rel="noopener">reunited during pregame warm ups</a>, sharing an embrace and a laugh.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Former Lakers teammates Ivica Zubac and Brandon Ingram 🤝</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomerAzarly</a>) <a href="https://t.co/qx5Sx6Oj00">pic.twitter.com/qx5Sx6Oj00</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1639815193692897280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“I actually haven’t talked to him in a while,” Brandon Ingram said of Ivica Zubac. “But every time I see him I smile just because I know how hard he works and everything that we’ve gone through with the lakers. Being over there two-three years and just seeing him grow. I’ve seen the confidence that he has in his game, and what they do for him with the Clippers and I’m just happy for his success and everything he’s got.”</p><p>Asked to specify where Zubac has grown the most over the years, Ingram said it starts with his confidence.</p><p>“Confidence. His confidence. Him being able to guard the rim and rebound the basketball. He’s gotten stronger, but he was already strong. When he first came in the league, setting good screens and rolling. He’s a good, high IQ player.”</p><p>The Clippers and Pelicans will play for the final time this season on Saturday, April 1st. Los Angeles (41-37) will try to create further separation from the Pelicans (39-38) in the standings with a win.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram speaks on ex-Lakers teammate, Clippers big man Ivica Zubac

<!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-ivica-zubac-injury-update-ahead-of-sunday-vs-nuggets');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ivica Zubac injury update ahead of Sunday vs. Nuggets');   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/2023/02/Zubac.jpg"></figure><h1>Ivica Zubac injury update ahead of Sunday vs. Nuggets</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-02-25T18:52:43-08:00">February 25th, 6:52pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-02-25T21:28:46-08:00">February 25th, 9:28pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Clippers have <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-news-kawhi-leonard-stat-vs-kings-silver-lining-la-fans" rel="noopener">just started to get healthy</a> again after dealing with a myriad of injuries and load management absences in the first half of the season. The Clippers were dealt a major blow when starting center Ivica Zubac tweaked his calf during the team’s last game before the All-Star break against the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers got the win that game but Zubac apparently has some discomfort in his calf. He missed the Clippers game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday. He will <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1629639068215820289?s=20" rel="noopener">officially miss</a> his second straight game on Sunday, this time against the Denver Nuggets, with the same calf injury as per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ivica Zubac is OUT again tomorrow for the Clippers with the right calf strain.</p><p>Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook are unlisted and expected to play vs. the Nuggets.</p><p>— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1629639068215820289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The former No. 32 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Ivica Zubac has developed into one of the top centers in the NBA and very important piece for the Clippers. Sunday’s game will be only the fourth game Zubac has missed all season. He’s suited up in 59 games this season and prior to the All-Star game he had been averaging 10.2 points per game, a career-high 10.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 blocked shots with shooting splits of 61.7 percent shooting from the field and 69.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>Without Zubac, the Clippers will likely continue starting Mason Plumlee for however long Zubac is out. Plumlee has been one of the Clippers best trade deadline additions. The Clippers will likely use Nicolas Batum as a small-ball center. The Clippers are currently in fifth place in the Western Conference standings at 33-29 <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-kawhi-leonard-clippers-kings-make-all-sorts-of-history-in-insane-176-175-battle" rel="noopener">following their loss</a> to the Sacramento Kings.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ivica Zubac injury update ahead of Sunday vs. Nuggets

<!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', '/jazz-news-nba-world-reacts-to-lauri-markkanens-insane-facial-on-clippers-ivica-zubac');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA world reacts to Lauri Markkanen’s insane facial on Clippers’ Ivica Zubac');   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/2023/01/Lauri-Markkanen-Jazz-Ivica-Zubac.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA world reacts to Lauri Markkanen’s insane facial on Clippers’ Ivica Zubac</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-01-18T20:37:52-08:00">January 18th, 8:37pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-01-18T20:38:35-08:00">January 18th, 8:38pm</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>A Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, Rex claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Lauri Markkanen is the gift that keeps on giving for the Utah Jazz and that gift also turned into a nightmare for Los Angles Clippers center Ivica Zubac who got mercilessly posterized by the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/jazz-news-lauri-markkanen-final-injury-status-vs-clippers-confirmed" rel="noopener">Jazz star</a> in the third quarter of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-odds-clippers-vs-jazz-prediction-pick-how-to-watch-1-18-2023" rel="noopener">Wednsdaey night’s showdown</a> in Salt Lake City.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="fi">LAURI MARKKANEN POSTER ON IVICA ZUBAC 🔥<a href="https://t.co/Zk5dEBDmfp">pic.twitter.com/Zk5dEBDmfp</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1615914113322094592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Lauri Markkanen’s hops can be underrated because he’s more known for his ability to torch defenders from the perimeter as a seven-foot floor-stretching monster. But when given the chance, particularly an open lane, he’s someone who wouldn’t hesitate to attack it.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="qme"> <a href="https://t.co/7yEnbYKQfH">pic.twitter.com/7yEnbYKQfH</a></p><p>— King Remembered In Time 💜🌲🚀😁 (@219robware) <a href="https://twitter.com/219robware/status/1615916141578264578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="fi">GET MARKKANEN A POSTER 😱 <a href="https://t.co/Go6oKr3sHe">pic.twitter.com/Go6oKr3sHe</a></p><p>— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1615916160683474944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="fi">HOLY POSTER LAURI MARKKANEN 🤮</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBATV</a>) <a href="https://t.co/7M72YnDxHG">pic.twitter.com/7M72YnDxHG</a></p><p>— Overtime (@overtime) <a href="https://twitter.com/overtime/status/1615915625846644739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Such was the case during that play, with Jazz point guard Mike Conley excellently recognizing the big space between Lauri Markkanen and the rim. Zubac was just too far away from the basket as he was pulled away from the paint…by Walker Kessler. By the time Zubac knew that Markkanen had some evil plans, it was simply too late for him to make a stop. If anything, he was just perfectly on time for his Kodak moment.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="et">LAURI MARKKANEN MY GOODNESS <a href="https://t.co/HdpH7PYgBB">pic.twitter.com/HdpH7PYgBB</a></p><p>— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1615914923254599681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Lauri Markkanen, who was <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/utah-jazz/lauri-markkanen-23602/" rel="noopener">traded</a> by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Jazz last September, has become the leader of the Jazz on the floor, as he’s currently putting together an All-Star quality campaign in his first year with Utah. He entered the Clippers game with a season average of 24.6 pints on 52.0 percent shooting from the field. He is also shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc and over 86 percent from the free-throw line. He can score on all three levels and get up high to embarrass late defenders, just like Zubac on that play.</p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
15.2	12.6	2.5	1.0	0.7

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
15.2	12.6	2.5	1.0	0.7

Ivica Zubac news

Ivica
Zubac news