Official Game Thread: Hawks at Clippers

[lethalweapon3]

The reason Clipper ticketholders can’t make it to the games.

 

It’s a tale of two teams, one arena. You’re excused if you think we’ve slipped back into the bubble, but the few fans you’ll see in LA Clippers gear today aren’t cardboard cutouts. Keep an eye on them. Eventually, they blink, they move.

The Lakers (5-0 in 2023) remain the top draw in Tinseltown. But it wasn’t long ago that the Clippers (0-5 in this new calendar year) were the 90210 kids on the same block (62.0 winning percentage since 2011-12 began, 2^nd in NBA).

These days, Steve Ballmer’s club draws an average of 1,200 fewer ticket sales than his co-tenants. On its face, a 6.4 percent dip isn’t too shabby. The Lakers’ 18,500+ are in the upper half of the league, while the Clippers’ 17,300+ (90.8 percent of capacity, as per ESPN, 24^th in NBA) place a shade below the Atlanta Hawks’ per-game average in the lower tier.

But that’s just paid tickets. Would-be attendants want to know just who it is they’re attending to see, before going through the trouble of getting wanded down past the magnetometers. More than a few would like to have a sense at what the competitive nightly product, stars included, might look like before drawing up their future commute plans for Inglewood. Making matters worse, one dedicated attendee, who goes by the name of Darrell and cares little about the caliber of available players, was just recently banished to The Shadow Realm by a now-former arena security guard.

The Lakers may not be The Incredibles these days. But the Clippers are clearly The Intangibles. And few want to bust it over to the box office to watch that.

It shows up, unlike the fans, especially on the road. There is at least one really good reason why Laker road games are Standing Room Only (NBA-high 100.3 percent of capacity in away games, as per ESPN data). Whenever these Clippers depart from Pets.com Arena, it’s just Room Only (NBA-low 90.9). If you care to know how the larger NBA universe feels about you, peep the road attendance percentages.

Hey kids! We’ve got bottom-bowl tickets to the NBA game. We’re gonna sit near The Andersons as our favorite team takes on… LA! Oh no, not that LA. The ones led in minutes played by Ivica Zubac, Marcus Morris, and Reggie Jackson. Whaddya mean, you’d rather stay home and TikTok?

As of this morning, ahead of tonight’s game (9 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS SoCal in LAX), fans will be in for a treat as Kawhi Leonard (DNP’d in 24 of 41 games, incl. 2 of last 4 LAC home games and 11 home games to date) is available to play on behalf of coach Ty Lue’s Clippers. Or, at least, they could be.

Without the two-time Finals MVP or his co-headliner Paul George, LA fell 128-115 at Minnesota on Friday to lose its fifth-straight game. With them both (combined 3-for-16 FGs), but for just a sprinkling of minutes amidst a first-half blowout, the Clippers (21-20) got Pineapple Expressed by the Nuggets an eve earlier on TNT Thursday.

PG-13 may join today’s fray if he can recover from reported hammy soreness. Same for Luke Kennard (sore calf) and Nic Batum (sprained ankle), the pair similarly listed as questionable to play. But conference foes Doncic and Jokic are up next on the docket for the slip-sliding Clips’ five-game homestand, and fans can only rely only on a Ouija board to assess whether Leonard is an unsurprising late-scratch tonight.

With Clint Capela (strained calf) out again, Onyeka Okongwu will start once more for the Hawks in his SoCal stomping grounds. The burn marks gone from trying to contain the Euro-stepping LeBron James in vain on Friday, Gwu Tang and John Collins (19.6 PPG, 10.0 RPG in last six games) will be relatively relieved to draw the increasingly overwhelmed seven-footer Zubac (career-highs of 1.4 BPG and 29.3 MPG) under center.

Going viral over the weekend for getting hopelessly contained by a cheerleader troupe in Minnesota, Zubac (minus-24 @ DEN, minus-26 @ MIN) has averaged a paltry 8.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG in his past four starts. He and two-way big Moses Brown (team-low 7.6 MPG, but 22.9 MPG the past two games) are the sole Clippers standing above 6-foot-8 head-to-toe. Lue has enough sense not to waste the wingspans of his superstars at the 5-spot, while the 33-year-old Morris twin (44.0 3FG% in last 9 games; 9 3FGAs and 2 rebounds in last two games) is increasingly satisfied with parking along the perimeter.

Okongwu (62.6 FG%, 7^th in NBA; 3 steals @ LAL) and Collins can aid the Hawks’ cause by taking Zubac out for a Night at the Roxbury while securing rebounds at both ends. LA (109.7 O-Rating, 3^rd-worst in NBA) can be atrocious on offense when the 3-ball isn’t falling (4-10 when shooting 36.0 3FG% or worse, only one such win since Dec. 1) and Zubac (career-high 3.3 O-Rebs/game; 5+ fouls in 9 of 39 games) isn’t on the floor to produce extra chances.

Lue has done as well as he can, for as long as he can, with his rotation machinations, given the many star absences and the shallow frontcourt options, to keep his team afloat in the NBA West. Unfortunately for him, the long-range challenges will only worsen for LA (14-for-62 team 3FGs last two games) if the pregame Questionables can’t answer the bell.

Especially if one of the Clipper All-Stars is a no-go – sorry, John Wall (team-high 5.3 APG, despite just 3 starts; 8 assists, 1 TO @ MIN), not you – this is as basic an offense as the utterly basic Atlanta Hawks (30.6 3FG% in last 4 games, 29^th in NBA in that stretch) are bound to counter. The primary key to victory for Nate McMillan’s wayward crew (minus-1.5 Net Rating, 25^th in NBA and just behind LAC’s minus-1.2) is having his players committed to moving on the floor with greater purpose than the upright cutouts in the stands. You’ll get to see Terance’s Mannequins move, eventually, but only when it comes time to head for the exits.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Leave it to a Tech fan to forget to mention the real Big Game in LA.

 

GO DAWGS!

~lw3

[benhillboy]

The fact the Clippers have the second best regular season record since ‘11 with no Conference Finals appearances (?) is unbelievable, they’re one of the last teams I would’ve guessed.  Also thanks for the ESPN attendance page, never saw the percentage breakdowns.  The road ticket sales the Hawks produce are yet another illustration of how they excel at mediocrity.
 

I’d rather watch a chicken spin on a rotisserie than the Clippers play basketball and I always liked Zubac.  Peep their on/ off:

 

All 4 of their plus-impact rotational players are SFs.  I think we’ve found where Billy Knight been hiding.

Edited January 8, 2023 by benhillboy

[benhillboy]

At least all our players play through nicks and dings when possible.  Kawhi and Paul got two more years to pillage Balmer’s bank account while sitting flat on their asses.  All they have to do is take a glancing shot to some surgically repaired area and they have a doctor’s slip to sit out 5 games.  Only in America.

Edited January 8, 2023 by benhillboy

[Sothron]

No Capela again. They brought him out on a four game WC trip to not play him a single second while he's still hurt. It boggles the mind. Just so stupid on every level unless we are leaving him LA in a trade I guess.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

No Capela again. They brought him out on a four game WC trip to not play him a single second while he's still hurt. It boggles the mind. Just so stupid on every level unless we are leaving him LA in a trade I guess.

For who though? Zubac?

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Dnice]

Well Kennard can't shoot 60 % from  3 and torch them, then.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Spud2nique]

Thanks lw3! Gotta go back and read the preview… for now im shoving Chinese food for a friend’s birthday  

 

Oh, Lions lost thanks to the Seahawks and I took one on the chin in 2K as well. I’m on a roll! 
 

2K Clipps by 9. Everybody and their moms was in foul trouble. Zubac @JayBirdHawk’s dude beat me up late.

[NBASupes]

We look like a JV squad against the Clippers

[NBASupes]

6-0 run for the Hawks

Murray shook Kawhi viciously 

[NBASupes]

JC and Trae missing 3s they used to make last year is so frustrating 

[Guest]

Four offensive boards for Clippers already.  Capela may be missing but some of that is just plain ol' heart and hustle we lack.

[terrell]

Will any Hawk actually earn their salary tonight?

[benhillboy]

How many shots have rolled around the rim and out for John this season?!

[benhillboy]

Shit here come Powell

[TheNorthCydeRises]

LOL Murray.  Why did you do that? 

Gambling for a steal and Mann said . . . "aww damn, let me take it right to the basket."

[NBASupes]

Clippers size is killing us

[terrell]

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

Clippers size is killing us

At this point. Every minute we play OO at the 5 is a waste of time. We all know he can’t start at the 5. Either move him to the 4 or trade him.