YTread Logo
YTread Logo

Kawhi Sends Luka and the Mavs Home | The Bill Simmons Podcast

Mar 18, 2024
Alright, Ryan Rosillo is here, we just watched the clips from the Mavs game seven. Luka Doncic 46 points, uh, 29 in the first half, not sure what else he could have done. His team really wasn't good. More importantly though the clips are starting to look like a team that can make it to the finals. I was impressed the last two games, really, really, really impressed by Kawhi Leonard, who happens to be one of the 30 greatest players of all time, in case we forgot the 55 playoff games leading up to today. Know this, his last 55 from 2017 to today 55 playoff games 39 and four where his shooting average 51 39 from 3 89 free throws the two-way things all this starts for me rasillo game six that two-way game he played that ranked among the best two-way games we've seen, I think in the last 10 years, and then it carried over a bit to today, but Kuatami is the story, I think you could argue it's the best part left in the West.
kawhi sends luka and the mavs home the bill simmons podcast
It could be argued that the path runs through the Clippers even though they won't have

home

field advantage for at least this next series and possibly neither of the next two. What do you think? Yeah, I have no problem starting with Kawhi because he was a little bit. A little reminder that oh, this is why you do everything you can to go ahead and catch him, even though you're never sure where you stand with him, because when they're down 2-0 you're like, "Okay, wait." one moment". By the time they traded all these picks for Paul George so they could bring in Kauai, they already went through the first coach, had that disastrous game, and look, he was terrible in Game 7 last year when they lost to Denver, but I wasn't.
kawhi sends luka and the mavs home the bill simmons podcast

More Interesting Facts About,

kawhi sends luka and the mavs home the bill simmons podcast...

I didn't really criticize him that much because, you know, even though it was bad, he's built up enough capital, you know, I think that's where some people have a hard time or it's like, well, if you say this about this guy, but then you say it. about this guy and you say, well, it's usually because someone else has done something before and we're more likely to give them a pass compared to someone who hasn't done it before, but you're right, this was one of those reminders where He's had moments even in some of those games last year against Denver um where you know, I know he was changing where he was like oh maybe Giannis is the best player oh no, wait, Kawhi is the best player in the league and you're like, okay. , wait a minute, I feel like an idiot because now Lebron is the best player again, but he had a play built 91-83 um terence mann put it in the short corner there on the right and shot the three.
kawhi sends luka and the mavs home the bill simmons podcast
Kawhi was the player furthest from the rim and he read it perfectly, he went over everyone, Luca wasn't even thinking about boxing them because there is a certain age at which you guys get to the NBA and say I'm done with that part of my game boxing people, yeah, and he caught it, put it up and it was just one of those moments where you say he's going to do whatever he wants right now both offensively and defensively, so he deserves all the credit. I'm glad you mentioned that because that's when the game was decided in the third quarter, 21 to two run for the clips, it looked like it was going to get to the end of the game and then luca missed a couple more free throws, said a three, suddenly they're up. five, the Kawhi offensive rebound thing that you mentioned happened, Terence Man got an offensive rebound and all of a sudden the Mavs looked slow and then Luke Canard came in and did a couple of things, scored 11 points in 10 minutes, yeah, he made a pair.
kawhi sends luka and the mavs home the bill simmons podcast
The threes after the third quarter were 16 of 31 from three and it seemed like you knew where it was going, but you know, our teams out west that are left clips Phoenix Denver Utah if you're going to rank who has the best remaining player. Kawhi is the best proven player in the playoffs. Jokic, I think he's been the best player all season and he's certainly had the biggest kind of impact. Utah doesn't have a player in that conversation and then if you're Phoenix, you hope Booker can do it. Being offensive can go toe-to-toe with anyone, but there's no such thing as a player either and I always gravitate towards the better player while trying to figure out what the puzzle is as we go. these playoffs, but this is a scenario that we're heading towards here where Utah has the best overall team Phoenix, I think he's probably number two for the best type of most valuable total team and then there's the Kawai Yokitch thing, I think on which the clip stumbled. on what we knew they had because we saw especially in the Utah matchup that they know what their small ball lineup is now remember how many times we talked about who their best five is who their best seven is what they're going to do in a game seven I think They already figured that out, Zubach barely played, uh, Rondo barely played and they're just going to go down with this team they have, do you think it's going to work against Utah?
Well, I think it will be a little. It's a bit of an experiment because I mean Utah is along with Phoenix, they know exactly who they're going to be even though you know, maybe there's an adjustment here or there and here we were in the seventh game of both teams, both Dallas and the Clippers were struggling and Rondo played. Nine minutes The zubots played three minutes and I think what you learned there is especially at the end of the sixth game, which was another Kauai moment where you say it's absurd what he's doing to everyone. Why do I want Rondo to start the offense?
I guess as much as everyone likes rondo rondo round rondo and like me, why should he add a cape to give the ball back to

kawhi

leonard? Why would he do this the same way he grew up in that Toronto? game and when I had a nurse on the

podcast

, you know, once he just decides he's going to take over like everyone else accepted it and he was just doing the right thing like they had a zone that they tried against him, they tried zones. for long stretches tonight and really, you know, it didn't mean much, I mean, the other part of this Clippers game is Marcus Morris, who I never thought of as a guy who's going to show up in a big spot.
I saw him in game six, one of ten, he was incredible, seven to nine of three, you know, Reggie Jackson, who was great in game six, man, you know you're talking about rotations, I think at this point the man is proven, especially if you want. to be small and exploit some of the other things you're going to do man, before you go rondo at this point, okay and it's interesting, morris and jackson, two classic famine guys in a playoff series right where they really don't you wait a lot of them, but if they show up it's a bonus and they get jackson in game six, they get morris tonight.
We've also seen scenarios where the team that depends on those holiday famine guys none of them show up at the same time and you That's what happened to the 2018 Celtics, all their holiday feasts are famine guys, Rozier Morris, etcetera, etcetera , none of them can make a shot and then all of a sudden it piles up because it hasn't mattered here yet, I think that's the most interesting thing. What he told me about that lineup was how well they moved the ball. I actually really liked the shots the Clippers made and I don't know how much of that was them just figuring out who their guys are and how much of that was Dallas having to play one of the craziest tricks that has ever almost flipped the Bobon series and Porzingis together in just the sixth game you could almost have criticized them because they didn't have Bobon in the last five minutes in this game, they were fine I guess.
We're going to go down with these two guys and we'll be super slow and we won't be able to chase them and if you turn the corner we won't be able to make it in time, but this is our only chance and the ball moving in the clips I thought was the best thing I've ever seen from them. , we have made fun of them a lot, especially them in the Lakers too, ah, it's like whoever receives the ball at half court is nice. Of that, who's going to shoot didn't feel like that in this game, but I can't tell how much of that was the Clippers finding out who they are and how much of that was two seven-foot tall behemoths, plus monsters rumbling around in a zone, You know, if you don't move the ball, it's criminal, yeah, look, they stayed in the zone, I mean, I was looking at it, I could have missed maybe a possession here or there, but I think Dallas State's zone was like the first six or seven minutes of In the game normally the teams come out and set up and then they change it and then in the sixth game there were moments where it seemed like the zone was working and then it wasn't very fast, you know what I mean and then you say okay, I have to figure this out, I think the other party could just look at the statistics and go, okay, wait a minute.
The kids like the Clippers. If you look at them, they're 24 or 24 from the free throw line, they're 20 or 43 from three. you know, marcus morris gives you seven and nine out of three reggie jackson has some late canards. canard had those two um terence man I mean they had a really unexpected good balance here made all of their free throws fantastic from three and on the other side of If you have the Mavs making 11 free throws then they have minus 13 there and they're only 10 to 36, like 29 to 28 percent, out of three for them, because the other part of the story was unfolding the way it did.
Throughout the series, Luca goes crazy in the first quarter again. We've seen him average 11 points in the first quarter, 10 in the second, eight and then coming into this game, he was around four points. for fourth in the quarter and his shooting percentage was 31, so it became a story in this one and then it's always like oh, he's tired, you know, because that's what sucks when you lose, it's like, oh , needs to be conditioned more. I have to go to postcamp and he's going to do all this stuff in the meantime, he's clearly one of the best players in the world and it's only his third season, but I thought it was cool because right when they were talking about whether he was or not. tired, he hits a big pivot post, hits a three right after that, I think, and this will influence how we talk about Atlanta in Philadelphia Bill.
It's very obvious that even great defensive players there is a time when they feel like they have to change it up. I went on and talked about Kawhi defensively, where I still think some of these guys that have a reputation are awesome because then you're just judging your reputation and you can float around a little bit and I think all of these guys are as great as they are. defensive time finding moments to float the effort the Clippers played with trying to get back to the original task fighting some of the switches, you know, Kawhi just staying engaged during those big Luca possessions, I don't think it has as much to do with luca like lucas' team around him is a mismatch of all these pieces and a lot of them aren't that good and it was

kawhi

's defense so you know, i don't see luca now having to sit at

home

and watch film and reevaluate who he is as a player, I think that's where this game turned again in game seven, Kawhi's offense and then also knowing that it's a game seven and I have to play at another level that I'm not going to play consistently. every day.
The time I'm here because it's just not sustainable, I'm rejecting one thing. I think the Mavs lost the series in the sixth game and what I saw, I don't know if I'm right, this is just that I still have the scars from when this happened to Antoine Walker 20 years ago, the free throw thing with Luca, This whole series was a real problem and I thought it affected him in the sixth game and I was surprised that the announcers didn't talk about it when he was at his best is going to the basket, he's doing those rough things, you know he's getting to wherever he wants and he's bouncing off guys and constantly drawing contact, especially if his shot doesn't go in.
He played game six like a guy who didn't. He wanted to go to the free throw line. I felt like he was settling for a lot of things around the key. I thought he was throwing the ball like he was trying to attract contact things like that and I just don't think I don't know why. He didn't feel comfortable from the free throw line. It's not that he's okay. He's not because he's not forcing it. You know what I mean. He's the goose. I don't know what happened. It's like him. I'm not saying that Steph Curry is from the free throw line. free throw line, but he became a 50 free throw shooter throughout the series and I really felt specifically in the sixth game that he was a little better today, it seemed like he had those right hand attacks where he lunges at the guy a and again, I just didn't want to take it because I don't feel like I want to get fouled, so I don't know if it was a neck thing or what was going on, but it really felt like game six. was the one who assumed that maybe you wouldn't be able to beat a Clipper team that makes Kawhi play a game like the one he played, but on the other hand, if Luka I thought he could have bounced off more people, of that you are talking. four points which is what they needed to win that game and I still wouldn't love to know the answer what happened was free throw well it's all mental and no I didn't say no Sitting here defending free throws so when you say I have than retreat as ifYou were right, if there is an evaluation of who he is as a man, then I say yes, I say it right if I am him.
I'm looking back at the series and thinking about what happened. I'm just telling you, ask anyone who's ever started thinking about that when you don't want to be there at the free throw line. it's like it could be a career changer, I'm serious, it's devastating man, that's why I mentioned Antoine, you were there, remember he suddenly didn't want to get fouled five feet from the basket and he was doing those quick jumps , remember or say no. Yeah, I remember, I remember all these things because you look at most of the guys, you can see it on their faces like Lebron had a weird turn, yeah, you know, a few years ago, when he suddenly didn't want to take the technique anymore. because he wasn't doing them was another one where Rondo had a weird stretch on him, Pierce had a weird stretch where I looked at it and it was funny because I knew no one else saw it and I asked one of our mutual friends who works.
For the Celtics, something's going on with Pierce in the fourth quarter, he's like, oh my God, he's like, dude, I've been at this forever and then I passed, I mean, this is a total nerd alert, but I passed like a all. season for Pierce and he totaled all of his free throw attempts in the first three quarters and then he did it in the fourth quarter, it was like 81 to 60 percent, but Pierce somehow corrected it, which is really weird, so you'd hate see Luca like this. This is so early in his career because once you get there with any kind of hesitation as a free throw shooter, the muscle memory just goes out the window and you start changing things.
I really don't know, you're right, that part of it is it's really disappointing and you know it's likely that if it's perfect from the free throw line it's at 80 85, maybe we're talking about Dallas and where the Clippers are going to blow up, well , there were a couple of impulses also as close. At the end of the first quarter he had a chance to go over 30 in the fourth and he missed two in a row and then during that 21-2 run we talked about um he missed those two just to talk about the Mavs really quick um first.
Out of all of you, you brought this up before we started filming what happened to Josh Richardson because is he on the team? I'm going to Google it. Just one day, curry has been the defining moment for the Sixers all of last year. The year Curry was the defining moment for math, they traded Curry for Richardson because they wanted a wing that could defend and hit threes and we've talked about this. A few months ago Richardson had this really fool's gold for two and a half months in Miami where he was incredible and other than that he's just been kind of a guy this seems to be the second josh dallas just completely fell apart in the

mavs

, the first was josh howard, so how many minutes did he play six? uh yeah, I think he played six minutes and then Brunson, who I legitimately thought about voting for third place for sixth man of the year.
I felt like he would come in swing games. He was good in crunch time and the Clippers' speed did it. basically unemployed they went with Trey Burke who played eight minutes he was 0 for 3 and minus 10 in the eight minutes he was there for most of that stuff so it was bad I don't know what happened with Max same this year as began. he got hurt, but that was a guy that was huge for them last year, he was terrible. Doi Powell only played five minutes and the big trade for him was J.J Redick, who never played, so they had the expiring contract with James Johnson and they never could.
To get someone even more, one of the least successful playoff players in history would have played more minutes than basically anyone on his bench. His bench had six points in this game. Richardson a couple of years ago scored almost 17 in a Miami game and played 35 minutes. 36 percent from three 38 percent from three the year before so you're thinking 24 25 play defense one of those wings you can shoot yeah man I would love to have this guy and then it didn't happen in Philly and so you thought okay well that whole Philly thing was a disaster and I mean he was basically a dnp and it's like Carlisle just couldn't trust him.
I mean, the Dallas thing is always very strange because you'll see moments where you're like, Maxi Cleaver is your first choice here to defend Kawaii, but Cleaver is actually racing to not say he's going to shut down Kauai Porzingis even though his numbers are fine tonight, when you really look for it, it's just one level. Even if you don't like Prezingas, he's probably two levels below what he was, for the best and I don't know if it's a lingering health issue, but even when he takes a couple shots here or there or runs down the baseline in the dunk point. um, they had some moments when they doubled luca, i remember going back to the first game, you're like, okay, you know, but he never seems to be in the flow of it all, it's like he didn't shoot four. or five positions, I'm going to take one, they'll beat me by a rebound, it looks lost, so when you look at this list, I mean, this would have been a disastrous series for the Clippers if they lost.
I would see Porzingis and how scary. The last two games I actually thought he was playing hard, you can't use the oh man, he doesn't like it or they can't get it going, he played really hard, he was making the extra pass like no. a disaster just isn't that good, you know, and that he took that shot up three on the fast break and mark jackson like I like that shot and van gogh, just, what are you talking about? he's like if you like two on one, he pulls up three Yeah, and he was so great that he brought up the inability to use his size at all, where the Clippers just didn't respect him.
They're putting out like Terence Man and Marcus Morris and whoever did it, it's not like Porzingis was going to post. and if you look at porzingis' advanced stats, he posts like they're reprehensible, that's why they don't post them.

If you have any copyright issue, please Contact