I was WRONG about Lakers! – Stephen A. on LeBron, Luka & Austin DESTROY Clippers 135-118

I was WRONG about Lakers! – Stephen A. on LeBron, Luka & Austin DESTROY Clippers 135-118

13-4 after clinching a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals last night. My husband was on the sidelines for this. It’s their most wins by Thanksgiving since 2019, a year they went on to win it all in the bubble. We remember it well. Stephen A, this Lakers backport dynamic. How good are they? Well, they’re very good. Um, and LeBron James being back, dropping 25 certainly doesn’t hurt. Austin Reeves dropping 31 certainly doesn’t hurt. Luca Donic had 24 points in the first quarter. in the first quarter. I mean had 30 at halftime with six assists. The brothers looking spectacular and a clear, you know, one of the top candidates for league MVP honors if he continues to look the way that he has looked. The Clippers are another story. Uh highly disappointing this season, but LeBron James being back, Austin Reeves and him doing what they’re doing and and Luca Donic just looking the way that he’s looking, which is nothing short of spectacular. has you looking at the Lakers a little bit differently right now. Of course, Oklahoma City is still a team to beat. They’re the reigning defending champions. They’re like 17 or 18-1. Denver’s right there. They’ve retoled. They’ve gotten a bit younger and they still have Jokic. And Joic has been the Lakers kryptonite for years, but that was before Luca Donuch got there. But the way Luca is looking, it it just is something special to behold. Make no mistake about it. And the Lakers are doing their thing right now. They could be in the mix. Um I it would not it would not surprise me at all if the Lakers win the conference finals. Yeah. And you look at them beating the Clippers last night. Clippers did have Kawaii on the floor. Now they’re old and they’re banged up, but this was no slouch Clippers team that wasn’t at full strength. Now I know they don’t have Brad Beal out there and whatnot, but Kawaii was on the floor for this game last night, which Trudell and of course Ger handling things downtown. Lakers make it five in a row. They beat the Clippers by 171 13518. Guys, biggest note obviously as they just discussed on the broadcast, they’re undefeated in group play, which means they advance to the knockout round next week uh standed in West Group B. Look, big game Lakers Clippers speaks for itself. You got the ejection at the end with just over three to play. We’ll look at that from Chris Dunn. Um you add the cup intensity to it as we all know. You talked about it downtown with Ger role players. They’ve impressed you. They did their job tonight. Of course, the big three, they led their way. 99 of the Lakers, 135 points combined between the three of them. A good solid win for the Lakers. Yeah. Yeah. Band of brothers, man. They’re they’re hanging in there together, doing it collectively. But what a start though by Luca, man. I mean, he just he lit the whole arena on fire with those threes. Uh the Clippers, you remember all those years how they used to dominate us for four or five years? We’d be sitting here like, ah, they used to kick our butt. But, you know, I think now we have a team that uh that that that can play and can match and defend. And uh I just thought the role players, as you mentioned, uh you know, smart uh coming down, hitting some big shots, bringing his presence, uh Hayes stepping in for Aiden with his energy, uh his rebounding, you know, I just thought collectively and then LeBron coming in, you know, just kind of seeing what’s needed and and getting the job done. Of course, we talk about Austin Reeds all the time, but I just think collectively they they answered the bell uh when the Clippers made their their charge and they took care of business in the third and fourth quarter and here we are talking about the victory. Yeah, the big three was big three in tonight, the new generation would say. Um they played really well. Um I think they shot from three very well. That was something they had been struggling um in the past the past few games for sure and during the season. That was their weakness. And if you’ve got guys like Marcus Smart knocking down threes, but also Braun pulling up in from three in transition. Luca five for five to start the game. Austin looked like he had a quiet night. Then that fourth quarter, that second half, he exploded. He got a little angry because they didn’t call that goalend. Um, so yeah, different guys exploded at different moments that that gave them a boost. But ultimately, they got the transition. Brian looked more like himself. They got out and running and they got uncontested shots because of the high IQ play from those three guys. We’ll talk about Austin in a minute because you did have your eye on him all night long. He had two points in the first quarter. You went 29 over the final three quarters. I was a little disappointed in my shot my hot my my hot shot pick for a second. I wasn’t feeling comfortable and I was like, you know, he’s going to have a bad number and still end up with like 20 25. He ended up with 31 which was very impressive. You also said Luca would have had 37. He had 43. We should have you in more often because it all ended on good luck. We’ve been undefeated since I’ve been in here. You know, you know Danny the Greek, you know, he’s kicking everything. We do start with Luca because big game, you mentioned it. You said the crowd just seems to arrive a little bit more early and he has something to do with it. His 24 points in the first quarter alone was the most points in a quarter by a Lakers since Kobe in ‘ 07. Just his ability to get off on the right foot. 4313 and N. He was a rebound shy of a triple double. But big game he had shot. We talked about it. Five of 22 over the last couple of games from three tonight. Seven of 12. Yeah, we were we were doing our our pregame show and Luca was out there, you know, messing around, shooting threes and I was like, “What’s going on?” I was like, “Who walked in?” And it was Luca out there. People were just, you know, they’re coming early to show it wasn’t the music. You sure it wasn’t the Serbian music? I thought I thought I heard the accordion going on a couple times, but uh yeah, he he was he was fired up, but he’s he’s an entertainer and he’s just unguardable cuz you don’t know what he’s going to do. You don’t want to foul him. You you don’t want to get up too close. You don’t want to back up. you just you he freezes you and then he knocks down these threes where he’s hitting them. Uh you know, he’s he’s he missed a few. He he he made his few in the beginning of the game, but uh I just think this weapon uh the ability to have this I mean Danny Green, you can knock him down like that, too. Not as good. When you can shoot when you shoot him from three like that, you know it’s going to be a long night. And we talked about before the game, his averages against the Clippers, 359 and N. He somehow for some reason comes alive and against these are great defenders. So the quiet leonard ain’t no slouch. You know Chris Dunn ain’t no slouch. He’s got Nick Batum aren’t no but there they don’t want to foul him and when he’s got three going again like big Jame said he’s unstoppable and tonight he just came out with on a heater and it kind of it made the game the basket big for him and the game looser for everybody else. You saw right there third most in NBA history of 35 in at least 10 dimes. Uh it’s his fifth 40point game on the season. But that wasn’t all Luca brought to the table tonight. Little feistiness. We talked about the Chris Dunn ejection in case you’re just joining us. extra plates to the Thanksgiving table, right? A little spicy. Uh but nonetheless, this is what you like from Luca just from a competitive standpoint. Uh with over 3 minutes to play, he takes that shove there from Chris Dunn. He wasn’t just going to stay down big game. No. Nah. You know, Luca is is not an instigator, but when you’re trying to defend him and he’s just continuously busting your ass, it frustrates. it senses you off to the point where you just want to do something to him. So, a frustration and then you know he’s always got that little smile. He knows he’s kicking your butt and but but he’s not an instigator. So, it just is it it makes you want him to do something. You just But he won’t and it just and then you just lose it. And that’s what happened. Luke Luke is in the game, other guys out. He pretty much antagonizes guys with his play. He’s getting under your skin cuz he’s, you know, all game Chris Dunn is playing his best defense, but he’s getting in foul trouble, knocking down shots, knocking down threes, getting rebounds, one rebounds shy of a triple double. Um, and then, you know, he’s complaining that he’s flopping all the time, but that was not a clean box out play. Um, but I like what Jackson Hayes did. He stepped up for his teammate, you know, you know, covered for him, protected him, let him know, you know, you’re not by yourself. Um, so that was a good moment for them collectively to show like, you know, we’re not no chumps. We’re not soft. You’re not going to come in here and just punk us. We love when this happens. It’s like our Thanksgiving treat. Normally, we’re waiting on Luca, which we will all day, every day, but instead, he’s speaking with the media. West Group B with a win tonight and work towards another title in cup play. As we say hello to our senior writer, Dave McMinnon. Dave, let’s talk about who’s in and who’s out for this game tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers. We know that DeAndre Aton has been dealing with that knee issue. What more can you tell us? Yeah, Malikica, we’re still waiting on a timeline to get more clarity when it comes to Aton’s knee issue. He wept. He left the game on Sunday in Utah with that um knee issue at halftime. Didn’t return. Is not going to play tonight. We don’t know if he’ll be available Friday against the Dallas Mavericks. In the meantime, we’re going to see Jackson Hayes most likely in the starting lineup. He was uh a recipient of 35 starts a season to go. So, he has some experience there. When we spoke to him this morning, I Zubat was on his mind. Big Zoo has had 18 rebounds or more in two out of the last three games for the Clippers and has averaging about four offensive rebounds a game. Jackson said it’s going to be his job to get him off the glass, come and play with energy and recognize that while Eightton has been very good for the Lakers this year, he has a different skill set than Aton does. He’s a lob threat and we know how much Luca Donuch loves throwing those lobs. Yeah, we’ve seen a little bit of that connection here early in the Los Angeles Lakers season. Dave, thank you so very much. Enjoy tonight’s game. We mentioned that the Lakers, they can clinch their group with a win tonight. Here’s a look at some of the other clinching scenarios for the teams in action here. The Clippers, they would clinch group B with a win at the Lakers tonight and a Grizzlies loss as well to the Pelicans tomorrow. Philly would be eliminated with a loss to the Magic or a Hawks win at the Wizards tonight. And the Wizards, they would be eliminated with a loss. So, a lot riding on these two days of cup play here. But we had a big announcement this weekend from one of the games best, Chris Paul. He said that year 21 it is going to be his last. He’s retiring at the end of the season. Of course, we got to sit with him on NBA Countdown. He’s phenomenal there as well. But his 21 seasons are tied for the third most in NBA history. It’s the most for a guard. And in that time, Paul has accumulated the second most assists and the second most steals in NBA history. CP3 led the league in assists five times and steals six times and his nine all defense

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