Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both gave the Brooklyn Nets their props for pulling out the victory while also lamenting their own mistakes.
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Matching up the best offense in the NBA in the Brooklyn Nets with the best defense in the league with the Los Angeles Clippers made for a thrilling ballgame. The hype was worth it as the two teams put on a show, with the Nets edging the Clips out on 39 points from Kyrie Irving.
The Brooklyn Nets are posting nearly identical numbers to their defensive and offensive ratings, proving that their theory of simply, “outscoring their opponents” works.
The Clippers had no answer to Kyrie Irving’s pull up 3s, Kevin Durant’s baseline jumpers, or James Harden’s floaters in the lane. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George did play well and had some crucial stops along the way. They nearly completed a 10 point comeback with 1:55 left in the final period, but lazy transition defense got the best of them in the final seconds of the game.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George open up about their loss to the Brooklyn Nets
Kawhi didn’t hold back in his postgame availability when talking about the Clippers play down the stretch: “We had some bad mistakes out there. Fouling shooters, just giving them points. We cannot make it easy for them by fouling them on their jumpshots.”
“We had some bad mistakes out there. Fouling shooters, just giving them points. They’re already great scorers. So we just gotta keep letting them be great and not make it easy on them by fouling on jump shots.”
Kawhi Leonard on Clippers loss to Nets.
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— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) February 3, 2021
Paul George gave the Brooklyn big 3 their props for being as potent on offense as they are: “As good of defense we played all night, the fact of the matter is they have some of the best iso players in the world in Kyrie, James, and KD.”
“I thought we just made some mental mistakes. We fouled three jump shooters. One time we came out in the zone and we didn’t we were in the zone, Joe Harris makes a three to kind of get them going in the corner…”
Tyronn Lue on the Clippers’ loss to the Nets.
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— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) February 3, 2021
Head coach Ty Lue seemed a tad bit frustrated with his Clippers players not registering that they are playing zone defense. He said a made three by Joe Harris was the wake-up call for the Clips to get back into the zone.
The Clippers are currently 16-6 and tied for second in the Western Conference. Their in-city rivals the Lakers share this record with them. The Clips are set to play against Collin Sexton and the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight as they look to solidify their place as the sole owner of the 2nd seed out West.
