03-07-2020, 03:08 AM
(03-06-2020, 03:22 AM)sefant Wrote:(03-06-2020, 02:34 AM)MrGoat Wrote: Hope they keep Luka out of this one. Maybe make an excuse to keep Kristaps out of this one too. The Spurs are currently 4 games behind Memphis with 20 to go, I would not be particularly upset if we made that 4.5 and imperiled their 20+ year playoff streak. But that would be more tolerable if both Luka and KP were out. This one is a great time for load management and giving MKG some real run to discover his role with this teamClippers look like the 2nd seed. They are 10-0 when healthy (Beverely + PG + Kawhi playing).
I prefer to avoid them, which is totally possible.
Spurs lost tonight so I am perfectly fine with this result now. I'm not 100% convinced that Denver is the easier target than the Clippers for us though. One of our worst blowouts was against the Clippers but that was early in the season and we aren't the same team at this point.
What scares me about Denver: Luka's conditioning still needs work, I can't think of a worse team to play on the road in that thin mountain air in the playoffs where his load will increase. Also if last year's playoffs were any indication Jokic turns on super saiyan mode in the playoffs. And the last time we played the Nuggets Maxi and KP looked useless on defense against him and that was in the regular season. The Lakers also really punished us with their supersized guys the last two times we played them
Why I'm not as scared of the Clippers as most: The Clippers have one obvious weakness, a lack of rim protection. I also don't think Kawhi can guard a confident Porzingis playing the 5, Kawhi doesn't have Marc Gasol's perfect help defense to funnel him towards and KP is a much bigger threat to just shoot over him than Giannis was. The Clippers don't really have an answer for that.