Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST: Luka leads Lakers in sweep over Clippers 108-102

Episode Date: March 3, 2025

Luka Doncic scored 29 points and dished out 9 assists, and Dalton Knecht added 19 points off the bench, including connecting on five three-pointers. The Los Angeles Lakers won their 6th straight game, beating the crosstown Clippers 108-102. The Clippers were led in the loss by Kawhi Leonard’s 33 points and 10 boards. The Lakers will look to continue their winning ways Tuesday night when the New Orleans Pelicans come to town.Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reeves, Dalton Knecht, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers vs Los Angeles Clippers Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors! FAN DUEL When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started—and there’s no better place to get in on it than FanDuel, America’s Number ONE Sportsbook!With FanDuel, you can place live bets throughout the game, so even if you miss the opening tip-off or want to bet on a fourth-quarter comeback, you can stay in the action. And if you’re looking for a bigger payout, you can even combine your live bets into a Same Game Parlay.Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! Just visit FANDUEL DOT COM to join today. That’s FANDUEL DOT COM for your shot at ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets.Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.DOOR DASHNBA fans, get ready— They Swoosh, You Save: Thanks to DashPass, every time a player drops 50 or more points in a game, you score a huge deal the next day.TRANSITION:It’s simple: When any player scores 50 or more in a game during the 24/25 NBA regular season, DashPass members get 50% off an order—up to $10 off—the next day from noon to midnight.Here are a few ways you can take advantage of this deal:· Game-Day Feast: After an epic 50-point performance, celebrate by ordering wings, pizza, or burgers from your favorite spot—delivered straight to your door.· Late-Night Cravings: Whether you're staying up watching highlights or just need a midnight snack, use DashPass to grab something delicious while saving big.Lunch on the Go: Need a quick and easy lunch the next day? With DashPass, you get your favorite meals with $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees—plus, now you save even more with this exclusive NBA offer!· Fueling Your Watch Party: Planning to catch the next game? Order your go-to snacks and meals at a discount and get ready for more high-scoring action.Sign up for DashPass and be ready to save. When any player scores 50 or more in a game, DashPass members get 50% off an order the next day—up to $10 off. Just use promo code NBA50 from noon to midnight after a 50-point game on eligible orders at participating merchants. Must have an active DashPass account. Terms apply. Visit DoorDash to learn more! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are a Locked-on Lakers podcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Out red hot, the Clippers lose a star early, but the battle for Los Angeles comes down to the wire. We talk about it all on the Lakers Clippers crossover. Again, locked on. Again, you can follow every single show right there, Locked on Los Angeles, and, of course, Locked on Lakers, Locked on Clippers. Pete Fox is joining me today, or I guess as today,

always says last time I was joining you, Pete, but technically, I guess, we're kind of joining to each other. So it's always a lot of fun when we get a chance to talk with two LA teams. But again, every one of the shows can be heard anywhere you get your podcasts. And again, this was an exciting time for Laker fans and Clipper fans. I know Clipper fans, Pete, would rather that the score was going in their favor, especially since the second time in three days they see each other. But overall, two different games, two different games overall. And I don't know, well, as I said, get your, feeling first on what you think we'll look at some of your comments as well throughout the show but again we'll we'll go through the whole process here as far as what it means for the lakers

or what it means for the clippers again fandall today's episode brought to by fandle right now new fandle customers can get $150 in bonus bets with their first $5 bet if it wins so pete you seem you seem kind of down a little bit you act like you're on the clippers payroll does it hurt a little bit uh it's just frustrating you know i'm tired of the same old, same old, you know, make it interesting, but then fall apart and lose and have one just egregiously bad statistic that is unforgivable. You cannot go seven and a half minutes without scoring and expect to win basketball games. I mean, it's just there's always something with this team that makes you go, what in the

hell was that? You know, you look at the first quarter. the clippers were turning the ball over they at when they had four points they had four turnovers like right out of the gate there's fumbling the ball over the place it wasn't for the lakers out turning the ball over they were outpacing them in that statistic early in the game uh you know the lakers did everything they could to give this game to the clippers and still they couldn't do it you know they uh they shot 76 percent did the lakers on the first quarter and we're only up, you know, what was it, six points, something like that.

Lakers won the quarter at 3428. Yeah, exactly. And they shot 76%. When I see a stat like that that is so one-sided and 70% from beyond the arc, I go, well, they can't keep that up. And that's good for the clippers, right? They ended up shooting 49% from the floor and that was a solid night for them. But you look at the, the way the clippers behave when people try to hand,

the game over to them and they just can't take advantage of it. They do not have the ability to maximize another team's issue, whatever it is for that particular game. They do not have the ability to, you know, land a haymaker early in the fight or late in the fight or whenever. They're just, you know, another thing I noticed today that seems to be really frustrating for the fans of this team, I think, is they don't. In the past this season, they've been able to turn defense into offense, right?

Not that the developers have really gone on any sort of big run this year, but when they were playing better than they're playing now, they had spurts where they were able to turn defense into offense. And it doesn't seem like that is something they're capable of doing anymore. They're like, we're either going to be tight on defense and hopefully screw around and get a couple of easy baskets, or we're going to play no defense and score baskets. They can't do both, and that's another thing that keeps you from winning basketball games. You know, you said it going into last, after the last game, going into this game.

Well, they clearly missed an opportunity by not dumping the ball into Zoo more and getting easy baskets when Donchich is guarding him. They did that again. Late in the game, started to get a few of them, a few easy ones, but didn't really go to it. I mean, the defense was a little bit better on Zoo in the pain. I saw some block shots and some double team. But still, I think they could have hammered that a little bit more just to see what would have happened. And the other thing that was, we were not the only ones talking about it after the game.

What the hell is Zhu doing guarding Donchich so much? That is a complete mismatch. It's a mismatch, both ways. Like when Zoo is guarding Donchich, that's in Donchich's favor. When Donchich is guarding Zoo, it's in zoo's favor. But the Clippers don't want to take advantage of that. where the Lakers did. So again, it was, it was just, you know, a lot of, well, they're close. It's really close. We're almost going to win this game, but we won't, you know, close,

but no cigar, as I put in the description somewhere. You said something interesting the other day as far as Tailu. And, you know, Tailu obviously is a guy that has an NBA title. You know, of course, he won it with LeBron back in 2016. Tileu's a former Laker. He's won titles with the Lakers as a player. most people would consider Ty one of the better coaches in the league. Matter of fact, I think a lot of Laker fans wish at times that Ty was their coach. But when you started pointing the finger at him the other day, and I watch, you know, the last couple games, as I said, most of my focus is on Laker basketball, of course. You know, it's interesting because you said it right there.

A buddy of mine who said, he's a casual basketball fan said to me, hey, I'm going to go out with my son and we're going to watch the Laker game. And, you know, my son's into it. He goes, what are we going to see tonight? I go, if Zuboss doesn't get 40, Tailu doesn't know what he's doing. Well, not only does he only enough with 12, because really there's nobody that should be able to basically take care of him,

but you completely took him out of his offensive game. As you said, the switches on Luca were insane. I mean, he had three fouls before you knew it. He ended up with six. You completely took him out of the game. I mean, to me, that is a head coaching problem. What was the plan for the Clippers to sit there and be in that situation? Because it didn't work.

You're right there. in the game towards the end. But those are two games if you're a Clipper fan and you're wondering why are you not winning games, especially against teams like the Lakers in that situation where their center, their big men cannot sit there and hold Zubots in control of the game. Yet you penalized him by his defensive switches. It was very bizarre. It's very bad coaching. And I understand the frustration level from Clipper fans. Laker fans, you know, we had injuries. Clippers obviously lose Norman Powell very early and he's one of your better players. James Harden, I don't even know what to tell you about James Hardin, but when I watch the Clippers tonight and I look at

Kauai and I've been a Kauai fan because I went to San Diego State, Kauai went to San Diego State, and I get frustrated with, you know, NBA players who sit out and everything that goes to the Kauai. When Kauai wants to be great, he can still be great. He showed it tonight. I mean, without Kauai, the clippers aren't in the game. Matter of fact, you can make the argument Kauai was the best player on the floor of the entire night. But it was one guy. It was just one guy you can rely on the entire time and you can't expect to go far on the plows. with one guy? No, you absolutely cannot.

And look, Tyloo kind of, you know, made a statement after the last loss, kind of outing his team, trying to challenge them, if you will, something to do the effect of, we can't afford to turn the ball over

as many times as we did. We have to be better. So that's pretty much all they focused on today. In spite of four in the first few minutes, they finished with 12 on the game, and the Lakers had 18 or something, 16 maybe. So the Clippers won that battle and 12 turnovers for them is pretty good.

You've got four in the first few minutes. So all in all, they did clean up that part of the game. So they followed his instruction there and took the challenge, I guess. But you can't just do better with turnovers, right? You have to score. You have to figure out ways when you're going through a stretch of not being able to finish out a quarter again. Here it is down the stretch of the second quarter. when the Lakers were starting to fall back to earth a little bit after shooting 76% in the first quarter,

the Clippers missed 10 buckets in a row, seven and a half minutes. You can't find an easy basket. It's ridiculous and frustrating and mind-boggling because they were a lot of bad looks. Let's just keep chucking up threes, 30% on the day. Find Zubox. Get an easy basket. Penetrate the lane. Get an easy basket.

Turn the tables. they just they did not want to do it um you know i i didn't want to didn't feel the need to uh weren't able to look some of it was on the lakers defense uh which again was good i don't think it was nearly as good as it was a couple nights ago but i think the clippers did them favors over and over again i saw one play in the third quarter where uh chris dun had the ball kawai leonard was double teamed at the top of the key and christ done throws it to him I'm like, can you not see a double team standing right there? And of course, it was a turnover and the Lakers went down, got an easy basket.

It's those kind of just deadhead plays where they're like, well, they give it right back to them. You know, every time they something starts happening well, they seemingly stepping it again, you know, wet the bed and leave the barn door open. They went on a nice 258 run there. But that was just enough to get it back to where it was interesting. and, you know, the Lakers, hold on. So there's, there's just not, after the break, I'm going to tell you another major observation that I made about this Clipper team, which is not positive.

So you do the first break, which is what, Fandual, and I'll do the second one. So it's Lockdown Lakers, Clippers, crossover postcast on the Lockdown Sports L.A. YouTube channel, Pete Fox covering sports in L.A., dating back to 2007 and Dave Palais covering sports in all of Southern, California dating back to 1987. It's a lot. 93. 93.

In Arizona, I'm in 89. Locked on Lakers, Gliber's crossover postcast. We'll be right back. I want to mention the people over at Fandall. Again, when the game tips off, NBA action is just getting started. There's no better place to get in on all the action than Fandul. America's number one sportsbook with Fandle, you can place live bets throughout the game. So even if you miss the opening tip off or you want to bet the fourth quarter comeback,

you can stay in the action that you're looking for with a bigger payout. you can also combine your live bets into a same game parlay. For example, tonight, if you said Kauai is going to go for more than 30 and Luca is going to go for more than 20, things are going to work out pretty good for you. Right now, Fanduil's new customers get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Just visit at fandual.com to join today. That's Fandual.com for your shot at $150 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, well, a final score tonight in this one between the Lakers and Clippers,

their final matchup of the regular season, 108, 102 to the Lakers, who have really turned this series around. Going into the game a couple of nights ago, I texted you the stats of how dominant the Clippers have been over the Lakers of late, and you were just like, whatever. Pretty accurate. Where is that number? The Clippers have boneed L.A. for a long time.

to the last one. It was the Clippers had won 38 to 49. So they've just dominated the Lakers of late, but it doesn't feel of late being over the last few years. But lately, it seems like it's been more Lakers. You know, there was that one loss this year that was pretty embarrassing in the first matchup of the season, but the Lakers have dominated from there.

And the Clippers just haven't looked good for any length of time. And that leads me to believe right now, I look at this team and I say, what's missing tonight? Well, as you pointed out, Norm Powell left the game early. I felt like, look,

they need to have him back on the floor. He is a key to their offense. They are a different team with Norm Powell most nights. The other thing they miss tonight or thing, other person is Derek Jones Jr. But what I get from that is the clippers have a lot of players, but they're not a deep team. It's just like, yeah,

we got a lot of dudes. And we could keep running dudes out there. But are they good? sometimes, you know, I don't really know. Like Bogdan, I'm like, okay, yes, sometimes Bogdan will go out there and light it up. Other times he's a liability. Other times he's indecisive. Tonight, I think he was kind of a little of both.

There was times where he was very decisive, catch and shoot, boom. But then there are times where he's kind of wandering around, somebody take this, bad pass, you know. It was indecisive and then at times ready to go. So I think he just needs to make more. assertive decisions like shoot or penetrate the lane or do something. But yeah, you look around up and down this bench and you're like, some of these guys have the ability. Like Amir coffee is another one.

Cooper fans, we all love Amir coffee because he plays hard. He's a good dude, right? But 22 minutes, no threes, three points. That's just, that's not enough. You know, if he's not hot, sit him on the bench, Tyloo. Quit running him out there. What is that all about? Get Patty Mills in the game.

you know, give that guy an opportunity. And then they were talking briefly about signing Jordan Miller to a contract. I'm like, why? I don't have any problem with Jordan Miller, but I'm like, really? That guy doesn't deserve a contract. He deserves be paid like, you know, on a per diem. He's not there yet. He's just an average.

He's a jag, just a guy. So I don't know why they go and spend money on him. It's probably not a lot. I didn't see what the deal was. But, you know, nice guy. but I don't as far as a player goes we don't know he's still very young so I'm not sure what they see at him I guess we'll have to wait and see he's and be around the lacquer or clippers for a little bit longer as you pointed out kawai with a good night uh you know I feel like and we

talked about this two days ago why Leonard is your star and he needs to be a star almost every night more often than not fortunately didn't appear that they had any minute restriction on in 20 minutes so that's good but you know in 33 points also very good but he was the only guy scoring so it's it's not enough you know you got to have somebody else and that other guy is norm Powell normally or james hardon james hardin's been off he's been cold of late so that's not enough scoring here and that's the problem tonight not enough scoring i hate to call out the obvious uh i know you know we're supposed to be here and you know breaking it down and digging deeper into the uh box score but tonight it's pretty simple they didn't score it you go seven

and a half minutes. Once the last time you saw a team go seven and a half minutes without scoring, Dave? Not even in high school. Not even high school. Do you see that? That's insane. I mean, considering a quarter is 12 minutes long and you're going the majority of the quarter without scoring in an NBA game, it's insane numbers right there.

You know, so Kauai gets 33 points, 10 rebounds, both highs for the clippers. It was definitely a one-man show and still they only lost by six. The Lakers, obviously, turnovers were insane. The Lakers with the 16 turnovers and the Lakers, that's the one stat they lose every night. They always turn the ball over. It's always LeBron, by the way, that turns the ball over the most. Not to the point he did tonight where he had eight turnovers. But, you know, LeBron as good as he is, it's the turnovers that I think Laker fans would wish that he would clean up.

The difference, I think, honestly, Pete, between what I'm watching in the Lakers and watching in the Clippers of late is effort. And, you know, you talk about how deep is your bench. And you could say the same thing about, you know, the Lakers with the injuries that they had. You know, they had about three guys that weren't able to go, including Austin and Reeves, who obviously is an important part. of the team. But for the, for the Lakers, you know, JJ Redick has gotten a lot from his team when it comes to effort. And the reason I bring that up is as a fan, you know when you're seeing effort. Usually effort comes on two circumstances that you can see as a fan. You can see it on defense

and you can see it on the rebounds. And how bad do you, do you basically want to do what nobody wants to do, play defense and rebound? And for JJ Reddick's team, they're doing that because those guys are fighting for minutes, understanding the playoffs are going to be here. here in six weeks. And those guys want to be part of the rotation as that rotation will cut down to about eight players per game. And for, you know, the Clippers, it has to be frustrating not only as a fan for Tailu. And I think you understand it too, because people don't know, Pete and I are both, you know, we're both coaches. You know, Pete coaches baseball. I coach baseball. And any coach will tell you any sport will tell you, I don't want to coach effort. I shouldn't have to even say that

out loud, but I don't want to have to coach effort. And look, the guys we coach aren't getting paid. So when you're sitting and you're watching guys who either don't play defense or don't fight for rebounds, loose balls, it becomes very frustrating from a fan base to go, that's the reason. It's those little things right there while we're seed here and not, you know, a top four seed where everybody wants to be. It's for Laker fans, we're extremely excited because we're, getting the effort and we're just looking about polishing what we actually are. For Clipper fans, it seems like there's not enough time in the season for you guys to figure it out. Yeah, it does. And again, I feel like there's too much dependence on any one guy.

And when you don't have consistency from these guys, I don't know what was wrong with Derek Jones Jr. tonight, but you could see, feel him not on the court because his presence, both offensively and defensively, has become a big factor to the clipper. So you're missing him. You're missing Norm Powell. And you've got no scoring or low scoring from your big man under the. knee under the basket who we know can score because we saw him do it a couple of nights ago. But for whatever reason, they did not want to force that issue. And then James Harden, another off night, but continuing to shoot four of 14 and two of nine from beyond the arc. And then as you were talking about with the effort, I saw one series in the fourth quarter about the sixth and a half minute mark. And this to me also kind of summed up the game. I know you remember this possession.

Because anybody who watched this game was like, if you're a clipper fan, you're like, give me a break. It's like four or five looks at the basket. And LeBron, how many shots did he have in that series? He got four in that series. He had four shots at the basket and finally made a three. Of course, you know, you play a little golf every now and then, don't you, Dave? You always talk about the guy behind the guy, you know, when you take a mulligan. Yeah, the guy behind the guy is way better than the guy.

In basketball, it's the same kind of thing. But the guy behind the guy behind the guy behind the guy, that dude is tough. That dude is nails. He doesn't miss very often, especially when your name is LeBron, who by the way, he didn't get the 50,000. Did he was one story? No, he got 49,999. That's crazy. So next game, he'll hit 50,000 points.

And that'll be the story, win or lose for the Lakers. But tonight, the Lakers did everything better than the Clippers. just about, right? After the break, I'll tell you the three main categories that always talk about that are usually crucial to how the clippers do in a game. Points in the paint, second chance points, and fast break points. So we'll hit those numbers next. It's the Lockdown Lakers Clippers crossover postcast on the Lockdown Sports,

LA YouTube channel, the place to hang out when every game is done. Dave Palais doing the Lakers side of things. I am Pete Fox on the Clippers side of things. Well, tonight's episode of the Lockdown Lakers Clippers crossover postcast brought to you by Dash Pass with DoorDash. NBA fans get ready. The swish, they swoosh you save. Thanks to DashPass every time a player drops 50 or more in a game,

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account terms apply. Visit Door dash.com to learn more. All right. Clippers lose this one. Lakers finish off the four game set against their cross-town rivals with a 108, 102. win. That is the win number 38 for them versus 21 losses, 23 and 7 at home. That's a nice record right there. Clippers are 13 and 18 on the road and 32 and 28 overall. Here are those stats that are usually pretty meaningful. I think this would probably add to the frustration for Clipper fans today. They win the points in the paint battle comfortably. 46-20, 4634. And that's not, you know, feeding Zubots a lot. Yeah. That's not. getting a big game from Evita Zubox.

They also win second chance points, 14 to 12. And the fast break went in their favor as well, 16 to 10. So you have to feel frustrated when you get victories in those areas and come out on top, but lose the game. Because, you know, you go through a seven minute and 30 second stretch where you don't score. I don't know what could have been done there, you know, Tailu didn't call enough timeouts. But like, I feel like one of the things that I appreciate about Tailu, he is very on top of the momentum of the opposition. Pauls,

falls very timely timeouts. He doesn't let the other team get away. But it seemed like he wasn't there. It's kind of like, figure it out, boys, I'm not going to rescue you. You know,

Dave, how often do you let a pitcher, you know, after what's the number for you? One walk, two walks, three walks in a row, you to give him the hook.

What's the number? Dude, I tell you what, I tell it's funny, because high school season starts on Tuesday for us. And I tell the pitchers before the season starts, you give up two line drive hits in an inning, you're out. You give up two walks in an inning, you're out.

Dude, I'm Captain Hook. Like, I pull guys out so quick because I'm so afraid of the momentum thing. We talk about this on the Lakers show all the time, is Pat Riley is the best I've ever seen on understanding momentum. Whereas JJ Redick, I think as a head coach, it took him a while to figure it out. But Ty Luce, a veteran coach. You're right. I mean, he should be great at it.

He should know exactly what it feels like when the other team taken over. It usually is. Tonight I didn't feel it. I mean, you did seven and a half minutes. It's like you do something, do anything, you know, change it up. Like call a time out and just put all five different. Seven and a half minutes is an eternity without a basket. But switch all five dudes. Put five bitch guys in there. Something to wake them up and be like, oh, damn, this is not okay. You know, he's mad. He's pissed. You know, that's what we kind of needed to feel at that point in time. And they just kept muddling around, you know, why? pitch after a wild pitch. I was just like, oh, man. That was another one. The two stats I always look at, which both benefited the clippers in this game. Again, final score is 108, 102 Lakers, but I always say the team that turns the ball over

the most, which the Lakers always do and they're able to pull it out. The Lakers had 16, the Clippers had 12, as you said. But I always look at free throws as well. Lakers don't shoot free throws extremely well on a regular basis. And tonight, they were 70%. I always think to win a championship, you have to shoot in the 80s. The Clippers did shoot in 80s tonight. The clippers shot 82.4%.

And so that was beneficial. The two categories that usually will get you a loss is being outshot on free throws and turn on the ball over more. And yet the Lakers finished on top in this game. A lot of things in this box scored just didn't make sense on what the final score was. Yeah, it's kind of interesting and frustrating all at the same time. So the other thing that came up, I was talking to a buddy about this, not a huge basketball fan, but I was kind of like, you know what,

maybe the maybe we have it all wrong as far as clipper fans go and then the internal mindset of the organization it's completely different than what we think it should be that they're like hey man we didn't think because brian seaman says this all the time i am surprised where the clippers are now i did not think they would be where they are now at 32 and 18 or basically he's saying over 500 in a playoff spot and maybe that's the mindset for this entire organization hey we're playing with house I know it looks bad right now, but we didn't think we would be as good as we are. So, hey, it's all good for us. If we, you know, win two of six, it's fine.

As long as we kind of keep hanging around 500, you know, maybe that's their mindset. I don't know. I feel like they should be better. You know, really kind of take the records out of it. I just look at this team and I go, there's no continuity. and there's no feeling that they're going to go on a run and be good, right? They're going to be okay. But I don't feel like, I remember 10, 15 years ago when the Dodgers every couple of years

would stumble into the playoffs. And I'd be like, whatever, they're not going to beat anybody. Yeah, it's cool that they got to the playoffs, but they're not, you can tell if you watch and you pay attention, I feel like here's a team that is hot and good and deep and stacked and they have what they need to make a run, you know, and like the Dodgers do now. But 10, 15 years ago, they'd get in. And you're like, so what?

They're going to get their butts kicked in the first round. That's how I feel about the clippers. It's like, yeah, they'll get into the playoffs, but they're going to get their butts kicked in the first round because they have no momentum. They have not gone on a run of any significance all season. At least last year, they did that the second James Hardin showed up. They started winning games and they went on a nice run.

they were the talk of the NBA for a few weeks. They are a complete also ran in L.A. Because the Lakers are on a run. Nobody gives, you know, 2S is about the clippers right now because they're just like, okay, they're not terrible. You know, it's just so fine.

It's fine. It's fine. You know, let's see what have, you know, playing Phoenix in a couple of days. Phoenix is pretty bad. They're number 11 in the league and they're going the wrong way. So, you know, maybe then get a win there and start to figure it out. But, you know, looking forward, I don't have a ton of confidence or excitement about what it's coming up for the Clippers. You know, obviously, Dave, it could change overnight like it did for the Lakers.

It literally changed overnight. So maybe that's what will happen for the Clippers too. I don't know. Maybe they'll get healthy and they'll find a rhythm. They got Phoenix and then back home to face Detroit, who's very good and punched them in the mouth last week. Um, they got New York coming in, Sacramento and a three game homestand. So, uh, you know, two of those three are winnable, I would say, uh, you never know with Detroit.

Obviously they're still very good. And that, that one, um, dude, what's his name? Ed or something. Um, that guy is the real deal. He's the kind of Cade Cunningham. That guy's the real deal. That's the kind of guy you want to have on your team. And that's the kind of guy you build around.

That's who the clippers need is a guy like. Hayd Cunningham. They don't have a guy like that. No, absolutely. Unfortunately for your team, you guys, you know, age is a factor, whereas the Lakers all of a sudden, by getting Luca, all of a sudden, the future is very bright from possibly the next 10 years. You know, for the Lakers this week coming up, they have the Pelicans on Tuesday where, as you said, LeBron's going to get his, you know, 50,000 combined points for regular season and postseason, which is, you know, a giant number. No one's ever done it. and then things get really serious for the Lakers. The Knicks come to town on Thursday, and then the primetime game will be Saturday night when the Lakers travel Boston take on the Celtics.

So it's going to be a big deal. Of course, Lakers Celtics is always a big deal. But you know, you said it. In Los Angeles, there's always something going on. I mean, there's something talking about. Even, you know, USC women's basketball right now is a big talk and what they did in the Big Ten, you know, first year in the Big Ten and UCLA was undefeated forever.

There's always a team. And right now, you tell me, I know you do Dodgers locked on, but this has always been, in my opinion, a Laker town. And then it feels like the Dodgers have become the story in Los Angeles. And so, you know, the Dodgers get things started, I believe, on the 19th of March in Japan against the Cubs. And then they'll face the Cubs again, which is kind of funny. They're both considered road games for the Dodgers, by the way. The Cubs gave up two home games at Wrigley to take the two home games there,

which usually you'd think two teams would split. We'll each give up one home game, but the Cubs are the home team. Either that being said, there's so many baseball fans right now who are saying, I can't wait for Dodger's season to get going. And you see in the chat,

you know, I think Craig mentioned the Dodgers swept today. I mean, we're talking spring training games and we're talking real games with the Clippers and Lakers. And yet, you know, it's always a fight for the piece of the pie of what is the talk of the town.

And right now, unfortunately, for the Clippers, it's not a good time for the Clippers. organization. For the Lakers, it's a great time. For the Dodgers, it's a great time. Yeah, Lakers are definitely going in the right direction and people are talking about it. There is a buzz surrounding them. I wanted to wrap up with this. I made this note during the game when LeBron made some disgustingly sick fade away. And he makes that shot look so easy. To me,

it's one of the harder shots in the game. I mean, if you don't play basketball and you go out with your buddies and you're screwing around, you try a fade away. And you can either hurt yourself or, you know, something worse. Because it's, such a tough shot, but these guys make it look so easy. Of course, Kauai has a sick fadeaway and so does Luca. If you had to compare those three fadeaways, which one is the, this historically the best? And take into account that Kauai has not been shooting a lot of them lately. He hasn't been what we have known from Kauai historically, but just in general, which one of those three fadeaways to you is, is the best, you know, the smoothest, the prettiest, the most exciting.

Laker fans are going to like it, but I'm going to say Kauai's is my favorite. And I think Kauai's, when people think of Kauai, the shot they think about is the one when he was with the Raptors, the one that hit the rim, bounced up and went in against the 76ers that put him into the finals. One of the most historic shots in NBA history. And, you know, the frustrating thing with Kauai is when he's healthy, he's as good as anybody. But he's, you don't know, you know, you hate to say you might be the boy, you cried wolf.

You just don't know. It becomes very frustrating, not knowing the best ability is availability. and that's what makes Kauai so frustrating. Yeah, when he gets that fadeaway going because his hands are up so high, it's just really tough to defend. It's kind of like, what's his name? Dirk Novitsky's fadeaway.

It was nearly impossible to defend, but I'll make up for you, and I will say of the two to me, I feel like LeBron's is the best. It's so pretty. And the explosion backwards from him, Kauai's is more of kind of a fadeaway jumper. LeBron's is just pure fadeaway.

He fades back like five feet. six feet and still nails it makes it look so easy. I'm just like, that shot is amazing. And I think we all just take for granted how hard it is because it is one of the more difficult shots in basketball. Kauai is also one of the few players, Pete, that still shoots kind of more like, I guess we would shoot or the people that listen to the show would shoot where he doesn't have that giant arc on his shot. You know, they teach the giant arc now because it's supposed to increase of the probability of going in, you know, how strong you have to be to shoot that arc. I mean, It is, it's not as easy as people think.

That, that arc is, is something else. But it's a reason why you don't see shots getting blocked. And, you know, the flat shot of that, you know, say the NBA is gone from the 80s. And it's just the way it's taught now. The Lucas shot is what it looks like now with the big giant arc. Yeah, indeed. Well, the Lakers win this one and take three or four from the Clippers this year,

108, 102. That's going to do it for us for Dave Palais. I'm Pete Fox. It's the Lockdown Lakers Clippers crossover postcast. Lakers have Pelicans coming up. When again? We have the Pelicans on Tuesday, Knicks on Thursday,

and travel to Boston on Saturday. And the Clippers will face the suns on Tuesday, and then they get Detroit back at Intuit a couple days after that. So thanks for watching. Thanks for List and have a good night. We will talk to you guys on Tuesday. Take care.