Miniseries reminds Lue of playoffs
On TV, the limited series is the hot thing these days.
It’s the same on the court, during this coronavirus-compacted NBA season.
The Clippers’ back-toback set in Memphis this week is one of six “miniseries” — as Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins characterized them — on L.A.’s schedule this season.
Most of them consist of two games in three days, including the Clippers’ first three sets, starting in January, when they split a pair of games against the Warriors and swept Oklahoma City before splitting with Utah this month.
The Clippers’ quick twogames-in-two-days stopover in Memphis this week meant they didn’t have much time to stew about Thursday’s 122-94 loss: “Absolutely,” they were looking forward to a nextday shot at redemption AllStar wing Paul George said Thursday night.
But it also meant they’d need to adjust in a hurry — an experience that could prove a valuable test run for the postseason.
“This is sort of like a playoff game because you get a chance to go home and see what you did wrong, things you can correct, things you can kind of try to attack and exploit, and playing the same team back to back,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said, via Zoom video conference, before tip-off Friday. “Reminds you of the playoffs. So we got to come out with a playoff mentality.”
Jenkins said before Thursday’s game that the chess-like aspect of responding quickly to an opponent’s moves is resonating with his coaching colleagues.
“There’s a lot of talk about these kinds of miniseries throughout the season, a lot of teams have enjoyed it,” said Jenkins, whose Grizzlies are playing just their second such series this season, after the previous three on their schedule were postponed entirely or in part due to health and safety protocols put in place by the league.
Jenkins said his plan was to “attack the first game as if it’s a game by itself ... go out there and play the best we can here in Game 1,” and then, like Lue, to “learn from the film afterwards.”
“Playing the same opponent two nights, or two games back-to-back gives you an opportunity to make some tweaks, change some things, emphasize some of the things you did well,” Jenkins added, before his team’s successful opening gambit Thursday. “It’s kind of a chess match, you know, these little mini playoff series. It’s been exciting. It’s allowed our coaching staff to dive in a little bit more.”
Morant: A Rose by another name
Not long after Ja Morant and his teammates punished the Clippers on Thursday, George put the result aside and raved about the 21-year-old guard who had just gone streaking past or twisting away from L.A. defenders for easy buckets. Or flicking no-look lobs to his teammates for easy makes. Or launching himself off the hardwood for dunks to add to his growing highlight reel.
“He’s so athletic and so gifted, he’s so agile, I could compare him to like Derrick Rose, with his explosiveness and ability to just shift his body, move his body in the air, you gotta compare it to someone like D-Rose,” George said of Morant, who had 16 points and seven assists in the win. “He just makes highlight plays after highlight plays. And just makes it look easy out on there on the court.”