Tag: Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers talks coaching in both Battle of L.A. and Lakers-Celtics

The Lakers-Clippers Christmas Day matchup has the potential to be one of the best games of the season.

Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers will go down as one of the best coaches in NBA history, and as part of his career, he’s had the privilege to lead two of the Lakers’ rivals.

Rivers coached the Boston Celtics for nine seasons, leading them to a title in 2008 and one other NBA Finals appearance in 2010. The Celtics played the Lakers in both Finals, with the Lakers taking the championship in 2010. Per Mark Medina of USA Today, Rivers talked about the difference in how he’s perceived the Lakers coaching both the Battle of L.A and Lakers-Celtics bouts.

The Lakers and Clippers will square off in a Christmas Day marquee matchup, with tip off set for 8 p.m. EST.

“It’s different for sure because the Celtic-Laker thing had this thing going long before,” Rivers said. “Everybody in the organization — Magic (Johnson) told me a great story years later. We (the Celtics) beat them (the Lakers) in 2008, he had a sit down with all those guys. (He said), ‘You guys don’t understand the rivalry. You gotta get involved in it.'”

The Celtics-Lakers rivalry has gone on throughout the NBA’s history, as the two teams have met 11 times in the Finals since the Lakers started playing in Los Angeles during the 1960-61 season.

The Lakers used to play in Minneapolis, and the Celtics played them once in the Finals while they played in Minnesota. Including when the Lakers played in Minneapolis, the Celtics have defeated the Lakers in the Finals nine times.

Rivers acknowledged how the Clippers and Lakers don’t have the history with their rivalry, but he did mention how proximity plays a factor.

“But we are in town,” Rivers said. “We see each other. And so that creates its own rivalry, even when the teams are good or bad. In-town rivals are in-town rivals, just like high school.”

The Lakers and Clippers are ranked first and fourth, respectively, in the Western Conference. The Clippers currently lead the season’s series 1-0, but the Christmas Day matchup has the potential to be one of the best games all season.

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Jovan Buha: Doc Rivers response to the …

Jovan Buha: Doc Rivers response to the NBA investigating the Clippers, per @Sam Amick’s story in @The Athletic: “They investigate every year. I don’t know why that is news. Every year, someone signs, there is going to be an investigation. That’s fine. The key is once you’re clear. From what I know, I don’t think we were the only ones. The NBA investigated six teams. I don’t know that. But I know there was more than one. We should. That’s what we have to do and make sure things are done right. The NBA said it was.”

LeBron James and Anthony Davis expected to play on Christmas vs. Clippers

The Los Angeles Lakers will have both of their stars available for their Christmas night showdown against the L.A. Clippers.

The NBA luckily doesn’t have to worry about a lump of coal for their marquee matchup on Christmas Day as the star duo for the Los Angeles Lakers is expected to get their first shot against the L.A. Clippers duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are expected to play on Wednesday although both have been dealing with some nagging injuries as of late, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin. Davis missed last Tuesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers with a sore ankle while James was out for Sunday’s game against the Denver Nuggets due to a thoracic muscle strain in his rib cage area.

The Lakers are currently riding a three-game losing streak, their only losing streak this season. They still have the best record in the Western Conference at 24-6 and while they are on a skid, they will certainly be motivated to make a statement that they truly are as good as their record says. A win against the Clippers, who many believe is the deeper and better team, would go a long way towards validating what’s been a phenomenal start to the season for the Lakers.

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Rivers called the NBA’s proposal for an …

Rivers called the NBA’s proposal for an in-season tournament that would also shorten the league’s schedule from 82 games to 78 “interesting.” But it sounds like Rivers likes the schedule the way it is. “I like our league now, but I think they’re looking at the soccer model,” Rivers said. “They did it and it’s worked for them. I try to stay open-minded with all of this stuff. I don’t have an opinion yet.”

You were recently called out by Doc …

You were recently called out by Doc Rivers after criticizing Kawhi Leonard’s load management. What did you take away from that? Doris Burke: I had reached out to the Clippers directly and said if Kawhi wants to say anything to me, let him know that I am happy to listen to whatever he might say to me. That’s our job as broadcasters. You have to be able to look that person in the eye. He chose not to do that and that’s fine. The same way with Doc. He was speaking from a frustrated coaching perspective and he used me as a launching off point. … If I could do it all over, I would make it less personal. I could’ve used a different term than “ridiculous.” I am aware of the power of the words, so I use those carefully. I don’t regret anything I said, though, I was frustrated from the fan’s perspective of missing out on a Kawhi-Giannis (Antetokounmpo) matchup.

How Rockets veteran P.J. Tucker put the clamps on Kawhi Leonard

Rockets veteran P.J. Tucker excelled defensively against Kawhi Leonard, holding the Clippers star to just 33.3% shooting on 12 attempts.

Just by looking at the box score, it might seem that Los Angeles Clippers susperstar and reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard had a strong outing Thursday night at home against the Houston Rockets.

Though the Clippers lost the game, the 6-foot-7 forward had 25 points on 47.4% shooting from the field and 40% on three-pointers. He also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists.

But box scores can occasionally be misleading. In the fourth quarter, when the game was in the balance, Leonard scored just four points and had a costly turnover as the Rockets took control of the game.

What changed? Veteran Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, who was limited at times during the game due to foul trouble, threw caution to the wind and hounded Leonard all over the Staples Center court when the game was on the line. Here’s a collection of his defensive highlights:

When guarded by Tucker, Leonard shot just 4-of-12 (33.3%) and turned the ball over twice, according to NBA.com’s tracking data.

“He’s one of the best players in the league,” Tucker said postgame of Leonard. “He’s strong, he’s physical. He’s a really good pull-up shooter, good catch-and-shoot shooter. He can do everything.”

“So you’ve just got to be physical with him,” Tucker said of his strategy. “Try to knock him off his spots. Try to make him take tough shots. I just put my body into him, and it comes down to players making plays.”

After the game, Clippers coach Doc Rivers singled out Tucker and Russell Westbrook (who scored a game-high 40 points) for their contributions.

Russ and Tucker were the two guys that changed the game for them. I thought Tucker’s defense and just overall toughness on everybody. Whoever he guarded, he got every loose ball, he got steals, I thought just his defensive energy and intensity changed the game for them.

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In addition to his elite man defense on Leonard, Tucker had the most rebounds of any player on either team at 12 — even though he’s undersized at 6-foot-5 and also older (34) than most of his opponents.

“Our defense was the difference,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said postgame about his team’s execution late in the game, when they had a 15-0 run in the final five minutes to take command.

D’Antoni continued:

Even when we were turning it over a couple times, if we didn’t get shots up or we missed shots, they didn’t score. P.J. was a big part of that with his defense on Leonard, and he came up with steals and rebounds. Guys were just playing as hard as they could play.

Leonard is far from alone, as it pertains to superstar NBA forwards that have struggled at times against Tucker’s relentless defense. In September, Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant identified Tucker as the league’s toughest one-on-one defender for him.

Tucker and the Rockets (19-9) return to action Saturday night at Phoenix (11-16) for the second game of a four-game West Coast road trip. The Rockets have now won eight of their last 11 games overall.

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You were recently called out by Doc …

You were recently called out by Doc Rivers after criticizing Kawhi Leonard’s load management. What did you take away from that? Doris Burke: I had reached out to the Clippers directly and said if Kawhi wants to say anything to me, let him know that I am happy to listen to whatever he might say to me. That’s our job as broadcasters. You have to be able to look that person in the eye. He chose not to do that and that’s fine.

Doris Burke: The same way with Doc. He …

Doris Burke: The same way with Doc. He was speaking from a frustrated coaching perspective and he used me as a launching off point. … If I could do it all over, I would make it less personal. I could’ve used a different term than “ridiculous.” I am aware of the power of the words, so I use those carefully. I don’t regret anything I said, though, I was frustrated from the fan’s perspective of missing out on a Kawhi-Giannis (Antetokounmpo) matchup.