The Athletic NBA Daily
Clippers clinch playoffs; Warriors to play-in + NBA Regular Season Finale
Mon, 14 Apr 2025
Kawhi Leonard and James Harden combined for 72 points as the Clippers defeated Steph Curry and the Warriors to clinch a playoff spot. Dave DuFour, Es Baraheni and Zena Keita discuss the Clippers big win, Jonathan Kuminga’s benching, and the Warriors issues. Then, the gang recaps the final day of the regular season, discusses Chris Paul’s future, and the big takeaways from the year.Host: Dave DuFourWith: Zena Keita, Es Baraheni, Law MurrayExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson Moody Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened in the Warriors vs. Clippers game?
And I just thought also having a little bit more length and size because they were struggling to rebound. I think Moses Moody would have been – you know, if you could do this one over, right. As like you say, Oh, I'm going to close with Moses Moody.
Yeah. I mean, look, Moody still played 30 minutes and you, you think like the way that he was guarding at the point of attack to start in that first half was awesome. It was enough to keep you afloat. And so I think he brings similar things that Gary Payton does defensively.
I think some of the things to your point, Zena about the athleticism and kind of springing into action, GP two is just a little bit better at recognizing certain moments to get the ball and Moody, on the other hand, though, is a much more willing offensive player. And so I think about that final possession where Gary Payton Jr. is in the short roll.
He passes it to Draymond Green, but it's a little delayed. I think in those type of moments, having Moody as a guy who's a little bit more offensively adept, that's the type of guy you want in those situations. And Draymond misses that shot. So, you know what I mean?
And just for clarity, like I want to make sure I'm not saying that Gary Payton II is a spacer because he's not like a religious shooter in that way. He just, as S was saying, he has the heads up play to say, let me get out of this space. Let me cut in at this moment. Let me get to the short corner.
Like he finds a way to read the plays, I think, in a more elevated way than Jonathan Kaminga does right now.
I agree with that. And, you know, there are highlights from with the Kuminga, Draymond, Jimmy Butler trio being on the court. And you just say, OK, well, the Kuminga does not fit, period. Like he doesn't know where to fit. Steve Kerr is right that it doesn't work.
Steve Kerr is really right that it doesn't work.
I do want to say, though, before we I know we spent a lot of time on Jonathan Kuminga. We got to give props to Kuminga. Brandon Podemski. Yeah. Great game. Huge. Like, especially considering the bad game that he had against, was it the Spurs? Just like have been having some great games, fell off for a second and came back big time. I think that's a huge factor.
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Chapter 2: How did James Harden and Kawhi Leonard perform?
Not worried about any rust, Zena? You think he could just take the first round? No. I mean, Jalen Brown's so athletic. It's like, you know how kids can just run a mile in five minutes after never... I feel like Jalen Brown is very athletic where he could pop right back and not have any issues. It does... I mean, S, I didn't really think about that, but yeah.
What is the worst thing that could happen if you sit Jalen Brown... I don't know. It's going to be the Hawks, right? I mean, maybe it's the Bulls. I didn't even consider that. But now, yeah, I think that's smart. It's an interesting idea.
Yeah. You guys got any big takeaways from the season? You know, a favorite memory, anything? Just what do you want to remember about this season?
Oh, man, I will say, I think despite all of the hoopla and narrative about how the game should change and how there should be this adaption and adoption of some kind of new version of basketball, the basketball was great. We saw it with the final game of the regular season. We saw it throughout the 82 games that we watched. We were privy to all of it, basically. It was great basketball throughout.
And I just I loved it. It was awesome. That's the that's the only thing I wanted to mention. Good basketball.
I'm on the same page. I mean, we started the season with that Boston Celtics, almost record making, almost record breaking, record making or breaking. I don't remember. But in the threes that were everyone starting this narrative around all basketball is broken. And then a few months later, you fast forward that season. first Cleveland OKC matchup.
And then just a few weeks later, I mean, you saw the evolution of the season happen right before you where it was like, absolutely not. It's not just three balls going up. This is legitimate competition. And on top of it just being great basketball, the stars have shown up. There was a lot of conversations around people taking their time and load management and not playing.
Oh, the amount of the stars battling in the matchups they needed to. You saw it very much on the last day of the season as well today. but people actually playing, like feeling like they're playing for something and they really care to get better. And I really saw that this season for sure. Last but not least, thank you NBA for the drama. This is the Luka trade year. Oh, right.
Yeah, that happened. We covered this league during the craziest shift of events in NBA history, maybe?
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