SASANDAL si Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers kay Kawhi Leonard sa pagsagupa nila sa Denver Nuggets sa Game 7 ng kanilang Western Conference semifinals series.
Nasayang ng Clippers ang double-digit leads sa back-to-back games laban sa Nuggets, at ang kanilang dating commanding 3-1 lead sa best-of-seven series ay naglaho.
Inaasahang magiging mainit ang bakbakan sa deciding Game 7, kung saan ang mananalo ay makakaharap ng Los Angeles Lakers sa conference finals.
Ang kanilang pagkulapso sa Games 5 at 6 ay naging malaking alalahanin para kay Rivers, subalit nananatili siyang kumpiyansa na mananaig ang Clippers sa Game 7.
Krusyal sa kanilang game plan si Leonard, ang two-time Finals Most Valuable Player na lumagda sa Los Angeles sa offseason makaraang pangunahan ang Toronto Raptors sa NBA title.
“Oh, he’s unshakable,” wika ni Rivers patungkol sa 28-anyos na si Leonard.
“Kawhi, you can’t guarantee he’ll play well or not because he’s human and all players are,” dagdag pa niya.
“But you know, the moment won’t be too big. That’s the one thing like with him, you just know that. You know, so that’s comforting to know that.”
Si Leonard ay may average na 29.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists, at 2.3 steals per game para sa Clippers sa playoffs.
Para sa iba pang key guys, umaasa si Rivers na hindi malalagay sina Patrick Beverley at Paul George sa foul trouble. Si Beverley ay na-foul out makalipas ang 18 minuto sa Game 6, habang si George ay team-worst minus-23 sa kabila ng pagkamada ng 33 points sa laro.
“When you think about like last night as an example, we have a chance to go up big, but Pat and PG are in foul trouble, and it limits rotations, it limits what you can do,” ani Rivers.
“That’s the unplanned stuff that actually happens in games that you can’t control. You can control not doing it, hopefully, as a player on the floor, but when it happens, it definitely throws the rotations that you had set for the game out of the window,” dagdag pa niya.
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