The Gil’s Arena panel was appalled by the performance that the LA Clippers put up in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. As one might expect, Kawhi Leonard was the player to receive the most flack for a subpar offensive performance. Exclaiming how Luka Doncic (a subpar defensive piece at best) was able to play great defense on Leonard, Gilbert Arenas absolutely ripped apart the Clippers star’s decision-making during the matchup.
During one point in the fourth quarter of the encounter, Kawhi Leonard found himself at the top of the wing with Luka Doncic guarding him. The two-way star immediately called for an iso play, confident he could beat the Slovenian guard in a 1-on-1 situation. Unfortunately for him, the Mavericks had a little ploy at work, which eventually caused Leonard to miss atrociously from the mid-range. Having seen Kawhi fall for it, Arenas couldn’t stop berating the LA star for his ill-fated choice.
“It’s 10 seconds on the shot clock. As an offensive player, I never picked on the weakest player. The reason you do not pick on the weakest defender is because the team is designed to protect him… Luka is playing great defense but it’s great help defense too,” Arenas said.
Instead of forcing a shot, Agent Zero hoped that the Klaw would’ve passed the ball to a wide-open Norman Powell in the corner. Comparing the decision-making of the two-time Finals MVP to that of Nikola Jokic, Arenas had no doubts that the Denver Nuggets superstar would pass the ball to the open man immediately, implying that the Clippers star needed to take a giant page out of his book.
“If this ball was in Jokic hand, if this ball was in Murray hand, they would have made this pass which makes the team better,” Gil said.
The former NBA man even went as far as to point out what Russell Westbrook had done in order to get his team a good shot during the very same sequence, lauding him for the same.
He explained how, Powell ran to the far side of the court, with the Ball in Kawhi’s hands. As defenders Maxi Kleber and Kyrie Irving switched positions, Westbrook set an off-ball screen to get Powell free. Had Leonard made the pass, the sharpshooter would’ve attempted a wide-open corner three-pointer. And given that he has shot 43.5% from beyond the arc this season, the 30-year-old would’ve likely made it too.
It is hard to disagree with Gilbert Arenas on this point. While the LA Clippers are inarguably a better team with him on the floor, Leonard needs to make the right play. There were many different instances during the game where the star seemed to opt for personal glory over the right play, something that cost them a loss at home.
The LA Clippers will now head to Dallas in the hopes of winning at least one of the two games they will play there consecutively. Can the franchise star fix his approach during the upcoming game?
It seems that the team’s season now hangs on this question.
