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Justin Russo: Kawhi Leonard, on Kris Dunn: “He’s a tremendous piece for us, comes in every night guarding the best player, doing anything he can to slow them down, and tonight he had 5 steals. He’s making his open shots when he gets them and he’s been playing great.”
Law Murray: The LA Clippers have upgraded Cam Christie (ankle) to probable John Collins (illness) has been downgraded to questionable. Collins and Kris Dunn are the only Clippers that have appeared in each game so far this season.
Doug McKain: Luka Dončić on Jaxson Hayes having his back after Kris Dunn slammed the ball into his chest: "I'll pay his fine for sure. Everyone on this team has each other's back."
Luka Dončić on Jaxson Hayes having his back after Kris Dunn slammed the ball into his chest:
— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) November 26, 2025
"I'll pay his fine for sure. Everyone on this team has each other's back."
pic.twitter.com/NzuAsAtduA
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Kris Dunn pushed Doncic in the back, and Doncic confronted Dunn, who then put the basketball in Doncic’s chest. Jaxson Hayes then stepped in and pushed Dunn. In the end, Dunn was assessed two technical fouls and ejected from the game and Hayes was assessed a technical foul. Doncic shot a technical foul free throw with 3:33 left in the game. “Of course, I appreciate it,” Doncic said about Hayes stepping in to help him. “I told him right away, ‘Thanks for having my back.’ And that says a lot about him. That says a lot about this team. Everybody has got each other’s back.”
“From what I understand, he’s not gonna have guaranteed playing time,” Windhorst said. “There are going to be nights where James Harden and their backup Kris Dunn get the minutes at point guard and Chris Paul might not play at all, which is something you’ve never seen from him before. He has understood that. He understands that he’s gonna be in that spot that he hasn’t. He wants to be on a competitive team in the market he wants to play in near his family.”
Radio Talk Show host on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM in Phoenix John Gambadoro went on air to talk about some teams that could be interested in Durant, with a sleeper team now in the mix. "The one team that I think there will be communication [with]...this may be the Suns reaching out to them or them reaching out to the Suns or just mutual interest...is the Clippers," Gambadoro said. He continued to say, "We've never talked about the Clippers before but they got [Ivica] Zubac, they got [Kris] Dunn, they got [Norman] Powell, they got Derrick Jones [Jr.]. I'll have to look at what their draft capital is but the Clippers are a team that I heard."
For the first time in the series, Murray was better than Dunn, who is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. The two had gone back and forth for most of the series. But in Game 5, Murray owned him with his shot-making ability, crafty ballhandling and pick-and-roll play. “You have so many possessions against him, sometimes I just have to pick my spots,” Murray said about Dunn’s defense. “There are times I have to roll with the punches, and there are times I have to make him react to me. You have to do whatever is needed to keep him off balance. I know that I have to give him different looks and give him different things to think about.
Law Murray: Jamal Murray smiled when asked by @BennettDurando if he could still be motivated by Kris Dunn being selected over him in the 2016 NBA Draft “100 percent… 100 percent”
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Law Murray: Zach Zarba announces: - tech on James Harden - tech on Norman Powell - tech on Kris Dunn - tech on Nikola Jokic - tech on Aaron Gordon - tech on Christian Braun. No closed fists. Personal foul on Braun. No free throws lol PLAY ON!!!!
Justin Russo: Here you go: the entire incident between James Harden, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon, Ivica Zubac, and, well, everyone.
Here you go: the entire incident between James Harden, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon, Ivica Zubac, and, well, everyone. pic.twitter.com/MLqqU2RhPi
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) April 26, 2025
Still, the Clippers are here because of everyone else. Zubac, who should win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, is putting up post numbers comparable to Jokic and Joel Embiid. Powell could have been an All-Star. Dunn would be a lock for an All-Defensive team if he met the league’s weird minutes-played eligibility. “When you think about an NBA team, this is what you envision,” said Harden. “This is probably one of the coolest teams in the sense that everyone understands who each other is ... that's what makes this team so special.” Said Leonard, “There's guys on the floor that want to guard. They're just not just pointing at me and telling me to take them. These guys are looking an opponent in the eye and saying, ‘I want them.’ They motivate me defensively.”
Until they did. Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. tightened up the NBA’s third best defense. Nicolas Batum played 78 games and shot 43.3% from three. In larger roles, Zubac and Norman Powell thrived. Leonard and Harden are the biggest piece of the puzzle but they are part of one that fits. “I think when you have a team that appreciates their role and understands what their role is every single night and they're fine with it, it makes it a lot easier to coach,” said Lue. “What our guys have been able to do this year, understanding their roles … it kind of puts guys in their places and guys are fine with their roles and understand what we need from them every single night.”