His little pass fake surprised the Spurs defense in transition enough to score an easy basket. Daniel Theis had just opened his points counter on the Spurs floor, after being served in transition by Russell Westbrook.
A few possessions later, the Clippers’ new interior was served on a caviar on the ground of James Harden. He who was in decline with the Pacers seems to be finding color in Los Angeles. After a discreet first outing against the Rockets (2 points and 3 rebounds in 10 minutes), he recalled what he was capable of last night in San Antonio.
Finding your niche alongside the stars
Served on multiple occasions by the two men mentioned above – the German returned the favor to Russell Westbrook on a “back-door” pass – the 31-year-old player multiplied the dunks and finishes in the circle, while showing that he was capable of sanctioning 3-points at the head of the racket (1/1).
“ When you play with great players, you find your niche, you find where you are supposed to be on the floor. You’re going to get easy shots, so it’s going to come. He’s still trying to learn the systems. We try to stay as simple as possible with him when he is on the pitch “, summarizes Tyronn Lue after the meeting.
No need to do much more complicated than taking advantage of the attraction of your new teammates. Because behind creators James Harden and Russell Westbrook, opposing defenses must also monitor Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
He had hurt Team USA very badly
“ It’s so cool to play with four future Hall of Famers on the same team. Winning makes things even sweeter. I don’t worry about the shots. I set screens and make the guys stand out », Describes the “role player”, author of 19 points (8/10 on shots), 7 rebounds, 2 assists and +18 when he was in play against the Spurs.
Qualities long put to the service of the Celtics in the past and of which Tyronn Lue was already well aware. The two men crossed paths this summer on the World Cup stage. Daniel Theis did a lot of harm to “Team USA” (21 points) in the semi-final.
Assistant to Steve Kerr at the time, Clippers coach did not imagine integrating him to its workforce a few months later. But already he was under the spell of “ his intensity, how hard he plays, he’s able to change on defense, cut to the rim. (Dennis) He and Schroder have a great two-man game. » This game will now go through James Harden and the others.
| Daniel Theis | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2017-18 | BOS | 63 | 15 | 54.1 | 31.0 | 75.3 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 5.3 |
| 2018-19 | BOS | 66 | 14 | 54.9 | 38.8 | 73.7 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 5.7 |
| 2019-20 | BOS | 65 | 24 | 56.6 | 33.3 | 76.3 | 2.2 | 4.4 | 6.6 | 1.7 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 9.3 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 65 | 25 | 54.1 | 32.2 | 67.3 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 9.7 |
| 2020-21 * | BOS | 42 | 24 | 55.2 | 34.7 | 68.7 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.5 |
| 2020-21 * | CHI | 23 | 25 | 52.2 | 28.1 | 65.1 | 1.7 | 4.2 | 5.9 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 10.0 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 47 | 21 | 51.9 | 30.8 | 68.1 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 8.2 |
| 2021-22 * | HOU | 26 | 23 | 46.9 | 29.1 | 67.5 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 5.0 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 8.4 |
| 2021-22 * | BOS | 21 | 19 | 59.8 | 35.7 | 68.8 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 7.9 |
| 2022-23 | IND | 7 | 16 | 47.7 | 18.2 | 41.7 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 7.0 |
| 2023-24 * | All Teams | 2 | 9 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| 2023-24 * | IND | 1 | 8 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| 2023-24 * | LAKE | 1 | 11 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Total | 315 | 19 | 54.2 | 32.5 | 71.1 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 7.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
