DALLAS — Orange creamsicle. Coconut chocolate chip. Vanilla – with bits of vanilla bean. Chocolate-Mangga-Ube. The array of flavors perhaps-but-probably-not powering the Clippers this postseason has been vast.
Lucas Hann, one of the hosts of the Clippers’ podcast, “The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast,” started something of a trend when he took to Twitter to equate the timing of his ice cream consumption with the team’s success. Fellow fans took notice and started strategically timing their ice cream eating too.
But it’s not just fans who have been doing what they can think of to bring the Clippers – a franchise that’s been snake bit for so long and went into Friday’s game trailing Dallas, 3-2, in their first-round playoff series and facing elimination again – good fortune.
Serge Ibaka, the Clippers’ injured center, has been tweeting about the power of his voodoo room – where he claimed to be stationed during the team’s two series-tying victories in Dallas.
“Do you believe me now?” he queried the Twittersphere after the game was won. “And will you believe now I’m telling you we will also win the series?”
(Ibaka wasn’t in the voodoo room Wednesday, though, having joined his team on the sideline at Staples Center, dressed conspicuously in typically stylish garb. And he accompanied the Clippers to Dallas on Friday.)
The Clippers were +18 in 19:36 of ice cream time tonight and -8 in the other 28:24
— Playoff L (@LucasJHann) May 29, 2021
Terance Mann, of course, shared earlier that he’s been toting around a rookie card of his now-teammate Rajon Rondo in his wallet since middle school. Why? For luck, of course.
“The story is: Somebody gave it to me, and then I had made the A team for my travel team, and I was like, ‘They gave it to me that day and I made the A team,’” Mann said in March. “And I was like, ‘Man, it’s gotta be because of this card!’
“So I kept the card and I just kept getting better and better at basketball, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s because of this card, I’m going to the NBA, definitely.” And I’ve just had it in my wallet ever since. It’s like a good luck charm.”
Even facing elimination, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said he wasn’t inclined to exercise any superstitions; he’s more scientific about the fate of the Clippers’ players and team. He’s probably also got enough to game plan for without having to stir in flavors of ice cream or double-check his wallet for a lucky card.
“Because, what, if you don’t do the same thing over and over again you’re going to be off your game?” Lue said. “I don’t play that mental game with myself – just go out and play, trust the work you put in and just go from there.”
GIANT STEPS
Whether or not the Rondo rookie card had anything to do with it, Mann has taken a significant jump as an NBA sophomore.
In Year 1, the former Florida State standout was a seldom-used rookie point guard with a hazy future who was averaging just 2.4 points, 1.3 assists per game while shooting 35% from 3-point range.
In Year 2, Mann stepped in as an aggressive go-to wing who averaged 7 points, 1.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 41.8% from deep – and who, on Wednesday, was getting crucial fourth-quarter minutes with a playoff game on the line.
He played 10:18 in the final period of Game 5, when the Clippers outscored the Mavericks, 25-16, nearly rallying all the way back from an 89-75 deficit.
In that fourth quarter, Mann contributed a pair of blocked shots, a steal and made his only shot from the field – though he missed both of his free-throw attempts and passed up a potential go-ahead layup with 10 seconds to go, dumping off a pass to Nicolas Batum who rushed a shot that missed the mark and wound up back with the Mavericks.
Even with those few foibles, Lue credited Mann for much of the Clippers’ resilience in Game 5.
“His performance was great,” Lue said. “We were able to switch one through five; I thought can he a great job of guarding Luka and that’s how we got back in the game. We got stops and was able to get out in transition. …
“It was good seeing T-Mann out there bringing the intensity that he’s brought us all season long. So it was good to see.”
On the @LucasJHann train for game 4 with my favorite ice cream. pic.twitter.com/7kFqwNvgVP
— Seth Kimbrell (@Seth_J_K) May 31, 2021
In case of emergency, #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/7UVAYkvkvf
— John Paul Manahan (@misterjpmanahan) May 31, 2021
Almost that time @LucasJHann pic.twitter.com/bcFuZZIyIq
— Matías Rodríguez (@MatRodriguez7) May 31, 2021
I just got a phone call from my voodoo room… we are about to tie the series today #ClipperNation #voodooRoom pic.twitter.com/1sqATNwWYD
— Serge Ibaka (@sergeibaka) May 31, 2021
Terance Mann has been carrying Rondo’s rookie card in his wallet since MIDDLE SCHOOL as a “good luck charm” 🤯
And now they’re teammates 🤞@terance_mann @RajonRondo (via @TomerAzarly) pic.twitter.com/Ie00FS2NL1
— Overtime (@overtime) March 26, 2021
.@MirjamSwanson: "Ty, do you have any superstitions?"
Ty Lue: "No."
MS: "Why?"
TL: "Because what, if you don't do the same thing over &over again, you're gonna be off your game? Like, I don't wanna play that mental game w/ myself. Just go out &play, trust the work you put in." pic.twitter.com/EyY0m4hP2P
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 4, 2021
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