Mike Fratello’s garlic bread can’t save Los Angeles Clippers

Even Mike Fratello’s garlic bread recipe couldn’t save the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

To set up the garlic bread conversation on the Clippers broadcast, let’s travel back in time to Jan. 25, 2022. The Clippers were in Washington losing to the Wizards by 35 points. But everything changed when Fratello started telling play-by-play voice Brian Sieman about his marinara sauce recipe. And it led to an epic comeback win by the Clippers.

Fast forward nearly four years to Wednesday night, where the Clippers found themselves with a similar deficit to the Timberwolves and Sieman attempted to rekindle Fratello’s recipe magic.

“What about garlic bread? What’s your position on garlic bread?” pic.twitter.com/jthpjQRSTo

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“What about garlic bread? What’s your position on garlic bread? Do you use Italian bread?” Sieman asked, before he appeared to notice Fratello wasn’t going to engage. “Do you not make garlic bread by yourself?”

“No, I do,” Fratello said. “But it’s a very strange question.”

Sieman tried to remind Fratello about the success of his marinara recipe, but the Czar of the Telestrator thought “do you make your own bread?” would have been a better question.

“I’m just saying, the last time we did this, we battled back from 35, won the game,” Sieman continued. “And I don’t feel I’m getting the cooperation from you. And more to the point, I’m trying to make a hearty meal for my family.”

It wasn’t quite Ian Eagle scolding Fratello about slip screens, but Sieman was definitely hoping for more garlic bread engagement from the former NBA coach. In Fratello’s defense, it’s garlic bread. Not many people take pride in their garlic bread recipes the way they might with a tomato sauce.

But there’s only so much analysis to give when a team is down by 35 points, so this is what you get in blowouts. Fratello’s marinara sauce conversation may have brought some magic a few years ago, but usually, the game is just too stale, even for garlic bread.

[KTLA]