Category: Los Angeles Clippers Blog

Clippers blog – LA Clippers blog

Clippers locking into playoff mindset

Winning the Pacific Division will guarantee the Clippers a top four seed but you can throw the seedings out the window if a lower-seeded team finishes with a better record than the Clippers. The team with the better record would capture home-court advantage in any round. So for example in a possible 4-5 match-up, the Grizzlies and Nuggets would have homecourt as the five seed if they finish with a better record.

Though the Clippers have always said they are only focusing on the here and now, with 17 games left in the season, the focus has to shift toward the playoffs and getting the best seed and matchup possible.

It’s only a matter of time before the Clippers capture their first division title and win 50 or more games in a season for the first time in franchise history. But it will be all for naught if they sputter down the stretch and are forced to open the playoffs on the road against Memphis or Denver.

They’d probably like to avoid Memphis and Denver altogether and try to face a team such as Houston, which has lost all three games against the Clippers this season.

— Reported by Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles

Clippers hand Pistons 5th straight defeat, 129-97

DeAndre Jordan

The Clippers had been talking in practice the last couple days about turning up their intensity.

DeAndre Jordan clearly got the message, slamming home a monster dunk in the second quarter of a 129-97 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night that had jaws dropping.

”That was the best dunk of the year and the best I’ve seen in person,” said no less an expert than Blake Griffin, who led seven players in double figures with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting in 21 minutes after early foul trouble.

The Clippers led by 26 points in the first half, building it with a 28-12 run that included two noteworthy dunks from the 6-foot-11 Jordan. The first one off Chris Paul’s alley-oop left Brandon Knight – who is 8 inches shorter – flat on his back with a foul…

Butler added 15 points before leaving in the third quarter with a left elbow contusion. Coach Vinny Del Negro said an X-ray was negative, and Butler will have a MRI on Monday. Matt Barnes added 16 points, Jordan finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, Willie Green had 11 points and Chauncey Billups 10 points.

The Clippers set season highs for points scored and shooting percentage (62) while leading the entire game. Their old high of 125 points came in a win over the Lakers last month…

Jose Calderon was one of five Pistons in double figures with 18 points as they lost their fifth in a row overall, fourth straight to the Clippers, and fell to 0-11 on the road against Western Conference opponents…

Clippers G Jamal Crawford missed his second straight game with a sore left ankle. He was shooting 60 percent and averaging 23.0 points in a four-game stretch before getting hurt. … The Clippers were without G Eric Bledsoe (sore left calf).

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Nuggets win 7th straight, rout Clippers 107-92

Ty Lawson

The Denver Nuggets routed the surging Los Angeles Clippers 107-92 on Thursday night, riding 21 points from Ty Lawson and 20 from Danilo Gallinari to their 12th straight home win.

Seven Nuggets scored in double figures as Denver won its seventh straight overall and improved to 27-3 at home, tied with the Miami Heat for best in the NBA.

Despite 19 points from Matt Barnes and 17 from Blake Griffin, the Clippers saw their five-game road winning streak come to an end.

More importantly, they lost the season series to the Nuggets 2-1, a tiebreaker that could come into play if Denver can catch them for the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Right now, the Nuggets are in fifth, behind Memphis…

Both teams had 11 turnovers, Denver outscored Los Angeles by a dozen points from long range and Paul was good, not great, scoring 16 points and dishing out 10 assists, one fewer than Lawson had…

Jamal Crawford, who had a game-high 22 points in the Clippers’ win over Denver on Christmas Day, sat out with a sore left ankle that he injured Wednesday night in L.A.’s 117-101 win over Milwaukee in which he scored 25 points…

Denver is 27-11 against Western Conference teams. … The Clippers have won six of the last nine games against the Nuggets.

— Reported by Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press

Serge Ibaka fined $25,000 for hitting Blake Griffin where it hurts

Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder has been fined $25,000 for striking Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers in the groin area, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, which was called a Flagrant Foul 1 on the floor and upgraded to a Flagrant Foul 2 upon league office review, occurred with 1:52 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s 108-104 win over the Clippers on Sunday, March 3 at Staples Center.

Clippers need to solidify their rotations

We’re in March and there are still moments when the Clippers will run out a lineup we haven’t seen before. It’s usually a mishmash lineup that will include Chauncey Billups and/or Grant Hill, who has missed most of the season with injuries, or Ryan Hollins, who was the odd man out earlier in the season but now is seeing more time.

The Clippers know Paul, Billups, Caron Butler, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are their starters. They know Jamal Crawford is their sixth man. They know Odom is the first big off the bench, and Matt Barnes and Eric Bledsoe are in that top nine as well.

The question now becomes: How much do you play Bledsoe and Crawford in relation to Billups, who is at the end of his career and coming off a major injury? How much do you play Barnes in relation to Butler when Barnes on some nights is more effective on both ends of the floor? And where do Hill, Ronny Turiaf, Hollins and Willie Green fit in?

— Reported by Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles

Clippers blow out Bobcats 106-84

With the NBA’s worst team in town, the Los Angeles Clippers were conscious not to play down to the Bobcats’ level.

Blake Griffin scored 24 points, keying a decisive second-quarter burst that put the Clippers in command en route to a 106-84 victory Tuesday night that improved their home record to 23-6.

Matt Barnes added 17 points off the bench, Caron Butler had 16 points, DeAndre Jordan 13, and Chris Paul had 13 of the Clippers’ season-high 34 assists for their sixth win in seven games. The Bobcats managed just 17 assists…

Gerald Henderson tied his season high with 24 points and Kemba Walker had 15 points for Charlotte, which has lost four straight and 12 of 14 while falling to 7-23 on the road…

The Clippers put together a 21-6 run over the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth that extended their lead to 91-63 – largest of the game. Lamar Odom ended the third with a 3-pointer and opened the fourth with another for six points in the spurt. Griffin had five points and Grant Hill three.

Griffin was involved in two highlights during that stretch. Jordan blocked a shot, Paul grabbed the ball and fed Griffin on the break for a left-handed dunk and a foul that resulted in a three-point play. Barnes set Griffin up on the break with an alley-oop pass that the All-Star converted into a layup…

Clippers backup G Jamal Crawford had the night off after his wife gave birth to their daughter, London Faith, on Monday in Seattle. He will rejoin the team for its game at Indiana on Thursday. … Clippers reserve G Eric Bledsoe sat out with a sore left calf he injured last week against San Antonio. He’s day-to-day.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

A look at Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe

A look at Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe

He’s always had the athletic gifts, but now he’s started to develop point guard habits, finding open cutters and shooters, connecting with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan for lobs. He looks much more comfortable controlling the offense than ever before.

Bledsoe has been a statistical anomaly so far this season. His per-36 minute stats are in line with his starting numbers, suggesting he could be an All-Star candidate with increased playing time.

He started — and performed well — during Paul’s recent injury stint. He averages 18.5 minutes with Paul having returned to the starting lineup. With more traditional shooting guards on the roster — Jamal Crawford, Willie Green and now a healthy Chauncey Billups — Vinny Del Negro has opted to mainly deploy Bledsoe at point guard, and rarely alongside Paul.

“I just come in and provide that spark that we need to get everybody involved,” Bledsoe said.

“He’s a good defensive player. He likes to play center field and gamble,” Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins said after a recent loss to the Paul-less Clippers. “He’s got great quickness and great athleticism. … Just that aspect of his game, his athleticism, is what creates problems.”

Though he’s generously listed at 6-foot-1, Bledsoe has a deceptively long 6-foot-7 wingspan and a 40-inch vertical, allowing him to steal passes and block shots most players his size aren’t capable of reaching. “Bledsoe is a very good pressure guy,” Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said earlier this season. “If you turn your back on him and expose the ball at all, they’re going to get it.”

— Reported by Jovan Buha of ESPN Los Angeles

Lamar Odom continues to struggle on offense

lamar odom

[Clippers forward Lamar] Odom is in shape now after struggling with his conditioning earlier in the season.

He’s rebounding the ball well — Odom is third on the Clippers in rebounds per game (5.8) while playing 20.3 minutes per game.

It’s his lack of offense that has caused so much consternation among his teammates, coaches and Clippers fans.

Odom is averaging a career-low 3.9 points while shooting 39.7% from the field, the second-lowest percentage of his career.

“It takes time and it’s humbling,” Odom said. “All you can do is keep at it.

“I just stayed with it. You don’t have no choice but to get better when you practice every day against Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan and Jamal [Crawford]. Everything that we do is intense. So time will come and hopefully it can stay.”

— Reported by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times

Clippers are not in a trading mood

The Clippers indicated Wednesday that they have no plans to make any trades before the NBA’s deadline Thursday at noon PST.

Even Coach Vinny Del Negro said after practice the team is not looking to make moves because he and his staff like the team that they have.

The most prevalent rumor had back-up point guard Eric Bledsoe and center DeAndre Jordan going to the Boston Celtics for center Kevin Garnett.

Because Bledsoe, 23, and Jordan, 25, are so young, Del Negro was asked whether he needed to talk with them about the rumors.

“No, because if I felt it was necessary, I would do that,” Del Negro said. “But there are a bunch of needs out there. Like you said, they are young players that teams covet and that’s a good thing. That’s a good thing for us. That’s a good thing for them.

— Reported by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times