Los Angeles Clippers Blog – Page 51 – NBA Blog

Matt Barnes suspended one game for striking Greg Stiemsma in neck

Matt Barnes of the Los Angeles Clippers has been suspended one game without pay for striking Greg Stiemsma of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the neck, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 8:26 remaining in the second quarter of the Clippers’ 96-90 victory over the Timberwolves on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at Target Center.

Barnes will serve his suspension tonight when the Clippers visit the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.

To view the play, click on this link.

Lazar Hayward returns to Los Angeles D-Fenders

Lazar Hayward has returned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, it was announced today. Hayward, signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 31st, became the D-Fenders first NBA Call-Up of the season and 12th in team history.

Selected by Washington in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft (30th overall) and later traded to Minnesota on draft day, Hayward has been a member of Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Houston since joining the NBA. In 72 career NBA games with the Thunder and Timberwolves, Hayward has averaged 2.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 8.2 minutes. The 6-6, 225 pound forward also played three games with Tulsa of the NBA Development League in 2012, averaging 24.0 points 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 34.3 minutes.

A standout at Marquette University, Hayward finished his career with the Golden Eagles as the program’s second all-time leading scorer (1,859 points) and fifth all-time leading rebounder (910 rebounds) after averaging 13.5 points (45.2 FG%; 35.7 3FG%) along with 6.6 rebounds in 138 career games. Additionally, the Buffalo, New York native was named to the All-Big East Second Team (2008, 2010) as well as the Big East All-Tournament Team (2010), and earned an All-America Honorable Mention selection by the Associated Press (2010) during his time at Marquette.

Still unclear when Chris Paul will return for Clippers

There still is no set date for the return of injured Clippers point guard Chris Paul, Coach Vinny Del Negro said Sunday.

“Day to day, no timetable,” Del Negro said of Paul, the team’s star playmaker who is out because of a bruised right kneecap.

“With a bone bruise it’s just a matter of letting it calm down,” and then the Clippers have to wait “until he gets out on the court [in practice] and see how he reacts,” Del Negro said.

In the meantime, “it’s a matter of when [head trainer] Jasen [Powell] gives him the OK to get out there and start working,” Del Negro said.

— Reported by Jim Peltz of the Los Angeles Times

Clippers look for Lamar Odom to shoot more

The Clippers know Lamar Odom isn’t shooting the basketball well, but the team still wants him to take his shots.

They want Odom to be more aggressive on the offensive end. They especially want Odom to look for his shot more than he has.

Before the Clippers played the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night at the Rose Garden, Odom had taken a total of 200 shots, the ninth-highest on the team.

He’s making just 37% of his shots, 12.2% (six for 49) of his three-point shots.

But that doesn’t mean the Clippers don’t want Odom to shoot the basketball.

“I don’t want to rattle the boat,” Odom said after taking some extra shots at Saturday’s shoot-around.

— Reported by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times

Nic Batum gets triple-double, Blazers edge Clippers 101-100

Nicolas Batum had 20 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists for his second triple-double in a week and the Portland Trail Blazers handed the Los Angeles Clippers their fourth straight loss with a 101-100 victory on Saturday night.

The Clippers, playing without guard Chis Paul for the third straight game because of a bruised right kneecap, trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half but reclaimed the lead in the fourth quarter.

They held off the Blazers until Wesley Matthews pulled Portland within 100-99 with a layup and free throw.

J.J. Hickson made a pair of foul shots to give the Blazers back the lead with 45 seconds left and Jamal Crawford missed a 19-foot jumper for the Clippers with 0.9 seconds left for the final margin.

Blake Griffin had 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Clippers, just shy of his third career triple-double.

The Clippers are 3-3 in the six total games Paul has missed because of his kneecap.

Eric Bledsoe once again started in the All-Star guard’s place…

The Clippers have been without guard Chauncey Billups since Dec. 5 because of tendinitis in his left foot. Billups, Del Negro said, is improving, although there is still no timetable for his return. … DeNegro said he thought Clippers sixth man Jamal Crawford – who played for the Blazers last year – should have made the All-Star team. Crawford is averaging 16.7 points and playing starter’s minutes (29.3 per game) with the Clippers. ”Obviously I’m biased,” Del Negro said. ”Jamal has been fantastic for us.”

— Reported by Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press

Lindsey Hunter 2-0 as coach after Suns beat Clippers

The Phoenix Suns are 2-0 under Lindsey Hunter, and the Los Angeles Clippers dearly miss Chris Paul.

Goran Dragic scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half and the Suns held on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 93-88 on Thursday night, giving Hunter his second victory in two nights as interim coach after he replaced the fired Alvin Gentry.

Marcin Gortat added 15 points, including two free throws with 23.3 seconds left. Luis Scola and Markieff Morris had 14 apiece for the Suns, who have won consecutive games for the first time since a season-high, four-game winning streak ended on Dec. 19. Dragic also had eight assists.

The Clippers, who lost their third straight, were without Paul for the fifth time in seven games because of a bruised right kneecap. The team is 3-2 without him, and he’s expected to miss two more games.

Jamal Crawford led Los Angeles with 21 points. Eric Bledsoe scored 15 and Blake Griffin had 12. Griffin said he reinjured his left ankle early in the game but still played 36 minutes.

”Our offense was stagnant,” Griffin said. ”Our defense wasn’t great. We did a poor job and it starts with me. I have to do a better job of setting the tone early and being a leader out there, especially with Chris not out there.”

The Clippers shot just under 40 percent for the game, 33 percent (7 for 21) in the fourth quarter.

— Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

Los Angeles Clippers agree to 10-year extension of Staples Center lease

The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to a 10-year extension of their STAPLES Center lease it was jointly announced by Andy Roeser, President, Los Angeles Clippers and Timothy J. Leiweke, President & CEO, AEG, owner and operators of the Los Angeles arena.

“We are very excited about our present and our future at STAPLES Center. It is indeed an honor to benefit from the sustained stability that accompanies being part of the greatest venue in the NBA, and we are glad to provide this state of the art backdrop to our deserving and loyal fan base,” said Clippers’ President Andy Roeser.

The Clippers, one of the arena’s original anchor tenants, played its first regular season game at STAPLES Center on November 2, 1999 against the Seattle Supersonics. Under the new agreement, which becomes effective at end of the current 2012-13 season, the franchise will continue to call the arena their home thru June, 2024, a period of 25 years.

“Donald Sterling, Andy Roeser and the entire Clippers organization have been not just great partners but a huge part of the success of STAPLES Center,” said Timothy J. Leiweke, President & CEO, AEG. “Their contributions have served to make this unique three team anchor tenant relationship both mutually successful as well as mutually beneficial. We are happy for their many achievements and are proud to call them our partners and friends.”

Before games of Wednesday, January 22, the Los Angeles Clippers currently rank first in the NBA’s Pacific Division. The team’s record of 32-10 (.761) is second best in the NBA.

Donald T. Sterling enters his 32nd year as Owner and Chairman of the Board of the Clippers. He ranks among the longest-tenured NBA owners and is one of the few remaining sole owners of a professional sports franchise in any league.

Clippers cruise to 90-77 win over Timberwolves

Jamal Crawford scored 22 points, Blake Griffin added 20 and the Los Angeles Clippers hardly broke a sweat in cruising to a 90-77 victory over the free-falling Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.

Lamar Odom grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out six assists, and the Clippers outscored Minnesota’s bench 45-23 to overcome Chris Paul’s third straight missed game because of a knee injury.

Luke Ridnour scored 21 points and Ricky Rubio had four points and six assists in his first start of the season for the Timberwolves, who lost leading scorer and rebounder Nikola Pekovic to a bruised right quadriceps in the third quarter.

The Timberwolves shot just 35.7 percent and missed 15 of their 19 3-pointers in losing their fifth straight game.

Even without their MVP candidate out there to steer the ship over the last few games, the Clippers have been humming right along. Backup Eric Bledsoe clearly has been watching how Paul goes about his business because the third-year Kentucky point guard has played with a maturity and explosiveness that has allowed the Clippers to not miss a beat…

Pekovic was injured while getting tangled with Griffin under the basket in the third quarter and Alexey Shved rolled his left ankle midway through the final period, the latest in an incredible pile of injuries for the Wolves this season.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Clippers without Chris Paul beat Grizzlies without Rudy Gay

Playing without Chris Paul proved no problem for the Clippers. Not having Rudy Gay was a much bigger issue for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Reserves Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes each scored 16 points, and the Clippers easily routed the Grizzlies 99-73 Monday night with Paul missing his first game this season because of a bruised right kneecap.

”Missing the best point guard in the world in Chris Paul, we all had to play collectively and step it up, and I thought we did a good job of that,” Crawford said.

The matchup between two of the best teams in the West wasn’t close after the first quarter. While Paul watched from the bench, the Grizzlies were without their leading scorer: Gay was excused for his grandmother’s funeral in Baltimore.

This also was the Clippers’ first trip to Memphis since they won Game 7 of their opening-round playoff series last May. All they did was match their largest margin of victory on the road this season while holding the Grizzles to a season-low in points and their worst field goal shooting percentage on their home court in franchise history…

Eric Bledsoe, starting for Paul, had 14 points, and Blake Griffin scored 10. Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was able to give nine players at least 17 minutes each before heading to Houston for the second half of a back-to-back Tuesday night…

Zach Randolph had 15 for Memphis, which lost its second straight blowout, after losing 104-83 at Dallas on Saturday night. Wayne Ellington added 11 in a rare start in place of Gay, and Darrell Arthur had 10 as the Grizzlies shot just 30.3 percent (27 of 89), a franchise-low at home. Randolph said they really missed Gay’s ability to drive and relieve pressure…

The Clippers had a 40-36 scoring edge in the paint as DeAndre Jordan and Griffin helped limit Randolph to 5-of-16 shooting and Marc Gasol to 4 of 13.

— Reported by Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press

Magic break 10-game losing streak with road win over Clippers

Two streaking teams going in opposite directions. The Clippers, co-owners of the NBA’s best record and on a roll at home. The Magic, playing opponents close only to fall short while piling up the franchise’s longest skid since the 2003-04 season…

J.J. Redick gave Orlando its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, Arron Afflalo tied his season high with 30 points, and the Magic won 104-101 on Saturday to snap a 10-game skid.

“It wasn’t a letdown by us. Don’t try to take anything away from them,” Clippers guard Chris Paul said. “They made tough shot after tough shot. J.J. Reddick had a hand in his face half the time.” …

Redick added 21 points, and Vucevic had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the injury-riddled Magic, who also stopped a four-game road losing streak. They completed a sweep of the LA teams, having beaten the Lakers 113-103 at Staples Center on Dec. 2, when Afflalo also scored 30 points.

“Too bad we can’t play here all year,” said Afflalo, who starred at UCLA before Vucevic played across town at Southern California. “I was the sour grape at the end letting guys know this only counts as one game.”

Griffin tied his season-high with 30 points, Crawford added 13 points, and Paul had 10 points and 16 assists for the Clippers…

Grant Hill made his season debut for the Clippers, entering the game to a standing ovation in the fourth. The seven-time All-Star had missed 36 games with a bone bruise in his right knee. He made two free throws and had two rebounds in six minutes.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press