Los Angeles Clippers Blog – Page 53 – NBA Blog

Clippers win 17th in row, go 16-0 in December

After their 17th consecutive victory gave them a perfect month, the Los Angeles Clippers finally paused to admire their achievement.

”We got something extremely magical going on,” said Caron Butler after the Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 107-96 on Sunday night to become the third team in NBA history to record a perfect month.

The Clippers went 16-0 in December to join the 1995-96 San Antonio Spurs, which included Del Negro, and 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers as the only teams to go undefeated in a month. Their franchise-record winning streak is the longest since Boston won 19 in a row four years ago.

”I am amazed because I haven’t done it since I’ve been in the league,” said seven-year veteran Chris Paul, whose 19 points and nine assists helped his team maintain the league’s best record at 25-6.

Butler led the Clippers with 29 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter and made all six of his 3-pointers, including five in the opening period. Jamal Crawford scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Blake Griffin piled up five fouls and was held to seven points after getting double-teamed…

Al Jefferson scored 30 points – one off his season high – to lead Utah, which fell victim for the third time during the Clippers’ streak. The Jazz lost 116-114 on Friday when the Clippers rallied from 19 points down, and they were beaten 105-104 on Dec. 3, both times at home.

”It’s frustrating,” said Gordon Hayward, who had 16 points. ”Knowing that they’re a good team and knowing that we’re always right there with them, knowing that we need to keep on playing good for 48 minutes.”

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Clippers beat Celtics by 29 for 15th straight win

Matt Barnes tied his season high with 21 points off the bench, Chris Paul had 11 assists and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated Boston 106-77 on Thursday night, becoming the first team to win 15 consecutive games since the Celtics four years ago.

Fellow reserve Jamal Crawford added 17 points, Blake Griffin had 15 points and Caron Butler 14 to help the Clippers improve the NBA’s best record to 23-6.

Kevin Garnett scored 16 points for Boston, which never led in dropping to .500 at 14-14 with its fifth loss in seven games. Paul Pierce and Jeff Green added 12 points each to go with 10 apiece from Jason Terry and Rajon Rondo…

Barnes had the Clippers’ first five points in a 9-0 run that opened the fourth quarter and boosted their lead to 90-67. Willie Green briefly played; otherwise the Clippers’ other starters rested to close out the game.

The Celtics were held to 10 points in the final 12 minutes…

The game got chippy at times. In the third, Jared Sullinger was called for a flagrant-1 foul for grabbing the front of Griffin on his way up to dunk. Then Butler and Pierce emerged from a big mass both holding onto the ball, leading to a jump ball. In the first, Rondo was lying on the ball and Paul tried to take it out from under him on the sideline, leading to a testy moment…

Justin Bieber (who had Paul’s young son sitting on his lap), Billy Crystal and Olympic 200 sprint champion Allyson Felix were among the Clippers’ 67th consecutive sellout crowd.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

LeBron James, Chris Paul named Players of Week

Miami Heat forward LeBron James and Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul today were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Dec. 17, through Sunday, Dec. 23.

James led the Heat to a 3-0 week behind averages of 25.3 points (third in the conference), 7.7 assists (fourth in the conference), 8.0 rebounds and 1.67 blocks (eighth in the conference). He led Miami in rebounding in all three games and has opened the season with 20-plus point efforts in the Heat’s first 24 games, matching the longest streak since Karl Malone opened the 1989-90 season with 24 consecutive 20-plus point outings.

Paul helped the Clippers to a 4-0 week behind averages of 16.3 points, a conference-leading 11.3 assists, and 3.50 steals, which tied for the conference lead with the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard. Paul posted three point-assist double-doubles and collected two five-steal games for the Clippers, who have won 13 consecutive games.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Houston’s James Harden, Indiana’s David West, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, New York’s Carmelo Anthony, Portland’s J.J. Hickson and Toronto’s Jose Calderon.

Clippers beat Suns to run win streak to 13 games

The Los Angeles Clippers are starting to make easy victories look routine.

Blake Griffin scored 23 points, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists and the Clippers extended a franchise record with their 13th consecutive victory, 103-77 over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.

Reserve Jamal Crawford added 22 points for the Clippers, who won in Phoenix for the first time since April 17, 2007. Los Angeles’ overall win streak is an NBA season best and its six straight road victories are also a franchise best.

”We’re just taking care of business right now,” Griffin said. ”To be honest, we’re not really concerned with ‘You haven’t won here since then’ or ‘You haven’t won this many games in a row.’ ”We hear it all but we’re about just getting these wins and if they come within a streak or when we haven’t won somewhere, that’s fine.”

The Clippers have won by an average of 13 points and boast four victories of 20 or more points during their streak…

Jared Dudley scored 19 points, Luis Scola had 11 and Markieff Morris added 10 for the Suns, who have dropped two straight after winning four in a row…

Paul either scored or assisted on all but one basket over the final five minutes of the first quarter. … The Clippers matched a franchise record by holding their eighth straight opponent below 43 percent shooting.

— Reported by Jonathan Dalton of the Associated Press

Clippers win 12th straight game to set franchise record

Clippers win 12th straight to set franchise record

After the Los Angeles Clippers set a record for the longest winning streak in franchise history, Chris Paul was thinking about Ron Harper, Corey Maggette and other former players who endured all that losing.

Paul had 24 points and 13 assists to help the Clippers, for decades synonymous with long losing streaks, break a 38-year-old club mark with their 12th consecutive victory Friday night, 97-85 over the Sacramento Kings.

”Most of those guys have been here through tougher times,” Paul said. ”I know Ron Harper really well. He’s a good friend of mine, and he’s excited for us. We just played against Corey Maggette, and he was excited to see how it is now. So it’s been exciting for me in the short amount of time I’ve been here, especially knowing some of the people who have been with the team for 25 or 30 years and the season-ticket holders. But we can’t be satisfied. We’ve got to keep it going.”

The previous record was set by the Buffalo Braves during the 1974-75 season, when current Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was 8 years old. The head coach back then was Jack Ramsay, whose formidable roster included Bob McAdoo, Garfield Heard, Randy Smith, Jim McMillian, Jack Marin and Bob Weiss.

That team won 49 games – still a record for a beleaguered organization that has called three different cities home, wasted first-round draft picks on Benoit Benjamin, Terry Dehere, Michael Olowokandi and Darius Miles, and was labeled ”the worst franchise in sports history” by Sports Illustrated in an April 17, 2000, cover story.

— Reported by Joe Resnick of the Associated Press

Clippers beat Hornets for 11th straight win

The Los Angeles Clippers’ franchise record-tying 11th consecutive victory had owner Donald Sterling leading a ”hip, hip hooray” chant in the locker room.

Sterling grabbed the hand of coach Vinny Del Negro and held it up, exhorting his team, ”Let’s hear it for the coach.” Then he told Del Negro, ”Vinny, give me a hug” and the two men embraced.

”Eleven in a row. Not bad, is it?” Sterling said.

Blake Griffin scored 18 points and Jamal Crawford added 17 in the Clippers’ 93-77 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night that tied the franchise mark set by the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves.

”That’s pretty special, especially to do it at home,” said Chris Paul, who had 10 points and 12 assists, giving him 5,003 in his career…

DeAndre Jordan added 12 points for the Clippers, whose 19-6 record is tied with New York for second-best in the NBA.

Robin Lopez scored 14 of his 22 points in the first quarter and rookie Anthony Davis added 16 for the Hornets. They lost their ninth in a row and 11th in 12 games while falling to 2-10 on the road. They were the last team to beat the Clippers on Nov. 26…

Paul fed Griffin for a layup late in the second quarter to notch his 5,000th assist, triggering a standing ovation. Griffin got fouled on the play and made the free throw. It came during an 11-0 run that provided the Clippers’ largest lead to that point, 46-30. Paul’s alley-oop pass to Griffin led to a fast-break dunk for the Clippers’ final basket of the half, with them leading 48-38.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Jury returns $17.3M verdict against Clippers owner

A jury has returned a $17.3 million verdict against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in a lawsuit by an actress who lost most of her belongings in a fire at a West Hollywood apartment building he owns.

City News Service says the jury awarded $15 million in punitive damages to Robyn Cohen on Tuesday in her breach-of-contract and emotional distress lawsuit. The panel awarded her $2.3 million in general damages on Monday.

She sued Sterling over a 2009 fire caused by an electrical problem. She said a fire alarm horn and a dozen smoke detectors in the building weren’t working.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Clippers beat Pistons for 10th straight win

The Los Angeles Clippers are learning to adapt.

Playing their fourth road game in seven nights, they could have easily been overrun by the often overlooked Detroit Pistons.

Not this club.

Jamal Crawford scored 15 points and Chris Paul added 14 to lead the weary Clippers to their 10th straight win, 88-76 over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night…

No Clippers player scored more than 15 points, but they had five players score in double figures…

Blake Griffin also had 15 points for Los Angeles and Paul had seven assists. Griffin had two breakaway dunks in the last 30 seconds, one on a pass banked off the backboard by Matt Barnes…

Brandon Knight led the Pistons with 16 and Tayshaun Prince added 15. Detroit, which committed 17 turnovers, lost its fifth straight…

Both teams struggled in the first half, with the Clippers taking a 42-40 lead into the intermission despite shooting just 39 percent. Detroit hit 42.5 percent of its shots, but managed only one free throw and two offensive rebounds. The Clippers tried for the last shot of the half, but Prince stole the ball and two quick passes gave Greg Monroe a wide-open layup at the buzzer.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Courtney Fortson named D-League Performer of Week

Courtney Fortson of the Los Angeles D-Fenders was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played Dec. 10-16.

A 5-11, 185-pound guard out of Arkansas, Fortson led the D-Fenders to a 2-0 record for the week, averaging 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 46.5 minutes. He scored a team-high 36 points in a 134-124 triple-overtime win over the Reno Bighorns, 134-124, on Dec. 15 to go with a team-high eight assists.

A second-year member of the D-Fenders, Fortson earned two GATORADE Call-Ups during the 2011-12 season and owns NBA career averages of 3.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 9.5 minutes in 10 games for the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets.

Other top performers considered include Austin’s Tyler Wilkerson, Bakersfield’s Damion James, Canton’s Jon Leuer, Erie’s D.J. Kennedy, Fort Wayne’s Miles Plumlee, Idaho’s Joel Freeland, Iowa’s Chris Wright, Los Angeles’ Darius Johnson-Odom, Maine’s Shelvin Mack, Reno’s Garrett Temple, Rio Grande Valley’s Tim Ohlbrecht, Santa Cruz’s Travis Leslie, Sioux Falls’ Andrew Goudelock, Springfield’s James Mays, Texas’ Darius Rice and Tulsa’s Jeremy Lamb.

Playing in Milwaukee always scary for Caron Butler

Racine native Caron Butler likes to come home, don’t get him wrong.

But playing against the Bucks in Milwaukee has been a nightmare for the Los Angeles Clippers forward. Butler will try again when the Clippers, winners of eight straight games, meet the Bucks, winners of four in a row, on Saturday night.

He has been injured three times at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, including suffering a ruptured right patella tendon in a game on Jan. 1, 2011, when he was with the Dallas Mavericks. He missed the rest of the season and the Mavericks’ run to the NBA championship.

“I’m going to pray in all type of different languages and ways before I step on the court, because the last three times I’ve been here I’ve had some crazy luck,” Butler said after the Clippers’ shootaround at Marquette’s Al McGuire Center.

“I need a voodoo doctor and everything out there.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel