Clippers coach Doc Rivers expected Jared Dudley and Eric Bledsoe to be extra amped for their first game against their former team.
“Usually both guys want to get back at their team, even though they liked their team,” Rivers said. “Bled loved it here and Dud loved it in Phoenix. Having said that, it’s that competitive part of each athlete that makes them who they are. It tends to go well for both, usually.
“We’re hoping it goes well for Dud and not for Bled but no doubt your energy is high when you’re playing. I’ve had a couple of those games as a player and you want to play well, I can tell you that.”
Bledsoe was greeted by scores of familiar faces as he strode past the Clippers locker room before the game. He paid tribute to Chris Paul
“When we first traded for him he helped me out from day one,” Bledsoe said. “It’s going to feel like practice again. We know we have to do what we have to do to help our team win.”
Also, Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry is a former Suns coach before the club fired him.
“Yeah, but he can’t score,” Rivers said, smiling. “He could score when he was young. As a coach, you want to win the game, don’t get me wrong. You face your old team, you want to win the game but you have no control over that one. You hope that the players sense that and they want to to win it for them. But I’ve never heard of the player winning for the coach speech yet.”