Clippers looking forward to a break

Another day, another ailment for the Clippers, who simply shrugged and moved on after it was announced that Darren Collison would miss Sunday’s game against Cleveland due to a stomach virus.
Collison was replacing Jamal Crawford, who is out with a calf strain. Crawford was replacing J.J. Redick, who is out with a bulging disc in his lower back.
In other words, the Clippers’ four days off after Monday night’s game in Denver are coming at just the right time, right?
Actually, Coach Doc Rivers said, the break might not mean a thing for the injured players.
“I don’t think it will be because one of them or both of them may not be ready,” Rivers said of Crawford and Redick. “I don’t think that matters that we have practice or anything for them, it’s more about getting them healthy. If they’re healthy and they could practice one or two (times), that would be a great stretch but if they’re not, it doesn’t mean much.”
Redick is getting closer and worked out on the court before the game. With Crawford, who tried to make a comeback last weekend, the Clippers are being cautious. His status of “day-to-day” stays the same from day to day.
“Jamal has one of those nasty little calf injuries that you feel like h’es getting better, but you can’t take that risk,” Rivers said. “If he goes down again with that, we may not see him. That’s a hard risk to take with him so we’ve got to be right this time.”
Instead, the break figures to benefit the players who need it most, like Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul.
“Yeah, that’s what the break’s good for, is Chris and Blake and DJ, even though DJ swears he wants to play 48 a night,” Rivers said. “That’s good for them. I also think the new guys (Danny Granger and Glen Davis), it gives them a chance to take a breath and get situated with their life off the floor. They’ve been thrown in and just playing games.
“For me, maybe I can go and improve my golf game for a couple days since I’m so bad at it.”

Clippers take on Jazz looking for 10th straight win

Tip-off: 6 p.m. PDT Friday, EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City
TV/radio: Prime Ticket/KFWB 980, KWKU 1220
Update: With nine consecutive victories, the Clippers are on a streak they think might be a better one than pulled off last season, when they won 17 in a row last season. This team has done it while missing key parts like J.J. Redick, Jamal Crawford and Jared Dudley, yet the Clippers keep scoring and are the highest scoring team in the league. . . . Their 111-98 win over Golden State Wednesday kept them in third place in the Western Conference standings and pushed them to five games ahead of the Warriors in the Pacific Division. . . . The addition of Danny Granger is looking a lot more promising. He came off the bench to score 18 points. “It’s getting comfortable,” Granger said. “The way this offense is, is so wide open. Anybody can push the ball. Blake (Griffin) can make plays on the open court, Chris (Paul) pushes, Matt (Barnes) pushes. We have a very unique team, with the ability to have so many play makers running the floor and you have shooters running the wings. You get a lot of shots, and I made a bunch of them.”

Clippers making their run

Remember way back when – OK, last season – when the Clippers had a 17-game win streak and their bench was terrorizing the league?
Heading into Friday’s game at Utah, the Clippers are barely halfway to that 17-game mark, having won nine in a row.
But try that nine-game streak without J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford and Jared Dudley going down with back spasms. Throw in a 13-point win over rival Golden State, and the Clippers are looking like all the parts are settling in and seemingly can only be better when the squad is full.
“We’re starting to peak at the right time,” said forward Matt Barnes, who has stepped into the starting lineup and caught fire. “You know last year we went on a winning streak, but it was like in November or December or something and it didn’t mean much.
“I think now that we’ve had so many injuries and so many ups and downs, getting guys healthy, getting guys acclimated, you know with all that being said, we are still able to win tough games, blowouts, all different kinds of ways.”
Another good sign? Coach Doc Rivers had a one-word answer for what he wants to see most out of his team.
“Health,” he said.

Clippers score record victory over Lakers

Five seconds into the second half, Chris Paul picked up a steal and Matt Barnes finished after Paul missed a reverse layup.
Less than a minute into the third period, the Clippers had run off six points to hike their lead to 39 points and then, finally, there were some boos for the Lakers at Staples Center.
There might not have been enough fans left by the end to release their frustration after the Clippers scored a 142-94 thrashing that was about as lopsided as any NBA game could be.
“We took a body blow and it looked like it just took us to our knees,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “For whatever reason, maybe we couldn’t finish and make plays or anything. They smelled blood in the water and they killed us.”
It was the Clippers’ largest winning margin in their history, eclipsing the previous mark of 45 points. The Lakers equaled the worst loss in their history.
Maybe the Clippers’ 60-20 run to close the first half was still being digested by Lakers fans who watched their team being dismantled on its own court.
It started with what brings a smile to Clippers coach Doc Rivers – defense. They held the Lakers to 39.5 percent shooting, stopped their 3-point shooting and forced 22 turnovers.
“You can feel us starting to believe in our defense and being in the right spots,” Rivers said. “What I like now is every time one of them is not there, they point at themselves right away, they know it. I would prefer them not to do that and be there, but they’re getting there and they’re taking ownership when they’re not.
“If we can get four stops five stops six in a row, there’s a chance we’re going to get a couple of fast breaks in that stretch and that’s what we’re keying it on.”
Four Clippers had double-doubles before sitting out the entire fourth quarter. The one starter who didn’t have a double-double was Darren Collison, who had to settle for being the game’s high scorer with 24 points.
The Clippers had 34 fast-break points and led by as many as 51 points.
The Lakers held a 20-13 lead midway through the first quarter when the court tilted. By halftime, the Clippers held a 73-40 advantage. That’s a 60-20 run for those scoring at home.
“Going in yelling and screaming is not going to help a lot,” D’Antoni said. “There’s nobody happy over there (in the locker room) and everybody knows they’re embarrassed.”
Blake Griffin had 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and a devastating dunk off a lob from Paul that served as the evening’s exclamation point. Barnes had 17 points and 12 rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Paul had 13 points and 11 assists.
Only Pau Gasol, with 21 points, was doing anything for the Lakers in their era of small ball, going with shooters to surround Gasol. Xavier Henry finished with 15 points and Kent Bazemore had 14.
It seemed like all the Clippers needed was to avoid overconfidence. If they needed to hear that they actually lost to the Lakers on opening night, Rivers wasn’t going to bring it up.
“We can say that we never looked at that and that it never crossed our minds, but it did,” Collison said. “We knew this game was about us. We came out in the second half and we were up by 20-plus points, we told each other this is about us. We’ve got bigger goals right now. No disrespect to the Lakers, that’s a very good team, but we want to accomplish something big.”
It was one thing to see Griffin and Paul control their parts of the game, but Collison had 22 points midway through the third period and Barnes continued his hot streak.
In the previous six games, Barnes was shooting 51.3 percent on 3-pointers. He made two of his first four against the Lakers and was one of three Clippers with a double-double in the third period.
“Just playing free,” Barnes said of his recent outburst. “My mind was on a few different things going into the trade deadline, hearing a lot of rumors, really almost being traded and then the last minute it not happening.
“So I just decided to let all that go and go out there and play free. Whatever capacity I’m called upon I’ll be ready to do.”

DeAndre Jordan packs a punch for Clippers

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan entered Thursday’s game against the Lakers leading the league in rebounds per game (14) and field goal percentage (66.1).
If he finishes the season leading those categories, he’d be only the third player in NBA history to do it. Wilt Chamberlain did it eight times and Dwight Howard matched the feat in the 2009-10 season.
Jordan has continually given credit to Coach Doc Rivers, who not only challenged Jordan to become the defensive captain, he fulfilled his promise of keeping Jordan in the game during the fourth quarter despite his troubles at the free throw line.
While Rivers has been one inspiration, at least one of his teammates has pushed Jordan to punch up his game.
“I think it’s amazing,” forward Matt Barnes said of the year Jordan is having. “DeAndre being a close friend of mine ever since last year, I just told him ‘Start modeling your game like (Mike) Tyson. You’re more athletic, you can control the game more than he can. Model your game like him and you’re going to be all right.’
“He’s gone above and beyond the call of that and his numbers speak for themselves. He’s an anchor of our defense and it’s huge having him on the court in the fourth quarter, knocking down free throws now, but definitely protecting the paint.”

Danny Granger does homework on Clippers

Danny Granger was dealt from Indiana to Philadelphia just before the trading deadline, then worked a buyout deal with the 76ers so he could find his way to a contender.
That meant Clippers coach Doc Rivers could continue in his ways of recruiting, and the coach gave a tongue-in-cheek description of his tactics.
“It’s very similar to back in the days where you could just give college players money,” Rivers said, trying to keep a straight face. “I think that was far more effective. I think I would have gone to several different schools if people could have recruited me that way.”
His true recruiting secret?
“You beg,” River said.
He was begging from a position of strength based on the talents of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.
“I just remember how hard it is to defend (Griffin’s) screen and rolls, him jumping all over the place and all over people’s heads. It was very hard to defend,” Granger said. “To play with a guy like that is special and you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity.
“I called David West (a teammate of Paul in New Orleans) before I even signed and I asked about Chris. He said he’s the most competitive guy he’s ever played with, he said if you do choose to play in Los Angeles you’ll love playing with Chris. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. He’s one of the greatest players he’s played with.”