Chris Paul sits out fourth straight as Eric Bledsoe learns on the job

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Elliott Teaford

Chris Paul sat out Sunday for the fourth consecutive game and for the seventh time in nine contests because of a bruised right kneecap, which meant Eric Bledsoe replaced him as the Clippers’ starting point guard for the fourth straight game and the seventh time in nine contests.

It’s uncertain when Paul will be sound enough to practice or play, with coach Vinny Del Negro saying there was no timetable for his return to active duty. Paul was injured when he knocked knees with J.J. Redick of the Orlando Magic on Jan. 12.

Continue reading →

Clippers knock off Nuggets, rise to No. 1 overall in the standings

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

First at last. The Clippers have been the NBA’s hottest team for days and weeks now. They finally moved atop the league’s overall standings with a resounding 112-100 victory Tuesday night over the Denver Nuggets in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 19,346 at Staples Center.

The victory extended the Clippers’ franchise-record winning streak to 14 games and they improved their overall mark to 22-6, a half-game better than second-place Oklahoma City. The Thunder (21-6) lost earlier in the day to the defending NBA champion Miami Heat.

Continue reading →

Chris Paul honored as Western Conference player of the week

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

Point guard Chris Paul was named the Western Conference player of the week after averaging 16.3 points, 11.3 assists and 3.5 steals during the Clippers’ victories over Detroit, New Orleans, Sacramento and Phoenix. He had double-doubles in three games.

Paul sparked the Clippers’ blowout of the Suns by scoring 16 points and adding 13 assists and five steals Sunday. It was the second consecutive game in which he recorded five steals following the Clippers’ win Friday over Sacramento.

What’s more, he reached the 5,000-assist milestone for his career during the first half of the Clippers’ win last Wednesday over the Hornets, his old team. He finished with 12 assists in the game, but did not play in the fourth quarter of a 93-77 victory.

Clippers tie a franchise record and Chris Paul hits a milestone

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

Tomorrow’s story tonight …

Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling led his team with old-fashioned cheers of “Hip-Hip-Hooray,” but there were no bottles of champagne in the locker room after their 93-77 victory Wednesday over the New Orleans Hornets extended their winning streak to a franchise-record tying 11 games.

In fact, Sterling’s unusual postgame visit to congratulate the team was the only semblance of a celebration of the streak. After all, the Clippers (19-6) have greater goals in mind than matching the modest success of their ancient cousins, the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves.

“We can’t be satisfied,” point guard Chris Paul later said of the streak. “It’s great for the fans, but we can’t be satisfied. Food tastes better, music sounds better, you sleep a little better, everything is better when you’re winning. We’ve just got to keep it going.”

The Clippers will try for a franchise-record 12th straight victory when they play host to the Sacramento Kings on Friday. It’s not a streak to challenge the Lakers’ league-record mark of 33 consecutive wins, but given the team’s inglorious history, it’s something to build upon.

Then again, maybe it’s not.

“We don’t talk about the winning streak,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “It’s almost irrelevant. It’s about our enthusiasm. It’s like I tell our guys, ‘Trust your eyes, you know when you’re playing the right way.’ It’s about locking in and being focused on what we’re trying to do.”

The Clippers haven’t lost since the Hornets defeated the Nov. 26. They’ve won easily, with their starters resting for the fourth quarters of games. They’ve won a few close ones, too. They’ve won when they’ve played well from start to finish and when they’ve had their ups and downs.

Wednesday’s victory was never in doubt after the Clippers took a double-digit lead in the second quarter. They led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and by as many as 24 in the fourth, when all of their starters except Willie Green sat and cheered for the second unit.

Paul scored 10 points and recorded the 5,000th assist of his career with the ninth of his team-leading 12 on Wednesday, a ho-hum pass to Blake Griffin for a layup and a 45-30 lead for the Clippers with 1 minute, 32 seconds remaining in the first half. Griffin was fouled and sank the free throw.

Many fans among the sellout crowd of 19,188 gave Paul a standing ovation when his milestone assist was announced on the video screens on the arena’s giant overhanging scoreboard. Some then began to chant, “CP3, CP3, CP3” Paul’s nickname.

“Oh man, it’s pretty cool,” Paul said of reaching the milestone. “I didn’t know what everyone was cheering for. Seriously. I was talking to Blake and I asked him what was going on. It’s pretty cool, especially to do it here in front of our home crowd.”

Paul then turned to Griffin and asked, “What did that mean to you?”

“He came to me and told me he needed one more,” Griffin joked as Paul, seated next to him during their customary postgame press conference, laughed heartily. “He told me, You’ve got to get fouled so the crowd can acknowledge me.”

Then adopting a more serious tone after the laughter of Paul and a room filled with reporters died down somewhat, Griffin added, “It’s cool to be a part of the end of that. It’s one of thousands, obviously. That’s definitely not the last. I’m looking forward to 10,000.”

Griffin scored a team-leading 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting and Jamal Crawford added 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting and five assists in a reserve role. DeAndre Jordan added 12 points and Matt Barnes scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Robin Lopez scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Hornets, who lost their ninth consecutive game. Lopez scored 14 of the Hornets’ first 16 points, underscoring their lack of depth in facing a team with perhaps the best second unit in the NBA. Rookie forward Anthony Davis added 16 for New Orleans (5-20).

Notes and quotes

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

The Clippers’ victory Wednesday over the Charlotte Bobcats was their eighth in a row, tying their longest winning streak in 21 years. (Nov. 30 through Dec. 15, 1991). They need three more victories to match the longest streak in franchise history (11 consecutive from Nov. 3 to Nov. 23, 1974 while playing as the Buffalo Braves).

What’s more, the Clippers are on pace for their first 50-win season. Their best was 49 victories as the Braves in 1974-75. Their highest win total in Los Angeles was 47 with Mike Dunleavy as their coach and Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, Corey Maggette, Sam Cassell and Cattino Mobley as their top players in 2005-06.

“It’s cool,” guard Chris Paul said after the Clippers beat the Bobcats 100-94.. “It just means we’re playing all right now. But we’re not satisfied. We have to keep playing the right way and keep this thing going. Sometimes you’re going to win and play bad and sometimes you’re going to play well and lose. For us it’s all about being consistent.”

The Clippers go for their ninth straight win Saturday against the Bucks in Milwaukee.

Collective effort helps Clippers rout Kings

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

It was over before you knew it, before many in the crowd had a chance to bite into their hot dogs or take a sip from their drinks, before the Clippers could really flex their muscles in front of the Sacramento Kings.

Caron Butler sank a 3-pointer to break an early tie. DeAndre Jordan soared to dunk a missed shot by teammate Chris Paul a moment later and then dunked a lob pass from Blake Griffin, who sank a hook shot a minute later.

The Clippers were never challenged again and seized a lopsided 116-81 victory Saturday night from the Kings in front of a sellout crowd of 19,060 at Staples Center. After breaking a 6-6 tie on Butler’s 3, the Clippers were unstoppable.

“We didn’t let them in the game early,” Paul said after the Clippers’ widest margin of victory this season. “The ball moved. Everybody touched the ball. We’re pretty dangerous when that happens. Tonight we made shots and got (defense) stops.

“It was collective.”

Playing with an unmistakable sense of purpose, the Clippers did what good teams are supposed to do when they play poor ones. They exploited the Kings’ weaknesses and took away their will to fight by building a big lead and holding it.

The Clippers led by 30-17 after the first quarter, then by 58-34 at halftime before they really warmed to the task. They led by as many as 34 points in the third quarter and held an 87-58 advantage going into the fourth.

It was simply exercise by then, which was fine with the Clippers (10-6). Their second unit got to play extended minutes and their starters got a chance to rest and cheer their teammates. No one in a Clippers uniform was overworked.

Clippers fans, having grown bored with the game, entertained themselves by performing a fourth-quarter wave before heading for the exits. The Clippers led by 101-70 when many in the crowd departed with 5:37 remaining.

Jamal Crawford, a reserve guard, led seven Clippers in double figures with 17 points. Griffin, Paul and backup guard Eric Bledsoe each scored 14 points. Jordan scored 13 points, Matt Barnes added 12 points and Butler scored 11 points.

Marcus Thornton scored 20 points for the Kings, who fell to 4-12 overall and 0-6 on the road. Jason Thompson added 16 points and 12 rebounds. Thornton and Thompson were the only Kings starters to score in double figures.

“I said to the guys, ‘I’ve never played on an Olympic team, but it seems that’s how this is,’” said Crawford, who added a season-high six assists. “Very balanced, guys really unselfish. We have to do it by committee and that’s how we did it.”

The Clippers did all the right things to ensure they would have an easy night. They took the game to the Kings from the opening tip and led by as many as 25 points in the second quarter, playing with equal gusto with and without the ball.

Sacramento seemed befuddled at both ends of the court as the Clippers overwhelmed the Kings with their depth, their skill and a sound game plan. Mostly, the Clippers put their heads down and took the ball to the hoop.

Lob City was open for business with the Clippers scoring 32 of their first 58 points in the paint. There was one significant mishap when Griffin attempted to throw down a lob for a wicked dunk but ended up tossing the ball into the Clippers’ bench.

Griffin was fouled on his misfire, which figured to be a staple on the late-night blooper reels. He made up for it by sinking the ensuing free throws and helping to propel the Clippers to a commanding 58-34 lead by halftime.

“They played at a level that was very high,” Kings coach Keith Smart said of the Clippers. “They have a group of players who play together and they have a bigger purpose with what they are doing and how they are playing, and they show it.”

Clippers end losing streak in Chauncey Billups’ return

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

Chauncey Billups couldn’t lift the Clippers on his shoulders and carry them to the end of their four-game losing streak all alone. Chris Paul couldn’t do it by himself either. Neither could Blake Griffin nor could DeAndre Jordan.

They had to do it together.

Billups gave the Clippers an emotional boost in his first game since suffering a season-ending Achilles’ tendon injury last Feb. 6, and he, Paul, Griffin and Jordan banded together for a 101-95 victory Wednesday night over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Like I told the guys going into the fourth quarter, ‘It’s all a test, a test of your character,’” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “I was proud of the way we managed the fourth quarter and made plays when we had to, offensively and defensively.”

Billups scored seven points, all in the first quarter, in 19 minutes, 24 seconds. He also had three assists, including a 35-foot lob pass to Jordan for a spectacular highlight-reel dunk that gave the Clippers a 97-93 lead with 16.6 seconds left.

“I was just so excited to be back out there after such a long road back,” Billups said. “I probably played full court three times. I have to be patient. I wasn’t going to hear the word, ‘No,’ or, ‘He’s done.’ I wasn’t going to listen to none of y’all.

“As long as we won the game, it’s a success for me.”

Paul put the Clippers ahead for good with a jump shot that gave them an 86-85 lead with 4 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the game. Griffin hit a jumper moments later and then dunked off a feed from Jordan to make it 90-85 with 3:02 left.

After the Timberwolves’ Nikola Pekovic countered with a three-point play, Jordan converted a three-point play of his own to restore the Clippers’ five-point lead with 59.4 seconds remaining.

Paul scored 23 points and added 11 assists, Griffin scored 18 points only one game after he had a career-low four, and Jordan added 15 points. Matt Barnes scored 13 points and Jamal Crawford had 11 to lead the Clippers’ rejuvenated second unit.

Kevin Love, a former UCLA standout, scored 19 points on 3-for-12 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Alexey Shved added 17 points in a reserve role and Luke Ridnour had 13 points and seven assists.

“It was huge to have Chauncey out there,” Paul said. “After player introductions, I went to him and said, ‘I’ve been waiting a long time to have you back out there, so lets go.’ To see him back on the court, doing what he does best, is remarkable.”

Billups said it would be months rather than weeks before he regains his form.

“I’m not what I was the day I got hurt,” he said.

After starting the season with eight victories in their first 10 games, the Clippers went off the rails in a big way. They lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Brooklyn Nets, the Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans Hornets.

Losing was bad enough, but it was the way they lost that gave Clippers Nation pause. The Clippers were up and down and all around in all facets of the game during their skid. What’s more, their energy came and went too frequently.

“We have to be more consistent,” Del Negro said when asked before Wednesday’s game how his team could avoid a fifth consecutive loss. “We know that. We have to get our energy back.”

Billups did his part, scoring the Clippers’ first basket, a 3-pointer on his first attempt since he was injured in a game against the Orlando Magic almost 10 months ago. He scored seven of the Clippers’ first 11 points.

“I got back pretty far ahead of schedule,” Billups said. “Right now, I feel good. I played 20 minutes, but there’s nothing like a game. I feel like I’m in decent shape, but there’s noting like a real live game. I’m sure I’ll be sore.”

Blake Griffin says adjustments hurt the Clippers in loss to Hornets

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

A lack of intensity hurt the Clippers’ chances for a victory Monday, no question about it, but did a change in tactics finish them? Clippers power forward Blake Griffin said he believed some changes made on the fly also were to blame.

“I think we tried to change some things, tried to change our schemes and some things we have been successful at and that hurt us,” Griffin said after scoring a career-low four points on 1-for-9 shooting against the New Orleans Hornets.

“I think we should play teams how we play every team. We made adjustments down the stretch when certain guys hurt us and I think we should have stuck with what we had been doing and what has made us successful.”

Coach Vinny Del Negro went with a smaller lineup, playing center DeAndre Jordan for only 15 minutes, 23 seconds. Del Negro also used Jordan’s backup, Ryan Hollins, for barely eight minutes.

“He wasn’t involved,” Del Negro said of Jordan. “It wasn’t just ‘D.J.’ It was all of our big guys. They weren’t active. They weren’t physical. They didn’t set the tone for us from the start. It’s not just one guy. It’s everybody.”

The Clippers hope to keep things simple Wednesday, when they play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Chris Paul offers advice to the Clippers after their latest defeat

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

Chris Paul didn’t like the way the Clippers played during their loss Monday to the New Orleans Hornets. The All-Star point guard didn’t hold back in his feelings, showing the sort of passion that was absent from his team’s game.

“Our defense was terrible,” Paul said. “It’s almost embarrassing. Teams feel like they can come down and score on us every night. We can’t play like that because we won’t win. Regardless if we’re scoring or not, collectively, we have to defend.”

Paul referred to the almost unguarded shots the Hornets got again and again from the perimeter. The Hornets took 25 shots from beyond the 3-point arc, sinking 15 (60 percent). They made 36 of 71 shots overall (50.7 percent).

The Clippers, as has been their method of operation against teams with sub-.500 records so far this season, didn’t play with anything resembling a sense of urgency until it was too late in the game to rally for a victory.

Paul, who scored 20 points, and Caron Butler, who had a team-leading 33 points on a franchise-record nine 3-pointers, tried but failed to keep them competitive in the second half. The Clippers’ loss was their fourth in a row after a six-game winning streak.

The Hornets ended a seven-game losing streak with Monday’s victory.

“We have to take more pride in our play whether we’re at home or on the road,” said Paul, who spent his first six seasons with the Hornets before he was traded to the Clippers last December. “Guys can’t look in our eyes and feel like they can get by. We’ve got to play with a better sense of urgency and understand that when teams that are supposedly not that great come into our city, we’ve got a target on our back.”

DeAndre Jordan adding offense to his game for the Clippers

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Elliott Teaford

Tomorrow’s story today …

DeAndre Jordan has made seven consecutive free throws.

He’s almost doubled his career scoring average.

Shaquille O’Neal called him the Western Conference’s best center right now.

Jordan’s progress with the basketball in his hands has been so remarkable so far this season and so helpful in balancing the Clippers’ all-too-predictable offense that it’s difficult to select which of the three lines above is more astounding than the others.

Let’s go line by line.

First, the Clippers hired a shooting coach, Bob Thate, to work with Jordan and power forward Blake Griffin to improve their free throw percentages. The Clippers believed Jordan and Griffin gave away points with poor free-throw shooting.

Jordan shot 52.5 percent in 2011-12, a career best, but nothing to brag about. He’s connecting at only 46.7 percent (7 of 15) this season, but he’s made seven in a row going into tonight’s game against the defending NBA champion Miami Heat.

So, perhaps Thate’s tutoring is playing dividends.

Second, Jordan’s scoring average is up to 11.3 points after seven games. His career average was a paltry 6.1 points after four seasons as a defense-first center on a team that didn’t ask him to do much offensively.

Jordan has shown a willingness to shoot when in the low post so far this season. He’s displayed a nice touch on his running hooks, confident in his shot with either hand. He’s also been unstoppable at point-blank range, dunking with authority.

Third, O’Neal’s comments came after fellow TNT analyst Steve Kerr addressed the Clippers’ lack of offensive variety last season. Without naming names, Kerr suggested the Clippers relied too heavily on Griffin and point guard Chris Paul.

This season, the Clippers have encouraged Jordan to look for his shot more often.

“We tell ‘D.J.’ he’s a huge part of this team,” Paul said of Jordan, who has scored 20 points or more twice this season and has two other games with 10 points or more. “He knows it, too. To us, he’s one of our most valuable players.”

O’Neal, who knows a thing or two about playing the center position after a Hall of Fame career that included three NBA titles with the Lakers to start the 2000s and a fourth with the Heat, praised Jordan’s play.

“I don’t know what all the other big guys were doing this summer, but I know what DeAndre Jordan was doing. He was working on his game,” O’Neal said during last Thursday’s telecast of the Clippers’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

“He’s playing like a real big man, taking his time and going right over the top,” O’Neal continued. “I’m going on the record. The best center in the West right now is DeAndre Jordan. You heard it here first.”

Inside the Clippers

Keeping tabs on Chris Paul & Co.

Tag Archives: Chris Paul