Clippers get Jeff Green from Memphis for Lance Stephenson

Jeff Green

Jeff Green/Photo courtesy of Memhis Grizzlies

 

Doc Rivers, head coach and president of basketball operations for the L.A. Clippers, told every reporter who asked he was not going to trade Blake Griffin by Thursday’s deadline. He apparently grew so tired of the inquiries that he even got huffy with a reporter Tuesday when he asked Rivers if he has received a lot of calls regarding Griffin’s services.

“It’s none of your business,” he said.

Well, the deadline came and went, and Griffin was still with the Clippers. However, Rivers never said he wouldn’t trade guard/forward Lance Stephenson, and Stephenson was shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies for forward Jeff Green just before the noon (Pacific time) cutoff. The Clippers also gave up a 2019 protected first-round draft pick.

There were rumors Griffin would be traded, but they did not come to fruition. One deal that was supposedly discussed had Griffin and Stephenson going to Denver for Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic, Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton.

Griffin, the Clippers’ leading scorer at 23.2 points, has missed the past 23 games, during which the Clippers have gone 18-5. He’s had a partially torn left quad tendon. More recently, he fractured his right hand punching Matias Testi, the team’s assistant equipment manager, on Jan. 23 at a restaurant in Toronto.

Stephenson’s name surfaced in another rumor that had him going to Orlando for power forward Channing Frye. But Frye ended up being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team deal that included the Portland Trail Blazers.

Green, 29, had started 31 of 53 games this season for Memphis. He averaged 12.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and shot 43.1 percent from the floor – just 30.9 percent (42 of 136) from 3-point range.

Green played for Rivers at Boston for parts of two seasons before Rivers came to the Clippers in 2013-14.

Green has career scoring and rebounding averages of 14.1 and 5.0, respectively.

Stephenson played in 43 of the Clippers’ 53 games, starting 10. He averaged 4.7 points and 2.5 rebounds.

The Clippers also announced they will sign power forward Alex Stephenson to a 10-day contract. Stephenson is out of USC.

Lance Stephenson sits out practice; is he about to be traded?

Lance Stephenson

Lance Stephenson/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

There was no Clippers trade news to report as of mid-afternoon Wednesday, though rumors of them attempting to acquire power forward Channing Frye from Orlando were still swirling.

Interestingly, one Clippers player allegedly involved in those talks – Lance Stephenson – was said to have a sore hip Wednesday and was to be held out of practice. It could also be that Stephenson is about to be part of that deal and often times when a team knows it’s about to unload a player, it will keep said player on the sideline so he doesn’t sustain an injury before an accord is reached.

 

REPORT: Clippers offered Blake Griffin, Lance Stephenson to Denver for four players

Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

With the trade deadline coming up Thursday, rumors have swirled about which players might be changing uniforms. According to a story on the thebiglead.com that cited ESPN, the Clippers recently offered up Blake Griffin and Lance Stephenson to the Denver Nuggets for forward Kenneth Faried, center Nikola Jokic, forward Danilo Gallinari and guard-forward Will Barton.

Faried, Jokic and Gallinari are starters, Barton comes off the bench.

Gallinari leads Denver in scoring with a 19.7 average, Faried leads the Nuggets in rebounding with an 8.9 average.

Doc Rivers, head coach and president of basketball operations, has denied that Griffin is on the block.

Griffin has not played since Dec. 25 against the Lakers. It was revealed the next day that Griffin had a partially torn left quad tendon. Just as he was about to get back on the court, Griffin sustained a fractured right hand when he punched team assistant equipment manager Matias Testi on Jan. 23 at a restaurant in Toronto.

Griffin was eventually suspended four games without pay and lost an additional game without pay for injuries he sustained in the altercation.

Doc Rivers liked execution on Redick’s 3-ball at end of regulation

Philadelphia 76ers' Nerlens Noel (4) tries to shoot with Los Angeles Clippers' J.J. Redick (4) and Lance Stephenson (1) defending during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, in Philadelphia.

Lance Stephenson (1) and J.J. Redick (4) play defense against the 76ers’ Nerlens Noel during Monday’s game at :Philadelphia/AP photo by Chris Szagola

 

The Clippers defeated the lowly Philadelphia 76ers 98-92 in overtime Monday in Philadelphia. Certainly, this is nothing to brag about because Philadelphia is now a league-worst 8-44.

But the Clippers (35-17) were down by as many as 19 points (51-32) in the second quarter. And they needed a 3-pointer by J.J. Redick with 10 seconds left in regulation to send the game into the overtime period.

Coach Doc Rivers like the execution on that one.

“I was honestly thanking the basketball gods,” he said. “We didn’t play the right way all game and when Jamal (Crawford) missed the wide-open 3 (with 50.9 seconds left) … even with J.J. there, I honestly didn’t think that would go in because sometimes that’s the way it works. But the execution was good.”

Five things to take from Clippers’ 100-93 victory Sunday at Miami

Los Angeles Clippers forward Lance Stephenson, right, goes to the basket as Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Miami.

Lance Stephenson of the Clippers goes to the basket as Miami’s Hassan Whiteside defends/AP photo by Lynne Sladky

 

Chris Paul began this game 0 of 9 from the floor. He went 2 of 15 in the first half. He finished 8 of 23, meaning he made eight of his final 14 shots. Consecutive 3-pointers by Paul down the stretch helped seal Miami’s fate. The clutch baskets no doubt made it easier for Paul to forget his early shooting woes. Paul made a 5-footer for a 100-88 lead with 53 seconds left, for the final nail in the coffin.

– The Clippers did not shoot particularly well. They made 45.7 percent of their field goals overall, 36 percent (9 of 25) from 3-point range. They were not good at all from the free-throw line, making just 51.5 percent (17 of 33). DeAndre Jordan was 3 of 14. But the Clippers still won because they took care of the ball, committing just six turnovers, and because they helped hold Miami to 39.8 percent shooting; the Heat also had 13 turnovers, with Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic making four apiece.

– The bench had another strong showing, outscoring Miami’s 46-25. Jamal Crawford had 20 points, Wesley Johnson scored 10 and Lance Stephenson nine. Johnson and Stepheson both shot 4 of 5, with Crawford going 7 of 19 from the field, just 2 of 7 from beyond the arc.

– Speaking of the bench, Cole Aldrich pulled down 11 rebounds in just 13 minutes and 18 seconds of action. Too bad he couldn’t make his free throws, going 1 of 5 from the line. He had two baskets and scored five points.

Hassan Whiteside entered this game averaging a league-high 4.0 blocks. But Whiteside played his third consecutive game off the bench after he missed the previous six with a hip injury. He played just under 17 minutes – he averages 28.6 – and did not have a block. When Whiteside is on, he can be a dominant force. It was just Friday when Whiteside had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks for a rare kind of triple double. So for him to have no blocks in this game is kind of a big deal. He did have 10 rebounds to go along with 10 points.

Five things to take from Clippers’ 107-93 victory at Orlando

 

 

Lance Stephenson

Lance Stephenson/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Lance Stephenson continued his recent surge by scoring 13 points on 6 of 6 shooting. He hit a buzzer-beating basket at the end of the third quarter after the Magic had cut a nine-point deficit to just two, then scored the Clippers’ first seven points of the fourth to regain that nine-point cushion.

Austin Rivers didn’t play because of a hand injury, so sixth-man Jamal Crawford played 35 minutes. He came through with 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting. However, Crawford was 0 of 4 from 3-point range. He did have three steals.

– Speaking of the 3-point line, the Clippers shot just 29.6 percent (8 of 27) from there. But they shot 54.1 percent overall, so no problem there.

DeAndre Jordan had another monster rebounding game, coming through with 18 to help the Clippers out-rebound the Magic 44-39. Jordan has 19, 19, 17, 20, 15 and 18 rebounds his past six games.

– The down side to this victory was that the Clippers – including one team turnover – committed a whopping 21 turnovers. Point guard Chris Paul had six of them.