When someone says the name of the other Los Angeles professional basketball team the Clippers, there are a lot of words that come to mind and they are not all that good. The words terrible, awful and bad come to mind. To put it in perspective, since coming to Los Angeles from San Diego back in 1984-85, they have only made the playoffs on only five occasions. Things have changed for them though a year ago thanks to some major acquisitions over the last two off seasons and this season they have taken major strides in becoming a serious contender in the Western Conference. On Friday, they set a franchise record versus their Pacific Division rival.
In their 97-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings, the Clippers (21-6) won their 12th consecutive game, setting a franchise record. The victory was also the Clippers second over the Kings (7-17) this season. They defeated them 116-81 in Los Angeles back on Dec. 1 and have won five in a row in the series, which includes all three meetings last season. Their last setback came on Nov. 26 when they lost at home to the New Orleans Hornets 105-98. They snapped a four-game losing streak and began this streak of 12 straight wins with a 101-95 win versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The team added to that winning streak bringing it to 13 wins in succession on Sunday with a 103-77 victory at the Phoenix Suns.
To put this streak in perspective, the Clippers have had a double-digit winning streak only one other time in franchise history. That came back in the 1974-75 when they were the Buffalo Braves and they won 11 games in a row. A major force on that team was Hall of Famer and current assistant coach with the defending World Champion Miami Bob McAdoo, who averaged 34.5 ppg and 14.1 rpg. Other teammates of his included longtime assistant coach Garfield Heard; Randy Smith, who set the NBA record for consecutive played in the regular season with 906 from 1972-1982; Jim McMillian, who was a part of the 1972 World Champion Los Angeles Laker team that won a then NBA record 69 win in the regular season; Jack Marin who is enshrined in the North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Duke Halls of Fame and former NBA head coach and longtime assistant coach to current head coach of the Denver Nuggets George Karl.
Current Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro, who played 12 seasons in the NBA was just eight years old when that mark took place.
That team went 49-33 that season, which is still the franchise record for a team that has had talented draft picks like center Benoit Benjamin (11.4 ppg 7.5 rpg, 1.9 bpg) guard Terry Deere (8.0 ppg, 2.6 apg 41.1 FG%), center Michael Olowokandi (8.3 ppg 6.8 rpg, 43.5 FG%) who was the No. 1 overall pick back in 1998 and forward Darius Miles (10.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg 47.2 FG%).
The Clippers in their history have had 20 double-digit losing streaks, which includes a dozen that were of 12-plus games. Back in the 1994-95 campaign, they lost the final 16 games of that season. They followed that up by losing the first 17 games of the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99 and the final 14 games in the 1986-87 season.
The franchise record for futility is 19, which the Clippers set back in 1981-82 and equaled in 1988-89.
Two other times that the Clippers had a long winning streaks was back in 1979 when they won eight straight games when they were led by Hall of Famer World B. Free.
Their second eight-game winning streak in team history came back in 1991. That team consisted of the likes of Danny Manning, Ron Harper, Ken Norman, former New York Knicks Charles Smith and Glenn “Doc” Rivers, who is the current head coach of the Boston Celtics.
“Most of the guys have been here through tougher times,” Clippers guard Chris Paul, who had 24 points, 13 assists and five steals on 7 for 13 shooting, including 5 for 7 from three point range said after the game on Friday.
“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 [Detroit Pistons], and he was excited to see how it is now.”
There are number of reason why the Clippers have gone from futility to being in the conversation as a contender in the Western Conference with the likes of the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzles to name a few.
One of the reasons is last seasons acquisition Paul (16.1 ppg in 2012-13) who had 17 points, 13 assists and five steals on Sunday. He has given the Clippers something that they have not had in quite a long time. Stability, leadership and confidence to compete and play well in games, but a willingness and a selflessness to do the little things to win.
“He’s so efficient. He’s making all the right passes. All the right plays, but also what I like is he’s being that veteran helping guys out,” NBA TV analyst Steve Smith said.
“I like what he’s doing on the bench talking to young [Eric] Bledsoe getting him ready. Helping Blake Griffin stay engaged. I think when you start to look at Chris Paul, a coach has to love having a point guard like this.”
That kind of leadership and presence has helped the development of Griffin (18.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg 53.7 FG%) who had 21 points, 13 boards and two blocks on Friday. That was followed up with 23 points, 11 boards and four steals on Sunday at the Suns.
“I remember the year I go drafted. The season before that, they had only 19 wins. So what we’ve accomplished so far is great,” Griffin said after the game. “But the best thing about it for me is being a part of something that’s much bigger than Chris or I. It takes everybody from top to bottom--the GM, the coaching staff, the players, everybody. And from day one since I’ve been here, everybody’s been serious about changing.”
While the stars for the Clippers have played to their All-Star greatness, the Clippers have won at this high clip because of contributions from other key players.
Those key players include center DeAndre Jordan who is averaging a career-best 9.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 1.6 bpg; off-season acquisition forward/guard Matt Barnes, who is averaging a career-best 10.3 ppg and 5.1 boards and he had 13 points, five boards and two blocks on Friday. In the contest on Sunday, Barnes scored 15 points and had eight boards off the bench going 5 for 7 from the floor, which included a 3 for 4 effort from three-point range. Guard Jamal Crawford, who also was signed this past off-season is averaging 16.3 points per game off the bench and on ten occasions this season has scored 20 points or more. The tenth came on Sunday when he scored 22 points going 8 for 12 from the floor, including 3 for 6 from three-point land in 25 minutes.
While these role players have made a difference so far, the Clippers as they continue through this season hope that they can get even more contributions from the aforementioned players as well as from two other very key veterans. Guard Chauncey Billups, who is coming back from an injury that cut his season short a year ago and has only allowed him to play in just three games so far this season and forward Lamar Odom, who despite having a solid game on Friday with eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks off the bench, has just averaged 3.3 ppg and 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 apg. Those numbers are a far fetch from the 13.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 3.8 apg that he has averaged in 13 seasons. On top of that forward Grant Hill, who Clippers also signed this off-season has yet to play this season because of a knee injury. Hill who as averaged 17.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 4.2 apg hopes to be back on the court in mid-January according to the Los Angeles Times report that came out four days ago.
The other key for the Clippers to be a serious contender when we get to April is can they play the kind of defense that gives you a chance to contend for a title?
If Friday’s victory was any indication, despite the fact that it was the Kings, than the Clippers are well on their way.
The Clippers outrebounded the Kings 53-32, which included 16 offensive rebounds. They held the Kings to 41.8 percent shooting from the field, had 13 blocks and had 13 steals.
On Sunday at the Suns the Clippers outrebounded their opponent 44-41. They had 12 steals, seven blocks and forced 16 turnovers.
For the season, the Clippers offensively are scoring 101.2 ppg (9th NBA) and allowing just 91.6 ppg (4th NBA). That point differential of +9.6 is the best in the NBA. They also rank 2nd in the league in assists at 23.3 per contest and Paul is second in the league at 9.6. The Clippers are No. 1 in the league in steals at 10.7 per contest and 7th in shot blocking at 6.5 per contest. Paul leads the league in steals at 2.7 per contest.
The one weakness in the Clippers game that could hold them back from maybe winning it all this season is their shooting at the free throw line.
While as a team, they are shooting 73.7 percent from the charity stripe, Griffin this season is shooting just 61.8 percent and for his career is just a 52.5 percent free throw shooter. Jordan this season is shooting just 42.2 percent from the foul line and for his career is shooting just 43.8 percent.
It has been a long hard road for the Clippers to gain traction in Los Angeles. They have had so much turnover from players and coaches and finally they have stability with coach Del Negro. Stars in Paul and Griffin who put in the work to be great on the court and they have one of the deepest benches in the league.
That has resulted in the quickest march to the 20-win mark and only the sixth time they have accomplished that feet, which includes last season when the team was 20-11.
This is a far cry from the 19-63 record that they had back in 2008-09 and nobody knows how far they have come better than coach Del Negro.
“You have to have players. You have to have talent. You have to have guys believing in what you’re doing, and find ways to win and be consistent,” Del Negro said on Friday.
“I think the guys are learning and understanding what it takes to play at a high level consistently. It’s a good thing to have a target on your back, but that also brings responsibility to play at a high level as often as possible.”
Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy of 12/22/12 7 a.m. edition of NBA TV’s “Gametime” with Rick Kamla, Steve Smith and Sam Mitchell; Sporting News 2006-07 Official NBA Guide; www.espn.go.com article “Clippers Set Franchise Mark with 12th Straight Win” and “Blake Griffin, Chris Paul guide Clippers to 13th Straight Win;” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Clippers; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Weiss; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Marin; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McMillian; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Smith; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gar_Heard.
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