Los Angeles Clippers: The Clips keep scoring

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul had an excellent connection all day.

It sure is fun for the Los Angeles Clippers this year as they look to build a true offensive juggernaut ripe with shooters, ball handlers, and post options (wait they don’t have that last one); I meant post option and some random big guys. I have seen enough to know that it’s going to be tough in the postseason when they have to rely on Ryan Hollins and Byron Mullens to back up Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Last night was just another example of how the Clips will have to win with offense because their defense leaves much to be desired. With these game recaps, I will write an overall rundown of the game, then focus on 4 players (Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick, and Matt Barnes) that I have decided to follow more closely as the season goes along. Without further ado, let’s get to the battle of power forwards.

From an offensive standpoint, last night’s game (11/11) was a great one to watch as the Clips were able to hang on for dear life to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 109-107. Anytime Blake and Kevin Love match up, you know some offensive fireworks are going to explode and this game was no exception. From tipoff, both stars were very aggressive, finding their spots on the floor and capitalizing with great efficiency. Blake attacked both Love and Nikola Pekovic, destroyer of life, from midrange and in, using his improving jumpshot and “more athletic Tyler Hansbrough” post up game of pump fakes and pivots to produce 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the first half. As someone who has never been the biggest fan of Blake’s game, I was impressed with his passing as he hit people in tight spots and had great vision to skip passes that set up threes. However, Love matched him in efficieny, as he sunk three 3?s to go along with 5 assists at the end of the half.

The Clips got good contributions from the bench in the first half, notably from Ryan Hollins and Jamal Crawford. However,they were only able to maintain a one point lead at half due to their horrendous defense. This theme would continue as the Clippers would jump out to leads in the second half, only to let the Wolves go on quick runs and get back in it.

Blake continued his assault on the T-Wolves in the third quarter, as CP3 made a conscious effort to keep the big man involved and continue his roll on the weak defensive bigs of Minnesota. The Clips used this Blake-centric offense to build up an 11-point lead midway through the third, only to see it evaporate because the Wolves’ energizer bunny, Corey Brewer, turned on the jets and wreacked havoc, forcing turnovers and converting runout layups off missed shots.

Heading into the fourth, the Clips were up 85-80 and seemed ready to coast to victory. However, the Clippers effort and lack of defensive prowess failed them, as Kevin Martin led a charge to bring the T-Wolves to within 2 with three minutes left. Along with Pekovic’s resurgence, Spaniard point guard Ricky Rubio put on an excllent performance, and the Clippers looked in grave danger of letting this game slip away. Chris Paul wouldn’t let this happen as he drilled a midrange jumper with three minutes left and then stripped the ball from Corey Brewer on the ensuing possession. He promptly got fouled and drilled the free throws, extending the Clippers lead to six and making sure the Wolves comeback attempt would not succeed. To cap it all off, Griffin hit 2 free throws with 44 seconds left (shocker), and Jordan played impeccable defense on Martin as Pekovic and Love missed 2 follow- ups that would have tied the game. With that, the Clips got a big win against a team they could be battling for playoff position later in the year.

Player Notes

Chris Paul

• Classic CP3 game where he gets everyone involved, especially the flying Ginger, while possessing the uncanny ability to realize the exact moments he needs to take over and put the ball in the hoop. He’s just so fun to watch.
• That is until he talks back to the refs and committs stupid fouls. Than he’s annoying.
• It was a big matchup for Blake and Paul got him involved early, which boosted Griffin’s confidence throughout the game. He did an exellent job of hitting Jamal Crawford off the screen, a harder pass to make than most people think.
• Paul had a number of plays that remind you he is a true superstar in the Association. One stood out above all others as he caught Brewer leaning to a screen, gave him a shimmy shake, and drilled the jumper as Brewer fell to the ground. As if he would miss it.

DeAndre Jordan

• Up and down game for him. Was great at diving to the hoop for easy dunks and lobs. Worked well timing his cuts, as sometimes he needed to wait an extra pass off a screen and roll before entering the lane and catching the pass for a dunk.
• Doc Rivers might have touted him for Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), but he was just blowing smoke up our ass. DeAndre got owned by The Executioner (Pekovic), who constantly got deep position on him and layed the ball in or forced Jordan into fouls.
• For reference on how ridiculous Doc’s statement about DPOY, DeAndre is allowing 61% shooting on 7.8 shots per game at the rim, with 1.9 blocks a game. Compare that to Roy Hibbert (33% on 10.1 shots), Al Horford (43% on 7.6 shots), Miles Plumlee (39% on 10.7 shots, WTF), and Dwight Howard (49% on 10.9 shots) and it’s clear that DeAndre has a ways to go. A long ways.
• When the Wolves pulled DeAndre away from the hoop to guard Love on the perimeter, the Clippers’ rebounding was horrible. They need Blake to be better in those scenarios and work better on team rebounding.

J.J. Redick

• A very quiet game for him. Didn’t get involved early and looked out of sync as the game wore on.
• Second-guessed a 3 pointer in the third then missed a wide open one in the fourth.
• Played tough defense on Martin for the most part but just couldn’t stop him. Has to do a better job of not letting his lack of touches affect his defense.

Matt Barnes

• You may ask why I am following him. First, he plays winning basketball off the bench and it’s always good to keep a close eye on players like that. My friends from college had some weird fascination that I would be him if I played in the NBA (not sure if its his energy or tats, but I would never do my hair like that), so I really want to see what he does from game to game.
• Matt Barnes was Matt Barnes tonight. Hustle plays abounded as he did all the little things the Clips needed him to do for them to pull out this victory. He was +11 in his 22 minutes and pulled down 8 rebounds, each by finding the ball amongst the trees.
• He even drew 2 fouls on the Wolves in the third that helped the Clips keep them at bay when they were mounting their comeback.
• And of course, there was one hard foul that Barnes will always commit, as he just wrapped his arms around Derrick Williams so he couldn’t even leave the floor. Keep it up enforcer!

Here’s a clip of classic Barnes intimidation