1/31/11: Have I Mentioned That I Enjoy Watching the Clippers?

I have? Oh, yeah, I thought I may have brought it up before, but I wasn’t sure. I’m going to say this once, and I can’t promise I won’t say it 100 more times, but for today I’m only going to say it once: if you have access to a TV with NBA League Pass and you’re missing Clippers games, then you’ve got some serious issues with your priorities. I don’t give a sh!t what you were doing last night between 10:40 PM and 1:00 AM ET (I know what you’re thinking, and yeah, you still lose), it wasn’t this exciting:

All of the above is from last night’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks. The first quarter of last night’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks, to be more specific. By the time the first period came to a close, DeAndre and Blake had already provided four legit top 10 play candidates. By the end of the game they had constructed a full-length instructional film on the various methods of dunking a basketball. I can’t honestly say I’ve ever seen anything quite like this team in my life. I’m confident that you haven’t either, which is why I argue that your priorities are totally f@cked if you aren’t tuning in on a regular basis. Oops, I said I was only going to say that once today.

Random Observations:

Highlight Recap: Tony Allen throws down in the vicinity of Dwight Howard. Dwight with a two-handed hammer. Shawn Marion runs the floor and finishes strong. John Wall lobs to Javale McGee who finishes in reverse. Tyson Chandler gets demonstrative. Nene with a one-handed slam. Paul George misses, Tyler Hansbrough does not. Darren Collison with a huge dunk. Rick Ross has developed a fake identity, but he’s used it to get real courtside seats. Bastard.
Former Clipper Corey Maggette flopped his way to the line 15 times, scored 25 points, and led the Bucks to their fourth consecutive game of 90 or more points. They’d won the previous three, and with a 98-point outing they put themselves in a great position to make it four in a row. It was their defense that would fail them on this night, though. Blake Griffin dropped 32 on 13 of 20 and DeAndre Jordan was excellent with a season-high 16 points. The Bucks had to send guys like Corey Maggette, Ersan Ilyasova, and Luc Rirchard Mbah A Moute at Griffin because Bogut was stuck on DeAndre. That’s obviously a recipe for disaster, as those guys all lack either the size, strength, speed, or all three to compete with one of the league’s freakiest physical specimins. The Clipps jumped out to a big lead early, as they tend to do, then choked it, as they still do far too often, but then regrouped and went on an 11-0 run about midway through the fourth that put them up by double figures. The Bucks would get back within striking distance, but Randy Foye, who scored 20, knocked down the dagger triple with 42 seconds left. The Clippers of November 2010? They never would’ve recovered after blowing the lead. This team’s made an unbelievable amount of progress, and it’s too bad they dug such a deep hole for themselves at the start of the season. These guys could really make a first round series entertaining.
A winless January, 21 losses in a row, and 31 Ls in the last 32 tries. That’s Cleveland Cavalier basketball, in case you weren’t aware. LeBron took it relatively easy on his former team this time, scoring just 24 points as the Heat won by 27. Miami’s other former Cav, Zydrunas Ilgauskus, had 12 points and 14 boards, and Dwyane Wade dropped 34. Cleveland is now just two games way from tying the 95/96 Grizzlies and the 97/98 Nuggets for the longest losing streak in NBA history with games against the Pacers and Grizzlies looming on the Horizon. Indiana’s got that temporary energy that comes with firing the head coach, so I see no hope there. At Memphis? It’ll be an ironic way to tie the record, seeing as the Grizzlies are one of the franchises they’ll be matching.
Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, the Nuggets shot 50 percent, and the opposition was the Nets. Somehow… that all adds up to a 115-99 loss. Devin Harris picked Denver’s D apart with a career-high 18 assists, Anthony Morrow was a perfect 6 of 6 for 18 points off the bench, and Kris Humphries pounded ‘em on the glass. Humphries and company outrebounded the Nuggets 12-3 offensively and 38-27 overall (No, Brook Lopez still wasn’t involved, he had four). If I’m Denver’s GM, Nene is on the f@ckin’ hotseat now if he wasn’t already. The Nuggets gave up 27 points on 16 turnovers and just generally sucked.
Roy Hibbert celebrated Jim O’Brien’s departure with a 24-point, 11-rebound, 30-minute performance in a 104-93 win over the Craptors. Toronto struggled to put the ball in the basket, going 1-6 from long distance and 41% from the field. The Pacers gave them plenty of opportunities with their 25 turnovers, but the Craptors only managed to turn them into 23 points. Indiana almost matched that with 18 points off of Toronto’s 16 turnovers. Rookie Paul George scored 16 off the bench in 24 minutes of play.
The other games: Mike Conley scored 26 points, dished 11 dimes, and came up with a key steal as the Grizzlies defeated the Magic 100-97. Washington is now 0-24 on the road following a 102-92 loss to the Mavs. Tyson Chandler continues to beast, he had 18/18. Double doubles from Andrie Kirilenko, Al Jefferson, and Paul Millsap helped lift the Jazz to a much needed 83-78 victory over the Bobcats.