Watching the Clippers crush the Grizzlies was a lot of fun. We saw the Clippers do a lot of the things we want them to do. They played aggressively on both ends of the floor, earning 33 free throw attempts and forcing 16 turnovers. They didn’t take a whole lot of threes (16), and a fair amount of the threes that were taken were pretty solid looks. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul actually seemed to gel… they connected on a rare alley-oop in a half-court situation and picked their spots appropriately. Sometimes Paul is overly passive, but not in this game. He shot the ball 13 times, which was plenty, while also getting the ball where it needed to go (Randy Foye was hot, so he got 11 shots, and Blake Griffin got 9 plus 12 free throws). Nine offensive boards and the same number of fast-break points leave a little bit to be desired, but I suppose they were shafted out of a pair of offensive boards/scores on poor offensive interference calls (Violet Palmer made her presence felt). All in all, good showing by the Clippers. They built an early lead and maintained it all game long. I’m not any more encouraged than I was a day ago, though. We’ve seen these performances from the Clippers before… they’re simply too few and far between. Plus, the Grizzlies just looked dreadful in this game. Credit the Clipps for taking care of business, but Marc Gasol (3-12, 6 points, styled on by CP3) was out there throwing bounce passes that hit the backboard. It was bad.
In summation, the Clippers are teasing you. They’ll play a beautiful game once every week or so, but they always revert right back to playing the wrong way. Sometimes it even happens within a game. They’ll begin looking to establish dominance in the paint, but finish firing contested three-pointers. They did manage to string four good quarters together yesterday afternoon, but they’re gonna have to do more than that to advance beyond the first round.
It should be noted that Nick Young scored the dagger in spectacular fashion with just 25.7 seconds to go! Wait, what? I thought you said the Clipps blew ‘em out? Well, they did–101-85–but Nick’s bucket assured certain victory by earning the Clipps their hundredth point. Lawler’s law, folks. First to 100 wins… it’s the law!
Is it safe to say Nick Young’s got the 360 layup on lock now that Vince Carter is a fossil? Nick Young reminds me so much of JR Smith. He’s not quite as erratic, but he’s a guy with incredible athleticism who chooses to take a lot of shots from the outside. I’m not trying to say either player shouldn’t be shooting the three, but I’d like to see them put their other skills to work more often. Both are excellent ball handlers and creative, explosive finishers. JR is even a pretty good playmaker when he wants to be. Speaking of JR Smith, he and Iman Shumpert, another streaky shooter with impressive athleticism, collaborated on a double alley-oop as the Knicks creamed the Pistons. Quality garbage time yesterday, eh?
Had Gary Forbes not clunked a pair of free throws, the Craptors probably would’ve beaten the Bulls in overtime. So, does that make him a hero? I’m sure he doesn’t feel like one, but he may well have earned Toronto a few extra ping pong balls. Gotta draft the studliest stud possible to take Forbes’ roster spot. Such an unselfish player, and I say he’s the hero.
Look at how unbelievably close Luol Deng’s game-winning tip was. It comes off his fingertips with 0.1 showing on the clock…
Also, notice the excellent defense played by James Johnson on CJ Watson. Prior to the aforementioned free-throw misses by Forbes, Johnson had come out of nowhere to swat a layup attempt by Deng. He had 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, and a steal against the team that drafted him. Considering his impact down the stretch, this was probably the best game of his NBA career (save for the part where he told an official not to review a critical out of bounds call because he tipped the ball. That was bad). He and Amir Johnson (10/8/2 BLK) were hustling harder than Ace Hood. Jose Calderon also made some big plays (20/10), but he had 6 turnovers, and two of them nearly killed the Raps. Late in regulation he tried to save the ball under his own basket, resulting in a CJ Watson layup, and after getting trapped in OT he kind of just threw the ball up for grabs. Toronto still should’ve won the game… but I was surprised by the pair of poor decisions from a player who normally takes excellent care of the basketball.
With a month to go in the season, 1.5 games can be made up. That being said, the Milwaukee Bucks are in trouble if they’re planning to allow 125 points on a regular basis. That’s how many the Pacers scored on ‘em last night, and in their last game that wasn’t against the Charlotte Bobcats they allowed another hundred (to the f@cking Celtics, who can’t score a lick). I love the direction they’ve gone on offense… the ball movement has been beautiful, and they’ve finally begun to play a style that makes sense given their pieces. However, they’ve dropped down 20 spots in points allowed from last season. Like I said, I love the new direction on offense, but adopting a new style of play doesn’t mean defense has to be completely kicked to the curb. They’ve got a huge match up–possibly the most important of their season–with the Knicks coming up tomorrow, and if Scott Skiles can’t get his team to bend their knees and move their feet in that one… then I suppose they’ll have to accept a 9th-place finish.
The following is a screenshot from Bobcats @ Nets. I have no further explanation and/or information, so don’t ask. Scroll down at your own risk…
How ’bout Brandan Wright? As the Mavs beat the Rockets in OT, this kid had the game of his NBA career (had some solid showings in ’08/09, but for a lousy Warriors team). He scored 14 points, blocked 7 shots (averages 1.5 per game in just 14 minutes), and even nailed a jumper off the dribble in the final minute of the fourth quarter. He probably would’ve had the game-winning alley-oop dunk, too, had the pass been thrown a few inches higher. Kind of ironic that Courtney Lee broke that play up, no? Anyway, getting back to Brandan Wright, he was a guy who I loved when he played for Golden State. He’s obviously an incredible athlete, and I think the aforementioned pull-up J speaks for the kind of skill he has. He’s been held back by injuries, but I’m still surprised that his best season to date has been this one. I feel like he can be more than a 6/3 player off of someone’s bench. Check out this old highlight reel from his rookie season. Yes, I know, anyone can look good for the duration of a five-minute Youtube video. However, look at the things he can do in the open court, and notice his touch around the basket.
It’s clear to see why the Warriors coveted him five years ago… he looks like the perfect power forward for a team that likes to get up and down. I’m still holding out hope when it comes to this young man. If he ever gets an opportunity to play some real minutes I bet he’ll put up surprising numbers.
That’s going to have to be all for today. I had some problems with the internet earlier which prevented me from getting started on this when I wanted to. It’s been working alright for the past hour or so, so hopefully it was just a temporary issue.
