I was there at the game and the Clippers won therefore I take all credit for their win last night!
But on a serious note, last night’s game against the New Orleans Hornets was pretty awesome. It’s nice to see the stadium filled up with actual fans too, and not just fans of the opposing teams which there were few. The atmosphere was pretty awesome too with everyone into the game throughout.
DeAndre Jordan takes prize for player of the game from an audience award. All his shots were thunderous dunks that gave energy to the whole crowd, even the people all way up in the nosebleeds sitting in the highest row (yes I was there). Blake Griffin also gave the crowd something to cheer for too as the whole crowd started making noise when Blake Griffin came in during the 6 minute mark in the final quarter. Eric Gordon has a lot of nice plays too as he kept going to the rim. I still hope he gets his shot back because the team really needs it. Without it, teams are going to play closer inside and make it harder getting to the rack.
For all the times I was cussing at Brian Cook and Ryan Gomes throughout the game, they made it big at the end. Ryan Gomes had a beautiful putback dunk that gave the Clippers the lead that they never lost and Brian Cook hustled and did well during the first 6 minutes of the fourth quarter. He even went for a nice dunk that gave the crowd some gasps and laughs (cause it’s Brian Cook).
Defensively, Clippers did really well. Chris Paul wasn’t exactly shut down, but he was not that productive tonight. Throughout the game, it seemed like CP3 did not play much because my friend kept wondering where he was since Paul was on his fantasy team. Boxscore says he only played 32 minutes which is the lowest among the New Orleans starters. New acquisition Jarrett Jack got 16 minutes of play and Willie Green had 18 so I want to say Hornets were just testing out the new rotation and seeing how well they’ll do. I might be completely off base here though and Chris Paul just had an off night with 32 minutes of playing time. It happens sometimes. Not every star player can have a great night every single night.
David West had 30 points, mostly on contested jumpshots. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were on him all night and seemed to have their arms up every time they shot, but West just kept knocking them down which meant he just had a good night.
What I noticed from all the way up in the rafters was that Clippers do well with zone defense. But other defensive schemes tend to leave players open for shots. Clippers offense still leaves a lot to desire. Every time Eric Gordon had the ball seemed to turn into a Gordon/Griffin pick and roll or Gordon driving in for a layup. There was this one play where the offense looked pretty lost because Blake Griffin set up a screen but then both Eric Bledsoe and Eric Gordon used the pick and all 3 of them were in the same corner within 5 feet of each other. I forgot who was holding the ball but that was just an awkward sequence right there.
Other thoughts:
- Monty Williams has that scary mafia gang leader look every time he stands on the sideline.
- Aminu had a good game and is showing signs of promise for the future.
- Eric Bledsoe hasn’t been as productive as he was when he first started this season but we’ll see what happens in the next game to see if the trend continues.
- Trevor Ariza had a mix reaction at Staples Center. He got booed and cheered on randomly and there was really no pattern on what the fans thought about him.
- DJ MBenga got a huge reaction when he entered the game in the second quarter. Los Angeles just loves him and his tacos.
- The free hotdog I got at this game sucked and was all soft and soggy like it was made yesterday. But it was free so I can’t complain that much.
Overall, enjoyable game. Not enough Blake Griffin highlights as I wanted but I’ll take a win over monstrous dunks any day of the week. Hopefully we can sustain the momentum and get another win this Thursday on Thanksgiving against our Norcal rivals, the Sacramento Kings.