Los Angeles Clippers: Clips Coming Back Home
The road trip is over! The Los Angeles Clippers are finally coming back home after having a successful six game road trip. In the first three games of the trip the Clippers went 2-1 beating the Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic. The loss came against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The second part of the trip began in Philadelphia versus a very good 76ers team. The Clips were in a dog fight, the 76ers are a great defensive team and the game was a low scoring affair. The game was won by the Clippers when PG Chris Paul hit a 18 foot turnaround jumper to give the Clippers an one point lead with three ticks remaining. The Clipper defense would do the rest trapping SG Lou Williams to force an air ball and perserve the victory. Without PG/SG Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul is going to be the one taking the last shot in late game situations. That is not a bad thing since he has been money all season in the fourth quarter. After the win the Clips improved to 3-1 on their road trip with the Charlotte Bobcats next on the list.
Clippers Vs Bobcats
To be honest there is really no point to talk about this game, but I will. The game was similar to the one in Washington with the same results; another thrashing by the Clippers. The Bobcats did the feel like playing defense in this game and the Clippers did not mind at all. Chris Paul was dishing the ball to various teammates as he finished with 14 assists and 18 points. PF Blake Griffin had a game high 21 points with 10 rebounds. Chris and Blake were not the only ones with double doubles. C DeAndre Jordan pitched in with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Clippers were dominating from start to finish. The most impressive stat for the game was that the Clips had 50 points in the paint. Shows how bad the Bobcats defense is when you give up that many points in the paint. The win improved the Clippers record to 4-1 on the road trip, the final opponent was the Dallas Mavericks.
Clippers Vs Mavericks
Clippers had beaten the Mavs earlier at home earlier this season, but this time the Clips were on the Mavs turf. The game was close as expected, but the Clippers could not close the deal due to too many turnovers and missed free throws. Blake when 2 for 9 in his free throw attempts with many misses coming in the fourth quarter. Even with all the mistakes and missed free throws the Clips still had a chance to win the game.
The Clippers were down by two with about 13 seconds left in the game. The Mavs inbound pass was stolen by Chris and he dribbled up court to find a wide open SF Caron Butler for a potentially game winning three pointer. The shot went up but would not go through the rim giving the Clips a 96-92 defeat and in the process ending the road trip with a 4-2 mark.
The Clips did great on the trip. It would have been nice to see them finish 5-1 but I am satisfied with the results. I believe the Clippers are ready for the playoffs. They can win in the road and PF Kenyon Martin is looking more and more comfortable in the Clippers uniform. The Clips might have lost offense due to the Billups injury, but we have gained defense and rebounds with Martin. At this point of the season, with the All-Star approaching, the goal is playoff positioning and achieving total team chemistry. At the moment the Clips are hanging onto the second seed in the west. GO CLIPS!!!!!!!!!!!