Lob City MVP – Los Angeles Clippers Week Two
- Updated: November 14, 2014
The second week of the NBA season for the Los Angeles Clippers was not one to be extremely excited over. There were 3 games in the week which netted the Clippers a 1-2 record to bring their season total to 4-3.
The Clippers first game of the week came against the Golden State Warriors which the Clippers would be totally dismantled on both sides of the ball. Warriors’ point guard, Steph Curry, would shoot lights out like he always does being 4-8 from the 3-point line to have a total of 28 points for the game. The Warriors, for the game, would shoot 58% from the field compared to the Clippers’ 46%. You just are not gonna win any games with a large difference in field goal percentage like that.
The most alarming stat for the game came from Blake Griffin and it was not a good one…1 total rebound for the game considering Griffin is a large athletic big-man is unbelievable. DeAndre Jordan picked up the slack, though, to have 13 boards for the game.
The Clippers’ leading scorer in this contest would be Jamal Crawford off the bench with 24 points. This would actually be Crawford’s last
game off the bench as coach, Doc Rivers, would start to experiment with Crawford in the starting lineup.
Chris Paul would have his typical game of 15 points, 12 assists, and 4 steals but it just would not be enough for the Clippers to even have a chance against the Warriors.
The Clippers’ next contest would be against the Portland Trailblazers where the Clippers would rebound from a loss and pull a victory…actually it was mostly just J.J. Redick.
Redick would shoot lights out going 11-13 from the field to have a total of 30 points for the game. Even with Redick’s great performance, the Clippers would only win by 4 points against the Blazers. Actually, though, the Clippers would have a nice overall performance from their starting five which now includes Jamal Crawford which 4 of the 5 starters having at least 20 points.
With that being said, the bench for the Clippers would only net a combined 5 points for the game. That is what happens when you being to start your 6th man in the starting five…
The Clippers’ final game of the week would be going against the San Antonio Spurs which would be an ugly game for both sides with a final score being just in the 80 point range for both sides with the Spurs being victorious. The Spurs’ would shoot 10% from the 3-point line and the Clippers would shoot 22%. While both sides shot badly, the key in the one would be the turnovers. The Spurs would just have 8 turnovers for the game while the Clippers would have 15.
Blake Griffin would get his rebounding skills back in this one with 10 for the game to go along with 6 assists and 23 points. Griffin’s partner in crime, Chris Paul, would also play a solid game almost earning his 2nd triple double of the season (12 pts, 10 rebs, 9 assts).
So who played the best out of this disappointing 3 game stretch? Have to give it to Chris Paul.
Paul had at least a double double in all three games and one triple double. Paul has also protected the ball well with just 6 turnovers over the week and one game where he was the only player without a turnover out of the starting five for the Clippers. Paul has also played well on defense like his usual self snatching up 6 steals over the week as well.
While Paul has done well, some of his teammates have not been and it will take a collective effort for this team to make it far into the postseason this year. The most important stat the Clippers need to work on will be their team rebounding. It seems hard to believe that a team with Griffin and Jordan manning the paint, would struggle to rebound the ball but they have. The Clippers are dead last in the league in rebounding to this point.
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