The Los Angeles Clippers look ready to rumble. They appear to be clicking on all cylinders at the right time. With the NBA playoffs rapidly approaching, the Clippers, currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference, without a doubt is the darkhorse choice in the race to this year’s NBA title chase.
The high-flying Clippers are also perhaps the most dangerous team considered to make a run deep into the postseason. They have the athleticism, the young legs, and a certain type of moxie that comes along with having All-Star point guard Chris Paul on the team.
Even with guard Chauncey Billups going down earlier in the season with a devastating injury, the Clippers are the team no wants to face in the postseason. After a little bit of bumbling when they hit a wretched three-game losing streak, the Clippers look as though they are back on the right track.
The Utah Jazz might be able to vouch for that. Shaking off that three-game funk, the Clippers are rolling now with a five-game winning streak and hitting their stride at the right time of the season. A night after surviving a 98-97 scare from the Portland Trailblazers, the Clippers didn’t waste time coming out the gate fast to beat down Utah for their fifth straight win.
Paul scored 26 points, Blake Griffin dropped in an additional 24 to lead the Clippers to an easy 105-96 win against Utah at Staples Center. The win keeps the Clippers one game back of the arena and city rival Los Angeles Lakers, setting up a looming hometown showdown between the two teams on Wednesday.
This is the first time since the 2006-2007 season that the Clippers have won five consecutive games.
The Clippers dominated the paint in the first quarter, grabbing 13 rebounds to Utah’s five boards enroute to a 38-22 lead after the game’s initial period. With Caron Butler (eight points) and Randy Foye (eight points) leading the way, the Clippers connected on 15-of-22 shots, a 68 percent clip from the field.
By halftime those numbers tailed a bit for the Clippers as Utah tried to claw its way back into the game, heading into halftime down by 12 points. The rebounding numbers nearly evened out as well with Utah pulling down 18 rebounds to the Clippers’ 19 boards in the second period. The Clippers’ lead sunk to single-digits early in the third quarter, but Griffin, Chris Paul and Co. put things back into overdrive to drive Los Angeles to the win.
That’s people expect. So far, Griffin and Paul have not disappointed this season. Expectations of the dynamic duo immediately went through the roof when the mercurial Paul was traded to the Clippers before the season. Pairing up the with electric Griffin, last year’s NBA Rookie of the Year, gave the Clippers instant postseason capability credibility, and in all likelihood sent opposing Western Conference teams into panic mode.
And with good reason. Long considered as perhaps the best point guard in the NBA, Paul brings the attitude that can push the Clippers into a deep playoff run. Blake gives the Clippers a spectacular force inside, and center DeAndre Jordan provides the presence in the paint to cause teams problems.
This is enough to cause the other teams in the Western Conference to be weary of Clipper Nation.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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