Point guard Chris Paul has the Los Angeles Clippers moving in the right direction. Photo Credit: Gary George II/News4usonline.com
LOS ANGELES-It looks like the Los Angeles Clippers winning streak isn’t ending anytime soon. I guess we will have to adapt to this new environment around the Staples Center. The Clippers have won five straight games and are now 7-2. I don’t really know how to explain what’s going on in Clipper Nation, but anyone who isn’t impressed by what they’re doing, must have a feeling of intense dislike.
The Clippers who was once the most laughable team in the NBA, is now becoming one of the most intimidating teams in the league. They’ve taken at least a 20-point lead in their last five games. Jamal Crawford talked about the Clippers being one of the best squads he’s played on.
“This is the best team I’ve ever played for, “said Crawford. I was just talking about this to Chauncey (Billups) and he said the same thing and they won a championship.”
It’s hard to pick a team in the NBA right now that can possibly give the Clippers what they haven’t had in a while, a loss; because they’ve already beaten teams that has been predicted to win the 2012-2013 NBA championship. I don’t see any team around messing with their clique, at least for now.
The players really don’t like discussing the success they’re are having at the moment, assuming it’s too early in the season. But it’s always a good thing to to get a head of yourselves in the beginning, so you won’t be stuck playing catch up. After every win the players are down playing the fact that they’re off to a blistering start.
“It’s still early and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” said guard Chris Paul.
On Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls, the Clippers looked better than they looked in the last game, after blowing out the Bulls 101-80. They’re getting better and better every game. We are aware that they have a new personnel this year and they’re a totally different team from last year; but this team appears to be playing another level of basketball.
The Clippers’ benched out scored their Bulls counterpart, 53-25. This tells you a lot about the Clippers roster. Don’t expect to catch a break when their starters are resting, because the bench players can and will produce like the starters. But if there was one imperfection that stood out in the game about the Clippers, it’s the team’s inability to dominate the boards. The Clippers were outrebounded, 45-41, allowing the Bulls to rack up 21 offensive boards.
“We should be a better rebounding team than we are,” said coach Vinny Del Negro. There is no question about it. We can’t give up the offensive rebounding that we are right now and expect to win at a high level. We have to clean that up.”
After a phenomenal start of the season, they face a ruthless road trip. They’ll play four road games in the next six nights, starting with San Antonio on Monday night. This will be a very good test for the team. It’ll give them an idea of where they’re at. The Clippers feel obligated to win at home and protect their court, but the real test will be how they perform away from the Staples Center.
“This trip will be a good test for us, “said Crawford. It’s four tough teams, we have to take it one day at a time and bond with each other on the road and see what happens. We just saw San Antonio about a week ago, so we know what to expect.”
Tamara is a graduate of Cal State Los Angeles where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. Tamara is passionate about covering sports. She has covered the NBA and Major League Baseball routinely for the past several years. A Southern California native, Tamara developed her skills as a sports journalist while working for various Los Angeles-based news publications.
