HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Now you know why the Lakers were in such an uproar when that Chris Paul trade fell through.
With a playoff series on the line in a Game 7 on the road in Memphis, a beat up and worn out Paul dragged the Los Angeles Clippers to the finish line against the Hang Time Grizzlies by sheer force of will. Then, the Clippers’ bench gave the final push Sunday at the FedEx Forum in the 82-72 win that sealed their date with the San Antonio Spurs in one Western Conference semifinal.
Through three quarters, however, it was all Paul. It was his toughness and relentless attacks on both ends of the floor that set the tone for the visitors and kept the home crowd from overwhelming the moment.
“I felt like we should have won earlier,” the always confident Paul said after leading the Clippers to just their third playoff series win in 41 years. “But it doesn’t matter. As long as you win, I think it is a step in the right direction for our franchise.”
He was so confident he bought plane tickets to San Antonio for his wife and son on Saturday. You don’t operate with that kind of confidence unless you know your will to win is greater than that of your competition. And time and again in this series, Paul showed himself as the superior competitor to anyone else on either side.
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The Los Angeles Clippers’ worst fears became a reality this evening when it was announced by the team that Chauncey Billups is done for the remainder of this season with a torn left Achilles suffered in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s win over the Orlando Magic.
An MRI on this afternoon in Cleveland, where the Clippers are as they wait for Wednesday night’s game against the Cavaliers, confirmed the severity of the injury.
Billups is set to return to Los Angeles Thursday for examination from the team’s medical staff, though a date for surgery has not yet been determined. A five-time All-Star, the Clippers claimed Billups off waivers in December after the New York Knicks cut him to make room for the signing of Tyson Chandler.
Billups played a pivotal role for the Clippers this season, starting at shooting guard alongside Chris Paul, and averaging 14.9 points and 4.0 assists in 30.4 minutes per game. It’s a devastating blow for a Clippers team that leaned on Billups as much for his play as it did his leadership and championship experience.
“I feel sick for him,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negrotold ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne. “He’s such a pro. After the game last night it was bittersweet. Everyone was just quiet in the locker room, quiet on the plane. People know how much Chauncey means to us — his character, his leadership. Not only his ability to play at a high level, but his character and the intangibles he brings. That’s why we brought him here. I just feel sick for him.”
“It’s a tough one,” Del Negro said. “He was just getting everything figured out. He was playing great. He’d just hit three 3s in a row, then he turns the wrong way running back down the court.
“It’s tough, but we’re going to do whatever we can as a team an organization to move forward.”
if any team has the backcourt depth to weather the loss of a veteran star it’s the Clippers. Paul, Mo Williams, Randy Foye and Eric Bledsoe can all be used interchangeably in the playing rotation.
But losing Billups is about losing more than just minutes and a lethal scorer and efficient game manager. They’re losing one of the league’s most respected players, a guy that led the Detroit Pistons to a Larry O’Brien trophy, collecting The Finals MVP trophy along the way.
It remains to be seen just how they will make up for the loss of all the intangibles Billups brings to the party!
HANG TIME NEW JERSEY BUREAU – Chauncey Billups may be done for the season. So what does that mean for the Clippers?
Billups was their starting two guard, but the Clippers do have some backcourt depth. Mo Williams and Randy Foye have played the most minutes off the L.A. bench. Eric Bledsoe returned from a torn meniscus a week ago, but banged his knee in practice and has missed the last four games.
Overall, the Clippers have been a pretty bad defensive team. Through Monday, they rank 24th in defensive efficiency, allowing 103.3 points per 100 possessions. But their starting lineup has been very good defensively, allowing only 95.3 in 272 minutes.
Billups is a part of five of the Clippers’ seven most-used lineups. But their second most-used lineup has been the starting group, with Williams in place of Billups, which makes it fairly easy to compare. We’re still dealing with small sample sizes here, but they’re the biggest sample sizes the Clippers have got.
Clippers most-used lineups
Lineup
GP
MIN
Pace
OffRtg
DefRtg
NetRtg
+/-
Paul, Billups, Butler, Griffin, Jordan
14
272
90.7
110.2
95.3
+14.9
+85
Paul, Williams, Butler, Griffin, Jordan
13
81
95.6
120.6
113.8
+6.8
+3
Billups, Foye, Butler, Griffin, Jordan
5
72
92.0
106.0
88.4
+17.7
+28
Paul, Williams, Billups, Griffin, Jordan
7
30
94.3
129.5
115.0
+14.5
+7
Billups, Foye, Gomes, Griffin, Jordan
5
22
101.3
74.4
95.4
-21.1
-11
Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions (more…)
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The Los Angeles Clippers got the big road win Monday night in overtime over the Orlando Magic, but might have suffered a far more devastating loss when veteran point guard Chauncey Billups went down in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a torn left Achilles’ tendon.
Billups was in the midst of a wicked stretch, he scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and knocked down three 3-pointers in the fourth when he went down without being touched with 5:48 to play in regulation.
“I’m sick about it, sick for us but mostly for him and how much he means to us,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro told reporters after the game. “He was in some pain, and whenever that happens when no one’s around, all the possibilities are out there.”
Billups had to be helped off of the court. He is scheduled to have an MRI when the Clippers make it to Cleveland, where the Clippers will have a day off before facing the Cavaliers Wednesday night.
The Clippers started this season with four point guards on the roster after acquiring Chris Paul in a trade and picking Billups up after he was waived by the Knicks. They joined returnees Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe. They also have Randy Foye as an option.
Even with quality depth at the position, losing a seasoned leader like Billups is a crushing blow for a Clippers team that has surged to the top rung of the Western Conference standings in the past week. If Billups is indeed lost for the season, as was immediately feared, Del Negro will have to do some shuffling with his rotation. Williams has been playing off the bench this season, and thriving in that role, but could now be forced back into the starting lineup with Paul.
Either way, what could be a season-ending and potentially career-ending injury for Billups, 35, changes things dramatically for the Clippers right now.
Is Denver a legitimate championship contender or merely a flashy second-tier team? After losing at home to the Clippers and then on the road in Memphis, the Nuggets need a win in L.A. to prove that their season will not yield still another pile of fool’s gold.
Meanwhile, the Clippers are in full sail. After a slow start, and with Chris Paul finally healthy, they seek to establish themselves as the righteous successors to Dallas.
HOW THE NUGGETS CAN WIN: While there’s no doubt that Danilo Gallinari is a budding star, he must be more consistent. If his treys are falling, defenders have to honor every ball fake, which will enable Gallinari to plow his way into the paint. Also, when Gallinari is shooting bull’s-eyes from beyond the arc, the Clippers’ defense will be sufficiently stretched to allow more open spaces and lanes for his teammates to attack the rim.
Ty Lawson is back in action and adds quickness and speed to Denver’s already potent offense. Since CP3 is an habitual head-turner and not an effective man-to-man defender, he resorts to looking for steals. Accordingly, Lawson must protect the ball and take advantage of Paul’s somewhat risky maneuvers. Also, Lawson must force Paul to either drive or pull left. And since Paul’s shooting has dramatically improved season after season, Lawson does not dare to offer any defensive help.
Nene has to set sturdier screens than is his wont, hit his mid-range jumpers and overpower DeAndre Jordan in the low post. (more…)
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Don’t let the crazy dunks and all of the above the rim stuff fool you. The Clippers work from long distance, too. They hit four straight 3-pointers to end the first half against the Thunder last night, a barrage that was just as impressive to these eyes as Blake Griffin‘s monster dunk overKendrick Perkins.
And they’ll scrap with you if they have to, just ask the Lakers.
What isn’t lost in this storm of Clippers’ highlights is the fact that this team is playing in a way that delivers on all of the promise their acquisition of Chris Paul (and Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups) suggested they would.
A bruised ego for Perkins isn’t the only thing the Thunder left the Staples Center with last night. They got the same wake-up call as other teams that have faced the Clippers this season. The Clippers pose a clear and present danger to the order of the things in the Western Conference this season. And if you don’t believe it, just rewind the tape on their demolition of the league-leading Thunder on the second night of a Denver-Los Angeles back-to-back set.
In addition to the excitement that accompanies every game, the Clippers have shown themselves to be an extremely physical, scrappy bunch capable of shooting the cover off of the ball, they were 13-for-25 from deep last night and also shot .562 from the floor.
The fact that they are willing to share the glory, the byproduct of a leaders like Paul and Billups, is what really stands out. The Clippers had 28 assists against the Thunder, 24 of those from Paul, Billups and Mo Williams.
“They’re the best team we’ve played all season,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters after the game. “They have everything. They played well. They took it to us. We have work to do.”
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – He could have turned the locker room upside down, made a mess of the team’s chemistry and pouted his way out of town if he wanted to.
All of those options were available to Clippers guard Mo Williams when the Chris Paul trade went down. It soon became clear that his time as the Clippers’ starting point guard would be limited to the 22 games he got last season and whatever injury replacement starts he might get with Paul in the fold this season.
To his credit, Williams, who arrived in L.A. via a deadline-day trade with Cleveland last season, has done exactly what he’s always done: put his head down and go to work without so much as a shoulder shrug while handling himself like a true pro.
He’s been on a tear of late, averaging 22.2 points on 56 percent shooting from the floor and an outlandish 54 percent from beyond the 3-point line in the Clippers’ last five games. He’s scored 26, 25, 26, 16 and 18 points in those five games, the first three when the Clippers had to play without Paul (strained hamstring).
Keep this up and he’ll make the voting for the Sixth Man Award an all Williams affair. Philadelphia’s Lou Williams is our early frontrunner here at the hideout.
Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.
Which team most surprises you in the West at this point: Clippers, Jazz or Suns?
Steve Aschburner:Utah. In winning five straight through Tuesday and six of their last seven, the Jazz are navigating close ones and blowouts, high-scoring tilts such as the 113-105 pasting of Cleveland and grinders like their 85-73 victory over Milwaukee last week. The ball is moving – even through notorious stopper Al Jefferson, a great guy with something to prove. They’re also getting quality work from contributors young (Alec Burks, Derrick Favors) and old (Earl Watson, Josh Howard).
Fran Blinebury: After the Jazz opened up the schedule getting clobbered in three of their first four games by an average of 15.6 points, it certainly looked like the first full season P.S. (Post Sloan) was going to bring nothing but misery. Instead coach Tyrone Corbin has shown a stubbornness to stick with the ancient Raja Bell in his starting backcourt and a willingness to let his kiddie corp – Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Alec Burks — learn on the run. It’s paid off with some fun, aggressive ball. The Jazz are in deep Northwest Division water with OKC, Portland and Denver, but it looks like they’ll be able to tread water until ready to make a splash in the future.
Scott Howard-Cooper: Slight edge to the Jazz because they have recovered from a slow start despite having the farthest to go. The Clippers were always going to be good and the Suns were always going to be competitive, but Utah has been particularly encouraging with such a young roster. (more…)
HANG TIME NEW JERSEY BUREAU – Back on Dec. 7, a report hit the twitterverse that the Spurs had decided to use the amnesty clause to waive Richard Jefferson.
That was nine days ago. And with the deadline to use the amnesty clause (for this offseason) coming at midnight Friday, Jefferson is still a Spur.
The Jefferson story is a strange one. Last summer, he opted out of the final year of his contract, which would have paid him $15.2 million last season. But then the Spurs re-signed him to a new deal worth $39 million over four years. So the idea of them deciding a year later to pay him not to play for them was a little crazy.
When it was first reported that Jefferson would be amnestied, the Spurs were hot in pursuit of Caron Butler, who would have been Jefferson’s replacement. But Butler spurned the Spurs, signing with the L.A. Clippers for more money.
The Spurs were also reportedly interested in Grant Hill, Vince Carter and Josh Howard. But those three all chose to sign elsewhere as well. And now, the free agent options at the wing are slim pickings.
So it looks like Jefferson will remain in San Antonio, which isn’t necessarily a horrible thing for the Spurs. Their payroll will remain above the luxury tax line, but they’ll retain the guy who ranked fifth in 3-point percentage last season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have still not decided whether they will use the amnesty provision on guard Baron Davis, according to a league source. Davis is entering the final year of his contract, which will pay him $13.9 million this season. Teams have until Friday to utilize the amnesty provision for this season. Waiving a player via amnesty allows that player’s salary to be removed from both a team’s salary cap and luxury tax thresholds, creating cap room that can be used on other players or potentially getting a team underneath the $70 million tax threshold.
The Cavaliers acquired Davis from the Clippers at the trade deadline last February in a deal that sent guard Mo Williams to Los Angeles and brought Davis and a number one Draft pick to Cleveland.
That pick wound up being the first overall pick in last June’s Draft after the Cavs won the Draft Lottery in May. Cleveland selected Duke freshman point guard Kyrie Irving with the pick, then used its own first-rounder to take Texas forward Tristan Thompson with the fourth overall selection.
Cleveland is exploring all options for the 32-year-old Davis, including a contract buyout that would give Davis his freedom right away — and the ability to sign with any team he wants — while saving the team money on the cap. (Players who are waived via amnesty go into a pool, and must report to the team that submits the highest bid for them, as the Clippers did Monday with Chauncey Billups.) Davis’ expiring contract could also be used in a trade to bring back assets, and the Cavs have another candidate on their roster that could potentially be amnestied — veteran forward Antawn Jamison, who is scheduled to make $15 million in the final year of his contract this season. But the Cavs, in full rebuilding mode, can just let the contracts of both Davis and Jamison expire next summer and clear them off the books, freeing a huge amount of cap space that would make Cleveland a potential player for trades or free agent signings.
Complicating matters is the fact that Davis has been out of camp with a bad back that may force him to miss an extended period of time. He was in the process of getting a second opinion on Tuesday.
Davis’ agent, Todd Ramasar, said Tuesday afternoon that the guard will accept any decision from the Cavaliers as long as it comes quickly.
“A lot of people expected Baron wouldn’t report when he was traded,” Ramasar said. “He was a professional. He was totally supportive of the organization when they drafted Kyrie. He reached out to Kyrie. He did everything you could expect someone to do in terms of the community last year. He came in and tried to lead the team and they were playing better at the end of the season.”
If Davis is waived via amnesty, capped-out teams like the Knicks and Heat could only sign him if no other team claimed him out of the amnesty pool. CBSSports.com reported Monday that Davis was “likely” to sign with the Knicks if he wasn’t claimed out of the amnesty pool.
Fran Blinebury: After the Jazz opened up the schedule getting clobbered in three of their first four games by an average of 15.6 points, it certainly looked like the first full season P.S. (Post Sloan) was going to bring nothing but misery. Instead coach Tyrone Corbin has shown a stubbornness to stick with the ancient Raja Bell in his starting backcourt and a willingness to let his kiddie corp – Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Alec Burks — learn on the run. It’s paid off with some fun, aggressive ball. The Jazz are in deep Northwest Division water with OKC, Portland and Denver, but it looks like they’ll be able to tread water until ready to make a splash in the future.
