In many respects, today is a lousy moment to discuss what Al Thornton means to the Los Angeles Clippers in the long term. For one, making wholesale evaluations of a team or a player following a game like last night’s win over Boston is always dangerous due to the lightning-in-a-bottle quality of the victory. Would the Clippers have won last night’s game had Thornton played 38 minutes, and Mardy Collins been used in a limited role? Unlikely, but as sample sizes go, one game against a unique opponent is an unfair measure of a single player’s value. Collins is the only guy on the active roster with the defensive skills to render Paul Pierce ineffective, and the results of a Thornton-Pierce matchup would’ve likely produced far less favorable results for the Clippers.
Archive for February, 2009
Thornton, Collins, and the Clips at Small Forward
Eric Gordon Update
The Clippers’ rookie guard will not travel with the team to Sacramento for tomorrow night’s game against the Kings. The injury is still being classified as a bruised left shoulder as of this morning.
Clippers 93, Boston 91
It’s been a long while since we had a reason to take a close look at the final few minutes of a game between the Clippers and an elite opponent. When you consider that the Clips feature Fred Jones and Mardy Collins at the wings for virtually the entire second half, it’s incredible they’re able to keep it competitive down the stretch against Boston, much less pull it out.
Game Thread: Boston at Clippers
Kaman Getting Closer?
Lisa Dillman at the LA Times reports that Chris Kaman could see action….soon:
Kaman has missed the last 42 games this season with the Clippers because of plantar fasciitis of his left foot.
His projected return almost has been a moving target, pushed back so long, so often that Kaman almost became the forgotten man…
“At the beginning, it was really frustrating for me,” said Kaman, who was averaging 13.9 points and 9.4 rebounds before the injury. “Because I was uncertain when I was going to play. Knowing now what I know, I wish I could have known back then how long it was going to be.