- There are two primary reasons why Eric Gordon has missed each of the past two games: [1] He has a bruised leg, though it’s nothing serious. [2] He’s been invited to Team USA mini-camp here in Vegas next week. “We don’t want to kill him,” assistant general manager Neil Olshey said. There’s a precedent for too much summer basketball taking its toll in the subsequent season. As disappointing as it is not to see him play, sitting out makes sense in the longterm.
- Gordon’s absence is making life far more difficult for Blake Griffin. With virtually no teammates on the floor who demand attention, the Wizards swarmed Griffin last night in their waxing of the Clips. They trapped him aggressively anytime he got the ball inside of 15 feet. Although Griffin’s stat line was still nice-looking (19 points on 21 possessions, 10 rebounds, four steals against five turnovers), he was far from the dominant force that controlled the game against the Lakers. Still, he passed out of the double-teams fairly well, and we have to appreciate that life will be much easier for him in these situations when Eric Gordon, Baron Davis, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby, and Chris Kaman are on the receiving end on those passes, no disrespect intended to Mike Taylor and the hard-working grunts filling out the Clippers’ Summer League roster. Griffin has been a little prone to overdribbling out on the perimeter. Given Washington’s defensive strategy, it got him in trouble. Again, this isn’t a grave concern because, come October, he’ll be playing alongside seasoned NBA players and will, by and large, be on the receiving end of most halfcourt action.
- As much as I wanted to see Dionte Christmas have a good week, he hasn’t impressed. Christmas is 4-for-13 from the floor with two rebounds this week in 53 minutes.
- After lighting the gym on fire over his first two games, DeAndre Jordan has appeared less comfortable the last couple of outings. It’s the usual diagnosis: His motor starts running in the red, and he gets ahead of the game. He wasn’t awful last night: 14 points in 14 possessions to go along with 10 boards and three blocks. The better news? He’s hit 13 of his last 19 free throws, something he’s been working tirelessly on.
- Mike Taylor is killing the Clippers. The stats aren’t pretty (25.7% from the field, 14 turnovers against five assists), and his command of the game has been even worse. If Taylor is truly interested in being more than a novelty in the NBA, he’s going to have to slow down and put some serious work in on his shot.
- I’ll be tweeting Summer League today from about 1:30p until the last game ends. Though I’ll be bouncing between Cox Pavilion and the Thomas & Mack Center most of the day, I’ll tweet every minute of the Clippers-Suns game at 7:30p. Please follow me here.
