We’ll have a video breakdown of the Clippers’ big first half run for you tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s something I filed for TrueHoop on the Clippers’ big exhale:
If ever there were a team and a head coach in desperate need of a win, the Los Angeles Clippers and Mike Dunleavy were it.
The Clippers had lost five of six games entering Friday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets, all without their most efficient player second-year guard Eric Gordon. Over that stretch, which included a couple of embarrassing blowouts and a gut-wrenching fourth quarter collapse, dark clouds descended over the team. Reports that Dunleavy’s job was in serious jeopardy went public, and the malaise that infected the team last season began to surface.
What better antidote for a team on the ropes than a nationally-televised date against the NBA’s fourth-ranked offense featuring the league’s hottest player, Carmelo Anthony?
The Clippers couldn’t do much to stop Anthony, but they showed Denver a variety of effective looks on defense, and got some timely shooting from their wings and reserve unit. That was enough to hold off Denver 106-99 at Staples Center.
To no one’s surprise — least of all the Clippers — Anthony dominated the game with 37 points (12-for-20 from the field; 12-for-13 from the stripe).
“It’s such a tough matchup with ‘Melo, trying to get anyone to guard him,” Dunleavy said. “So we mixed up our double-teams, our locations, we mixed up the clock with our zone work. We tried to keep him a little off-balanced, but he’s so tough. He makes shots. He’s got that hang time. He draws fouls.”
Al Thornton, who drew the defensive assignment on Anthony for much of the night, was even more emphatic.
“I think he’s the best offensive player in the league, hands down this year,” Thornton said. “He can do everything out there on that court.”
The Clippers countered with a balanced, more fluid attack, racking up 28 assists on the 36 field goals, and earned 36 free throw attempts in the process.
For a team that’s sleepwalked through much of the past two weeks, the Clippers played an intelligent brand of basketball. They got into the bonus early. They worked Al Thornton in the post against a smaller Aaron Afflalo. Rasual Butler, mired in a miserable slump over the losing streak while straining to create shots for himself (not his strong suit), returned to doing what he does best — spot-up shooting. He led the Clips with 27 points, draining four of nine from beyond the arc.
Most of all for a team that occasionally has trouble getting on the same page, the Clippers communicated on the defensive end.
“The guys did a great job of talking,” Mardy Collins, who relieved Thornton on Operation ‘Melo, said. “That allowed us to make good decisions on defense.”
After the game, the Clippers coaching staff was huddled in the assistant coaches’ office studying film, examining the tea leaves, gleaning what they could from a satisfying victory. Whether the Clippers’ win over an elite Western power is enough to reverse the tide remains an uncertainty. Eric Gordon’s strained groin will keep him sidelined for at least a few more games, and rookie Blake Griffin won’t return before December 15.
Those concerns aside, Mike Dunleavy should have his best night of sleep in weeks.
25 Responses
Great win, but Gordon still out past monday?
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 12:49 am
Hopefully you meant at least a few more days, not a few more games for EJ.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 2:30 am
Bench works wonders- Al & “the” Butler have bounced back from benchtime, albeit Butler didn’t have to wait long to get back in the action. Also great to see Mardy Collins back in rotation, tough defending is what we need.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 2:32 am
Finally something good we must win Monday we must no excuses we’d be 6-9. With EJ returning soon if we win 4 of the following sux we’d be10-11 we can do this we’ve got the talent.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 3:06 am
Great win but rough to watch with all the touch fouls the refs called.
Unofrtunately it just proves to us fans that 1) we are “technically savvy” Dunleavy so shut your pie hole & don’t knock the fans 2) there is NO excuse for our record and losses to terrible teams 3) Dunleavy misused line-ups coming into this game thanks to a solid performance from Mardy Collins who actually got some PT for once… the “not technically a lot of times savvy” fans recommended this a while back moron.
He may have been able to sleep better last night, but something tells me he didn’t have a problem any of the other nights either.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 6:21 am
All I have to say is telfair was a big attribute to us winning period
he came off the bench making plays as usual..it seemed like baron saw what he was doing and started to pass more …thats just what it looked like to me.
ps I swear Baron almost costed us the game with his bad decision making
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 7:33 am
now anxious to see how it goes monday, without the national spotlight and generous refs vs. another strugling team. can we duplicate that energy level and sink those shots again?
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 8:01 am
This is exactly why we have been railing against Dunleavy. We know he’s technically savvy. But if he doesn’t know how to put together a winning combination, then he has no business coaching this team.
Every game is different. Different players find advantage on different level. Great coaches know this instinctively. Dunleavy lacks that gift of intelligence.
We lost only 9 games. Baron Davis is beginning to take charge of this team. As he said yesterday- “sky is the limit to this team”. That’s great news. All we need is leadership. Baron Davis needs to step up like a real Warrior and push forward with intensity and unity.
No player in this team should think, that their service is not required to win any game. All of them have something to contribute. Even Ricky Davis can help win games. Dunleavy should not mix his personal feelings and opinions while making player related decisions.
He should do what is good for the team.
Winning Season is within reach. All they have to do: win few more games than Spurs, OKC, Kings and Hornets.
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Curtis Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 2:24 pm
“Baron Davis needs to step up like a real Warrior and push forward with intensity and unity.” Hahaha, nice pun.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 8:13 am
Rasual should be the one off the bench. His shooting is reliable. Al needs time to get into the game.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 9:00 am
Yeah, great game… but Prime Ticket suspending Lawler is disgusting.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 9:18 am
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they got blown out on Monday.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 9:21 am
Doesn’t matter if they get blown out on Monday, Dunleavy got a big win in front of Sterling and ESPN last night. He’s safe for the next 2 years.
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Seth Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 11:44 am
I agree.
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orville85 Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Of course, perfect time for another 5 year extension
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 9:44 am
Baron took 11 shots, just like he did in the preseason games… This team is so much better when he plays like a passer rather than a shooter… He also played defense for a change… I hope he keeps it up.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 10:31 am
Kudos to Marty Collins. Went to the game last night and that guy brought it on the defense. Reminded me of the old Q Ross days. Big effort. It was a really fun game. If you look at the standing there’s really only 3 or 4 teams running away. I think the Clips get their guys back and they still might make a serious run at that last play off spot. They need to BUILD on this win and not TEAR DOWN the confidence by getting whacked by Minn. next week. It felt good to be in the Clip Nation last night.
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Curtis Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I hope you bet on the Clips last night, cause that payout would have been huge.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 10:45 am
Dunleavy still needs to go. We allowed a 20-4 run again late in the game. Winning teams don’t let other teams back after being up by 18 in 3Q….
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I hate to admit it, but Dunleavy benching Sool was the spark he needed to get the fire started. I know everyone’s saying that R. Davis got the start over Butler because of match-up issues, but seriously, I really think it’s because Butler hasn’t been playing well and R. Davis has been playing like a champ in garbage time. I could be wrong, but I really don’t think players get starting time because of match-up issues.
If that’s the case, here’s to seeing Butler on the bench the rest of the season!
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 2:29 pm
for you Duncleavy supporters, take a look at the rosters of Houston and Sacramento and see what real coaches are getting out of those wretched teams. Even with the injuries the CLips put more talent (supposedly) on the floor than those two teams.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
i wana see Collins run point more… sometimes he is better than BD and Sabby
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gsr Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Agree. He’s only 25 but matured beyond his age. He’s our fail-proof insurance policy just in case Baron or Telfair get hurt. Still he should be on the floor during crunch time.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I think the biggest factor from friday’s game compared to other games was the energy level. From the last minutes of the 1st to about the time that the CLips had their biggest lead.. they played with lots of energy. Especially during the marvalous run the 2nd unit was ALL OVER the ball… You can see Denver panicking on offense because melo was on the bench and no one was able to get off a decent shot. I remember ESPN highlighted a stat that showed the Clippers had taken about 10 or 15 shots by the mid mark of the 2nd quarter while Denver had only taken 5 shots up until that point.. The energy level was at its highest yesterday and it pays off when you have Rasual butler hitting his shots… I think their offensive spurt lead to their great defense last night…. Unfortunatly Dunleavy will get most of the credit for beating Denver.. even though it seemed as if the players were out playing their own brand of basketball and running plays based on what they saw on the floor. Dunleavy is more of a “set play” type of guy… and while bassy was ont he floor in the 2nd it just looked like pure poetry being assembled right in front of our eyes. If we can get this type of efffort from our guys night in and night out then we should be able to expect a nice playoff run come april.
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Posted on November 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 am
he came off the bench making plays as usual..it seemed like baron saw what he was doing and started to pass more …thats just what it looked like to me.
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Posted on November 22nd, 2009 at 9:45 pm
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