Leadership requires more than charisma. It’s something that a player earns when his personal achievement translates to big wins for his team. Baron Davis has been the nominal leader of the Clippers since he signed his five year, $65 million contract in July 2008, but neither Baron nor the Clippers have approached anything resembling real and sustained achievement. Responsibility for that failure can’t be assigned to Baron exclusively, but it’s hard to cultivate leadership beneath any part of that shadow.
Tonight at the buzzer, Baron Davis starts that process in earnest.
It’s not the most balanced shot, nor is it one that would be well-advised in most contexts, but none of that matters Sunday evening with 1.0 second remaining.
The Celtics make some critical errors tonight. A moment before Davis’ big shot, Rajon Rondo misses a pair of free throws in a 90-90 game. Prior to that, Ray Allen makes a disastrous decision to collapse on a driving Davis with fewer than 15 seconds left. With the Clippers needing three to tie, there’s no reason for any Celtic defender to leave a perimeter sniper open for an uncontested 3-pointer. Yet, both Allen and Eddie House slide over to pick up Baron at the expense of leaving Rasual Butler and Eric Gordon alone on the arc. Butler is the easier pass for Davis.
The preceding two Celtic possessions are conservative — even passive — and don’t produce good looks at the basket. Both Allen, who misses a 21-footer off the dribble after moving right of a Perkins screen, and Rasheed Wallace, who misses a 3PA from the right corner, are capable of draining those shots, but a team with Boston’s collective skills should generate better opportunities for itself. Credit the Clippers for defending well inside of two minutes. They blunt the Rajon Rondo-Kevin Garnett pick-and-roll down 90-87 with about 1:20 remaining (resulting in the Wallace miss), then ward off a Garnett screen for Ray Allen with under :30 left in the game, still down three. Jordan closes nicely on Allen while, most importantly, not committing a foul.
More generally, Boston’s biggest strategic gaffe of the game might be its eagerness to play isolation in the post rather than frustrate the Clippers with rotating pick-and-rolls. The Celtics operate a lot of their familiar stuff with Garnett, Perkins or Wallace offering high screens for Rondo, with Allen curling up from the baseline. But for much of the game, they prefer to run the offense through Garnett and Wallace for shots (mostly fadeaways) and passes to exploit DeAndre Jordan and Brian Skinner. While championships have been won working the best mismatch on the floor, the Celtics aren’t able to establish any prolonged offensive rhythm apart from a brief stretch to start the second half. Wallace and Garnett combine to go 9-for-29 from the field in 55 minutes, with only a single trip to the line for a pair of FTAs (Garnett).
DeAndre Jordan gets the biggest of his 14 career starts, and he does well for himself in unspectacular fashion. As important as this game is for Baron, it might be more vital to Jordan. In 36 minutes, DeAndre gets a true sense of what being a starting center in the NBA means: It’s a blue collar job. For every thundrous one-handed alley-oop, there is a mile of backpedaling on Rajon Rondo at full speed. For every gaudy rejection that flies into the crowd, there are 50 instances when Kevin Garnett or Rasheed Wallace needs to be kept off the glass. This isn’t pleasant work, and it won’t rouse teammates on the bench to their feet. But that’s the gig, and Sunday Jordan puts in a solid day’s work.
The Clippers assemble a quality defensive effort. They induce a disproportionate number of low-percentage shots from between 10 and 23 feet, and contest the perimeter with sharp close-outs. And they do it all repeatedly after falling behind, which might be the most encouraging feature of the defensive work after a week when they allowed manageable deficits to become insurmountable in three different games. The rotations off pick-and-rolls are fairly prompt, though Rondo still gets to the rim far more than he should. That’s especially true given how Tony Allen’s presence on the floor in place of Paul Pierce allows the Clippers’ help defenders to move around more freely. The Clips are more selective about sending help for Jordan and Skinner in the post, and lure Garnett and Wallace into launching a barrage of long-range jumpers.
There won’t be many nights when Gordon’s true shooting percentage is below 50 percent while the Clippers post an overall TS percentage of 58.2 percent. Both Davis (80.2 TS%) and Kaman (60.5 TS%) are incredibly efficient. When you imagine Baron Davis in ideal form, it looks something like this game: 24 points in 15 true attempts — only six of those 15 outside the paint. Whether it was Jordan, Gordon or Craig Smith finishing at the rim, or Butler on the final kickout, the bulk of the Clippers’ best shot attempts against Boston are the product of Baron’s execution. Baron’s 13 assists match his season high (W at MIN; W at PHA). Against the Celtics, Kaman helps the Clips more as a jump-shooter rather than trying to outwit the C’s big men off the bounce. Kaman leads all scores with 27 points. Against Boston, Kaman helps the Clips more as a jump-shooter rather than trying to outwit the C’s big men off the bounce. The Clippers desperately need every ounce of that efficiency because they squander 16 of their 90 possessions on turnovers, and cough up a dozen offensive rebounds to Boston, while claiming only four of their own.
Last February’s improbable win over Boston at Staples Center was supposed to be a character-builder, but the Clippers went only 4-20 the rest of the way. This win seems more substantial, and its details — things like better shot selection, keeping opponents off the line with honest defense, and trust — can be seen all over the game footage. Once the Clippers can incorporate those elements into their game on a consistent basis, these wins will seem less like novelties — but they’ll still be fun.
23 Responses
Best win of the season. I was at the 300 sections. Half of Staples was Green. It was just TOO GOOD to grab this win over the C’s. GREAT WIN. GREAT WIN.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Now if the Clips can just maintain this intensity against Philly on Thursday.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Great Win and a much needed one! After a momentum builder like this and Griffin just around the corner, great things are abound for this team.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 2:05 am
I wanted to lose this game so Dunleavy would be fired.
But I gotta say, its a nice victory to have.
By all means we shouldnt have won though, the Celtics got more opportunities to shoot but nothing was falling. They were 1-12 from the arc, and when you have Ray Allen on your team that is like almost like hell itself froze over. We got outworked on the Offensive boards, they put us on the line for 7 more shots than we put them to the line for, and we gave up more turnovers and second chance points than the Celtics.
Since the Celtics shot 8% from 3 point range and couldnt hit over 50% as a team is a big reason why they lost. But if you read the stats from the game, it was Bostons game to lose. They outplayed us in many ways, shots just werent falling. The most interesting stats are the assists, Bostons were spread amongst all their players which shows they trust and communicate and play unselfishly. We only had 3 players get more than 1 assist.
We were lucky to win last night. Boston had a bad night, clanging everything off the rim. We’re lucky we didnt get blown out by 20.
Asperis Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Come on man this team played well last night. They battled back from being down 10 with 2 remaining in the third to close within 4. They never let Boston pull away because our defense actually looked good for a change. They hung around the entire 4th and not even with a gimmie by the refs at the end, AND A PRACTICE FT, could the Celtics get it done.
We earned that win, it wasn’t lucky.
bongstradamus Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Just go read the stats. Its nice to have a win but there were many reasons why we won that had absolutely nothing to do with our playing and more to do with the whim of the Gods of Probability.
rmb Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 10:06 am
No one is talking about Gordon’s defense which scuttled Ray Allen’s scoring punch. And DeAndre’s physical presence with 3 blocked shots. And ofcourse
10 min. on floor without a rebound by Brian Skinner.
Dunleavy & Baron need to find the way to involve Thornton at offensive end.
That’s the only way we can put pressure on opposing teams. Right now we rarely see Thornton with the ball. And how about using Novak 5 min. a game
with right of way to shoot as many times he can? He might make 3 out of 7.
That’s still better than going dryspell for a stretch.
VH Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 10:18 am
yeah, EJ did a great job on D. He was clearly a step quicker than the much older ray allen. also i bet about 6 of those 3s were rasheed wallace jacking up terrible shots. none of them even had a chance.
pipedreams Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
When the stats say one team was better, and the score says otherwise, I wonder if the stats are complete. Or, it might be luck, and also luck that the Warriors beat the Celtics, too. All luck.
Or, maybe there are things that happen that aren’t in the normal stats box.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 7:08 am
I missed the game, but those videos brought tears to my eyes. So good to see the guys win a close one against a good team.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Of course it was a great win. One win. Another reprieve for Dunleavy. It doesn’t mean much if they continue to get blown out by Phoenix, lose twenty point leads to the likes of the Knicks, and end up with a losing record and not making the playoffs time and time again.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 8:33 am
For some reason it’s cool to be a baron hating clipper fan but people are ignoring he’s turning in one of his best years. With all the talk about Kaman and gordon, anyone stop to think how much worse we’d be without baron playing the way he is? He’s not getting consistent help.
rmb Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Feel sorry for Golden State Warriors. They have loaded talents but no wins.
Even with that real warrior Corey Maggette. But they defeated pathetic, low esteem, high ego team PHOENIX SUNS.
Low Esteem: They wanted to show their muscle power on national TV; not realizing that kind of vengeful plays can make bad business choice for ESPN. But Alvin Gentry wanted to send a message to DTS via the national tv. Pathetic indeed.
High Ego: Steve Nash. The guy always looked down upon Clippers even during Cassell regime at Clipperland. Dallas let him go. If he’s a great player, why didn’t they keep him in Dallas?
benoit benjamin's two left shoes Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
“If he’s a great player, why didn’t they keep him in Dallas?”
Get real. You obviously missed the first game this year, when we were up by something like 10 late in the 4th and Nash single-handedly won the game for Phx, hitting 3s, driving and making impossible shots in the lane, etc.
Oh, and don’t forget that the experts picked Phx to be fighting for the last play-off spot. Instead, they’re challenging for home court advantage throughout the play-offs. Why? Nash.
rmb Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Why only Nash? Even average PG’s scored big against Clips and won.
When he wins NBA title single handedly, then I might agree with your assessment.Steve Nash and Ray Allen.-the two players who look down upon lesser teams openly in public. Such players are unprofessional who bring their personal baggage to sports arena.
FireDunleavy .com Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
They had to spend money on Dampier instead of Nash, that’s why they let him go.
rmb Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
That’s like Lakers letting Kobe walk to re-sign Andrew Bynum.
Eric Dampier!!!! That’s an insult to Nash.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 8:33 am
I was at game last night and just saw the replay thanks to this, i still don’t believe it. I’m waiting for the NBA to contest the shot…great win
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 8:44 am
….sold my seats because i was getting sick and tired of the rape-jobs that good teams have been giving to the clips…
kill me now.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Had tix and daughter got sick. I couldn’t give them away. Gret win. THIS is why I’m a Clipper fan and not a Laker suck-up. How can anybody get behind a team that spends TWICE as much as most other teams? Give me ONE game winning shot by the Clips over every bought and paid for Laker championship. Phil Jackson is a fraud.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Sad I missed this game after having watched the Phoenix debacle. But what a brilliant win!
Kevin, despite the fact that I think you’re a great writer in general, I just want to give you props on this post. Without trying to dissect it in detail, it was a beautifully written piece of prose.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 11:32 am
anyone know if Baron was shouting to Cuttino Mobley after he hit the game winner?
and damn Cuttino is seriously becoming one of my favorite clippers of all time
man….
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Would like to see Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley working for Clippers on any capacity. DTS didn’t even try to offer anything to Cassell. If he really wants to WIN, he should.
Posted on December 28th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
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