Six things to keep in mind for tonight’s game:
- The Lakers have won 9 straight against the Clippers, averaging an incredible 20.1 point margin of victory in those 9 games. The 9 game winning streak for the Lakers is the third longest in the rivalry’s history.
- Surprisingly, the Clippers actually shoot a higher team field goal percentage than the Lakers. Coming into tonight’s game, the Clippers shoot 46.6% from the field, while the Lakers shoot 46.2%. Despite this, the Lakers average nearly 9 more points a game than the Clippers. The main reason for the large point differential? The Lakers take care of the ball much better, but also play at a much quicker tempo. The Lakers rank 7th in the league in pace factor at 94.7, while the Clippers are one of the slowest teams in the league (23rd) with a pace factor of 91.8.
- The Lakers are a perfect 14-0 against teams that are below the .500 mark this season.
- You would think the Clippers’ big advantage would come from having a better bench than the Lakers, but the numbers tell a different story. Scoring wise, the Clippers rank third lowest in bench points (23.5 PPG) among all NBA teams. However, in the first meeting between these two teams, the Clippers bench outscored the Lakers bench 29-9. They’ll likely need to have a similarly strong performance tonight for the Clippers to have a chance at the upset.
- Pau Gasol is unlikely to play, but if he does the Lakers are extremely tough to beat with him in the lineup. Stretching back to February 5th of 2008, the Lakers are 105-25 (.808 win pct) with Gasol in the lineup. They’re slightly more vulnerable with Gasol out of the lineup, posting a 14-7 record in 21 games (.667 win pct).
- Who gets the majority of the minutes at small forward tonight? Al Thornton is still battling the flu, but he appears to match up best against the massive Ron Artest. Both Rasual and Thornton struggled mightily in the first meeting against the Lakers, shooting a combined a 6 for 17 from the field. Do the Clippers ride the hot hand in Butler (14.4 PPG over the last 5 games), or play the better physical match for Artest in Thornton?
23 Responses
All things point to a Clipper upset! We’re due!
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
hope so, we need it……..
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Thornton over Rasual to start. Hes the better match up and hes bigger which they will need.
With Pau out, we should take advantage of our size down low. We also need to play in the passing lanes against the triangle. Bynum’s IQ isnt that high and just like teams double Kaman to rattle his cage, we should trap and double Bynum if he gets the ball in the paint to hopefully force turnovers and deny kick outs.
I have no idea how you defend against Lamar and Kobe though other than making it difficult for them to make or receive passes. The best way to beat the triangle is to interrupt its flow. We wont stop many of Kobes shots even if we have 5 guys on him.
D.J. Foster Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Great input man – especially re: Bynum.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
AT is horrible when matched up against top defenders…they disrupt his dribble drive and he settles for horrible, fadeaway shots…I like Sool on this one to pull Artest out of the box where kaman can do some damage vs. bynum (jackson hates to double!)…please, please, let us win or i’ll be paying for free lunches for a bunch of lakers fans for a few weeks!
stillaclipfan Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
dont do that well im in the same situation gotta wear a laker jersey n serve coffee to this dudes.
Curtis Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I’m rooting for you guys. Wearing the Laker jersey is one thing, but putting a few weeks of lunch on the line, I hope the pay out is huge for you. This is going to be a uphill battle for sure.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
My vote is for Butler! go with the Hot hand. if he can start hitting 3′s with Gordon. it opens everything up for Baron and Kaman to run there two man game. get Bynum into foul trouble because he always kills us inside.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Butler makes us better. We don’t have enough outside shooting with Thornton in the lineup and that makes us easy to defend.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
A more interesting question is how would you defend against us?
Thinking about this from the Lakers perspective, I would try putting Ron on EJ and Kobe on Baron and Fisher on the 3. If the Lakers can shut down EJ that changes our offense considerably and if Kobe can stop Baron from driving and force him to start chucking in desperation from downtown they can effectively take us out of our game. Id be fine with letting Sool or Al shoot as much as they want if I could wrap Eric and Baron up and double Kaman with Lamar and Bynum. Its not like Sool or Al are going to score 80 points in a game anytime soon and Fish is great at drawing fouls if Al decides to move to the basket.
Curtis Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
From the Laker’s perspective, that would be wise. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of defense they run against us.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
dj, ka…are you doing a live chat tonight?
from the clipsnation posts and this site, seems like this is a make-it or break-it type game!…exciting!
D.J. Foster Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Yes sir – we’ll both be in action in the Daily Dime Live tonight. We’ll have it posted in the game thread.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
This is not a make it or break it type game at all. A win would be great, but not sure we really have the talent for an upset.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
We may not have the talent but its as much talent as we’ve ever had so maybe..
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Although I’m not expecting a W tonight, but If we can beat Boston and Denver, I’m confident we have what it takes to steal a win against the defending champs / 1st place team in the NBA right now.
Oh gawd…
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
PREDICTION IS OUT:
Clippers defeat Lakers & Kobe by 17pts. Lakers 87- Clippers 104.
Kobe scores 28pts.
Mike Fiske (admin) Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Almost nailed it!
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Injuries to their players will continue to mount. Artest, Lamar & Bynum need to be careful. It’s OK to lose a game but it’s not OK to lose another key player against the Clippers.
Unfortunately ther’s too much tension inside the Lakers locker room. Kobe tells his players he’ll not tolerate sloppy plays tonite. And he warns everyone about the grave consequences.
Come on guys, they’re just Clippers. Don’t forget we’re the CHAMPS. And play like one.
And he throws a wet towel on Bynum and walks out shaking his head.
Apparently Kobe is upset about Bynum’s demand for more touches. And internal clashes between Kobe-Jackso-Bynum continue to simmer.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
The Clips have plenty of talent to win this game, they just need better coaching.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
All I ask from the Clippers is try not to get blownout and play hard.
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
And the Clips WIN! It felt like a must win for the clips in order to get some boost for more W’s and try to steal that 8th spot from Utah. We now wait for Blake Griffin to see what he has to offer. Go Clips!
Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
It is amazing! The CLippers won the game bingo!!
Posted on January 7th, 2010 at 12:19 am
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