What has always amazed me about the Phoenix Suns, beyond Steve Nash’s abilities to run the point, has been the way that the team keeps its players on the court. They allow Steve Nash to play like Steve Nash because he’s always on the court. Since Nash joined the Phoenix Suns, he has missed only 27 games in his 7 seasons, fewer than 4 per season.

To put that in Clipper terms, Eric Gordon has missed 26 games just this year. And Gordon is a young guy. Nash was, in his youngest season with the Suns, 30 years old. That’s the time in a player’s career when the body starts to break down, especially for a run and gun point guard like Nash.

And while the argument could be made that Nash is a freak of nature (which is true) that has the discipline to adapt to his aging body, consider the rest of the players on the Suns. Grant Hill was the most famous “What If?” for years, his talent compared (rightly or wrongly) to Jordan, but the tragic foot and ankle problems left him almost forgotten. With the Magic, Hill missed 146 games in his first two seasons with the Magic (he played all but 18 of them). Overall, he missed 282 games in his 6 seasons with the Magic. He was all but written off. However, with the Suns, Hill misses only 12 games in his first season, the fewest games missed in 7 years. But even that was just an acclimation year, as Hill has missed only 3 games total in his three seasons since. Hell, the Suns even got a 36-year-old Shaquille O’Neal to play 75 games. You know how many games Shaq averaged in the two years before (in, as old people know, the joint friendly state of Florida)? 51.5 games.

Imagine what that kind of training staff could do with the Clippers, a team perpetually snake-bitten by injuries. How would this team be doing if it had Eric Gordon for all but say 4 games? How about Kaman only missing 6 games? And Baron starting the season off healthy? Maybe Blake wouldn’t have missed his entire first year? The Clippers would have been totally different, maybe even a winning team (although, I guess you could argue that the injuries also allowed the team to find its new identity).

Whatever the case is, wouldn’t it be in the best interest of Donald Sterling to hire these guys away. I know he would have to pay a pretty penny for training staff, but he might be able to be swayed when he realizes how many games played and wins the training staff could save him, as well as how much money it would earn Sterling.

Keys to the Game

- Steve Nash. Offensively, Nash is just about as good of a point guard as there is. Collapse on him, and he’ll find the open man. Make him a scorer and he’s highly efficient. What the Clippers have to do is gameplan for him. Either give him one option or the other. Because if the Clippers get caught in defensive indecision, they’re going to regret it.

- Blake Griffin v. Phoenix Bigs (and Grant Hill). Offensively, Blake opened up last game against the Cavs, but he’ll have more difficult opposition this time. While Phoenix does play at a high pace and aren’t known for their quality bigs, they now have a slightly different situation. Back in December they traded for Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat and a first rounder. Vince’s name is the most recognizable, but make no mistake, it’s Gortat that the Suns wanted. In the second matchup, Blake scored 28 points on 8 for 11 shooting, and was slowed down by Grant Hill in the second half, but the Suns had just made the trade and hadn’t gained the momentum they have now. Blake and the Clippers will have to fight BG’s own slowdown as well as the much improved Phoenix bigs and their defense (the Suns were once a pitiful 30th in defensive efficiency and now they’re 23rd, over 3 efficiency points better).

- Getting the whole team involved (keeping Eric Gordon on the floor). The Clippers, finally, have their full complement of players today, and it’s a huge relief to have Eric Gordon back on the court, his leadership, defense and timely shooting was sorely missed. But the Clippers now have to figure out how to spread it around. I like that Mo only took 6 shots with Gordon back in the lineup, and I find it comforting to see that he played so well with Bledsoe spending some of Mo’s minutes on floor. On this team, the most important issue is to understand that Blake and Gordon are the first options on the outside and the inside, and that everyone else is secondary (except Kaman as a bench player). Not that secondary isn’t imperative in the team’s success, it is, but the secondary players might see a larger fluctuation in shot attempts. Like Mo last game, they might only see six shots one game, and then 15 shots another game. The Clippers just need to cohere so they can keep an unselfish mentality that will allow the offense to not devolve into stagnation with one player trying to get his shots.

Injury Report

Clippers: none

Gani Lawal: right knee, out

For a meaningless Mid-March game between two lottery-bound squads, there was no shortage of interesting story lines surrounding today’s game against the Cavs: 1. Eric Gordon’s second attempt to return from his wrist injury. 2. Baron Davis’ return to the Staples Center. 3. The Clippers attempt not to be swept by the league’s worst team, a month after becoming the answer to future Jeopardy question Who did the moribund 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers beat, finally ending a league record 26 game losing streak? (Most people won’t know the answer but will guess the Clippers anyway). Then, far lower on the list: 4. Blake Griffin “Hitting the Rookie Wall” watch. 5. Trying to figure out whatever there is to figure out from watching the team finally play at full strength.

Oh, and also an hour before the game a man charged out of the stands wielding a steak knife, after which, according to the Clippers Post Game radio show, he was surrounded by a joint task force of police men and Staples Center Security elite and subdued with rubber bullets. So there was a lot going on.

Maybe the knife really shook people, because what followed was an uneven game, not unlike the one the Clips lost to the Cavaliers last month. The Cavaliers never led after the second quarter – but the Clippers never put together the 8 minute stretch of energetic error-free basketball that would have put the Cavs away.

For me, at this point in the season the answers to certain individual questions (How will Mo Williams work with Eric Gordon? Could Kaman be a Sixth Man for an entire season?) have become as important as wins and losses. It seems natural that players also sense it when that barrier has been crossed. These Clippers are definitely still playing hard (unlike, say, last March’s contract hunters, Travis Outlaw and Drew Goodon… which, by the way, worked for both of them) but there were signs of inattention scattered between spurts of good play – the kind of foolish mistakes there seemed to be fewer of when the team was still “in contention.”

There were quarters that ended on possessions when the Clippers failed to get off a final shot. There were total defensive breakdowns, where everyone would simultaneously abandon the paint – at one point allowing a man named Alonzo Gee to streak untouched down the paint and rise for a full 360 slam like he was auditioning for the dunk contest. There were multiple lane violations. Little signs of a team with wavering attention.

But in the end, the Cavs were just worse. I mean, I know piling on bad play is pure hubris for a Clippers fan, but aside from JJ Hickson (who, if you’ve only seen him play against the Clippers you must think is one of the ten best players in the NBA) these Cavs played some ugly basketball. There was one inexplicable stretch early in the fourth quarter when – down 2, and on the verge of taking the lead – the Cavs burned three consective possessions on Lake Harangody jump shots, the first of which was one of the ugliest shots you will ever see in an NBA game. Or any basketball game, for that matter. The fact that epitomizes the Cavs play today: In their 6 possessions in the final 2 minutes the Cavs managed a total of three shot attempts. The Clippers didn’t play particularly well, but they did just enough to put away a weak team.

So that was the game. What about those storylines?

How’s Eric Gordon look?

Plenty of people realize Eric Gordon “took a step” this year, but I think to some extent Blake Griffin’s All-World rookie season (in addition, obviously, to EJ’s recent injuries) have overshadowed how dramatic that leap has been. There’s a short list of guys in the NBA who can roll off an injury and drop 29 points, guys who – judging from their blasé reactions – expect to walk in and drop 29. Eric Gordon is on that list.

Last year, Eric Gordon’s poor performances in “return” games were blamed on a lack of confidence. He would look tentative, as if each time he came back he was readjusting all over again – to his shot, his legs, the speed of the game, the flow of the team. What happened to that Eric Gordon? He came out gunning two weeks ago coming off the Wrist Part I, and tonight he did the same. It was a showcase of his confidence this year. On his first touch, he knifed to the basket, split two defenders, forced contact, and made a tough shot as he went to the floor. After jacking up a couple ugly looking contested 3s in the first half, Gordon found the range in the fourth quarter, knocking down 3 in 4 possessions. He was 6 for 10 from three and completely without that hesitations we saw from Eric as recently as past November. I really don’t know how to explain it. (It would pain me to credit the magic of Coach K even a little). But I can’t ever remember watching another player so fully going from a guy who seemed a little shaky in the confidence department to being a cold blooded scorer who always wants to take his shot.

Also, he still has that Demolition Man haircut.

Baron’s Return

There really wasn’t one. Baron sat this one out with back spasms. It’s hard not to feel for Baron who, according to reports, learned that his grandmother had to check into the hospital the same day he was traded for Cleveland. I’ve already waxed poetic about Baron plenty, but it’s depressing to imagine Baron freezing away his final productive years in Cleveland. (Is there still buyout talk? Is the idea of Baron coordinating the circus in Miami crazy?)

Is Blake Griffin hitting the “Rookie Wall?”

Blake had his best game in a month, scoring 30 points along with 9 rebounds and 8 assists. It was a good day for youtube curators of Blake Griffin highlight reels, who have suffered through a slow month. Surprisingly, Cleveland chose to play Blake one-on-one for much of the game, despite not really having a player in their front court capable of matching up with him physically. Samardo Samuels drew the unenviable assignment the most often, and was victimized accordingly, first with a down-the-lane reverse jam, and later with a stumbling upside down prayer that was first called a travel, then a basket with a foul, and finally a foul before the act. Whatever. It was pretty spectacular.

The huge stats, of course, don’t necessarily disprove the idea that Blake Griffin might be hitting the dreaded “Rookie Wall.” It would be strange if Griffin wasn’t tired. He’s played starter’s minutes for 60 games, didn’t have an All-Star break, and was forced to become the primary offensive weapon at the same time that coaches were beginning to game plan for him anyway. That takes a toll. Blake had room tonight, a rare commodity during Eric Gordon’s absence, in addition to relatively weak opposition. On the East Coast trip, teams were using two guys to force Blake to make plays 12-18 feet from the basket. Today, Blake got whatever position he wanted with a power dribble and a few backward jolts. Luckily, the Clippers next two opponents – Phoenix and Washington – aren’t strong inside either so… undecided. He clearly has plenty left, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t lost a little pop. (The decrease in rebounds the past two weeks might be a better indicator of this than points, which I think had a lot to do with opponent’s ability to double Blake without consequences in the absence of Eric Gordon).

(By the way: Blake’s quote on the pre-game knife-wilder:  “That was crazy man. There aren’t too many stand offs in Oklahoma. Not that I can remember.” Wait – does that mean he is leaving for the Thunder?)

What do we learn about the team flow with everyone playing?

Simple. To steal a word from Mike Smith, Eric Gordon changes the entire “geometry” of the team. His slashing ability makes it impossible for defenses to smother Blake with unvarying double teams. On defense, his ability to keep perimeter scorers out of the lane creates far fewer easy layups and/or situations where DeAndre or Blake have to foul. How many times in the past month have Blake and DeAndre been left alone to stop a streaking shooter? In short, the next time Eric Gordon gets injured I probably shouldn’t write that “Randy Foye can be Eric Gordon lite – at least for a few weeks.” Eric Gordon is a star. Mike borrowed a little flair from Clyde, noting that EJ “alleviates and facilitates.” And if Eric Gordon, it turns out, is as essential to this team’s success as any player, then is it time to start worrying about his propensity to injury? He missed 20 games last year, and he’ll miss almost 30 this year. With such a small sample size it’s hard to separate a few unrelated humps and bruises from a pattern. Time will tell obviously.

(Also – and I know this should be its own post – but in terms of “what the team needs going forward” take a look at the list of free agents that went up on ESPN. Pretty uninspiring group of small forwards (the Clippers most obvious need). Fliers on Caron Butler or Tayshaun Prince, or maybe Vlad Rad, CJ Miles. And down from there. Last off season, Neil Olshey showed admirable restraint in staying away from overpaying a free agent just to get a free agent. It will be interesting to see if that means he is more likely to try to trade than give, say, Prince 3 years 18 million dollars)

More proof that Kaman would make a good sixth man

I’m fully in this camp. I’m convinced Chris Kaman could win the sixth man of year. I know it’s not traditional, but there are so many things I like about Kaman as a sixth man (this is all assuming DeAndre and Kaman are still on the team next year.) 1. The mismatches. No back up 5 in the West could guard him. 2. As the sub he’ll often be in when the team is in the penalty, minimizing DJs foul shots. 3. He’s a guy who needs to get into a rhythm. You need to get Kaman his shots, but not at the expense of Blake, EJ, and Mo Williams. I love the lineups where Vinny plays Kaman with an energy unit (Aminu, Bledsoe, Moon, Smith, say) and just features Kaman in the post, play after play. Today, we saw the equally important corollary: When Kaman is off, the damage is limited. Sabermatricians can argue over the myth of the hot hand, but Chris Kaman is the streakiest guy I’ve ever seen. Today was one of those days for Chris – missed shots, sloppy fouls on defense, a few ungainly looking turnovers. But it’s effect on the flow of Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin was limited – and the rest of the second unit still continued to play hard defense and crash the boards.

The fans will probably boo Baron. I understand the reaction, Baron never even came close to living up to his contract, but Baron’s stay with the Clippers felt larger than just a failure to live up to a contract. That is too typical to any team in the NBA. Baron, even in his failures, was special. He was an LA kid at heart, this was home and his attempts to turn around the Clippers were well founded and inspiring. I believed him every time that he said he was going to turn himself, the team, around and yet, never shocked when he failed.

Baron was like a perpetual New Years Resolution, adhered to for a few weeks, at best months. In those times, the New Year’s Resolution feels so good that it’s righteous, so simple that we can’t believe that we never did it before. And yet, how successful are New Year’s Resolutions? But don’t we have hope for them every year? I felt like this time, this Baron, was going to be the one that worked.

Baron played incredibly well with the Clippers before his trade, sublimating his need for scoring into team uniting alley-oop wizardry. He played with heart, something that teammates and fans had been clamoring and begging for him to do since the disappointment of Elton Brand’s desertion. And while he came into camp out of shape, again, Baron finally found his groove with the Clippers and finally started to make good on his promise. Unfortunately for Baron, the beginning of that fulfilled promise enabled the Clippers to get out before he failed them again. You can’t blame them for not wanting to suffer another heartbreak. But Baron’s departure wasn’t of his own volition, he would never have wanted to be cast out from home. I hope the fans cheer him in the introductions, even if it’s for only the magnetic moments when you had to watch him smile through his beard as he threaded a bounce pass between two defenders, or thrown that half court alley-oop. Were I not hobbling around on my own sprained knee (sympathy pains for Baron?), I can say that I would be applauding Baron. I wish him well.

Keys to the Game

- J.J. Hickson v. Blake Griffin. With Antawn Jamison out for the remainder of the year, the Cavaliers now rely on J.J. Hickson at the power forward spot. Last game, Hickson scored 27 points on 12 for 19 shooting, grabbed 14 boards and blocked 4 shots (including what would have been the game winner). Hickson is by far most effective close to the rim, where he shoots almost 60 percent, but as soon as he’s moved away from the basket (and we’re talking only a couple of feet) he loses so much of his effectiveness. He attempts almost six shots from outside 3 feet, and he only makes 31 percent. Blake needs to keep Hickson away from the rim.

- Baron Davis. Oh, Baron. Should Baron play, the Clippers have to force Baron into taking jump shots, because, as we know all too well, Baron is not a good shooter and can completely ruin the momentum for a team. What the Clippers can’t do is allow him to get his teammates involved, and have him swing momentum. This will be a big game for Baron, a chance to prove to all that he was worth more, and when the spotlight shines on Baron, he plays his best. Baron is strong enough that Mo can’t be the only one covering, and that’s what makes Baron good. He attracts defenders and gets shots out to the open men. Hopefully, Mo can show some of the heat he had in the last game between the teams, and lure Baron into shooting mode.

- Energy. This shouldn’t be a problem with Baron’s emotional return, but the Clippers have played lackadaisically in the last two games and without the enthusiasm and the drive necessary to win in the NBA.

Injury Report

Eric Gordon: wrist, questionable

Baron Davis: back spasms, probable
Antawn Jamison: left pinky, out
Anderson Varejao: right ankle, out
Semih Erden: strained groin/shoulder, out

By Brian Chan
Special to ClipperBlog

The NBA is the best basketball league in the world. Naturally, only the best college and international players make it, and even the lowliest bench player had his moment at some point. Brian Cook was once Big-10 Player of the Year! With the start of March Madness upon us, I thought it would be fun to look at the top Tournament performances by the current Clippers roster.  More...

With the Clippers down 42-39, Blake Griffin found himself on the break with the opportunity for a breakaway slam dunk. He tried to split the defense of Jodie Meeks and Tony Battie, only Meeks nicked Blake in the face and Tony Battie grabbed Blake from behind, knocking him to the ground. Blake fired up and looked ready to throw punches to Battie. Happy Birthday, Blake.

The rest of Blake’s birthday night didn’t go much better, he only made one of two flagrant foul shots, and he finished the game with his fifth consecutive non-double double. The fact that his lack of double doubles is news shows how good Blake has become, but Blake’s high level of play has also become part of what the team relies on. Against the Sixers, he scored 14 points on 3 for 12 shooting and 8 for 15 from the line while only grabbing 8 rebounds. He did block two shots, but his aggressive behavior (some calls that he wasn’t happy with) caused him to foul out.

The weakest part of his play occurred in the third quarter when the Clippers were outscored 30-19 behind 67 percent shooting from the field and from three by the 76ers. Blake may have grabbed 4 points and 2 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for the Clippers with Elton Brand grabbing 8 rebounds to go with 4 points.

There are a whole host of possible reasons why Blake has played poorly lately: Rookie wall; he’s played 17 of the last 20 games on the road (with All Star Weekend in there too); Eric Gordon not in the games to space out the defense; Mo Williams not getting him easy enough shots. Most likely, it’s all of those reasons.

At this point in the season, only one of those is fixable. Mo Williams will have to figure out how to play with Blake. In such a short time, Mo has played admirably as the Clippers are 5-4 with Mo Williams in the lineup. Compare that to Baron’s start with the team or Bledsoe’s run at the beginning and you immediately see the difference. So patience is in order, and in a year when the Clippers are virtually assured of missing the playoffs, isn’t patience acceptable? Remember all those lobs that Bledsoe, Baron and Foye errantly threw at the beginning of the year? Mo has had those, but like the other three, he’ll be able to develop as he’s an underrated passer (because he was forced to play off ball with LeBron).

What Mo won’t ever be is an elite defender, as this game against the Sixers clearly showed. Granted, Jrue Holiday is the exact type of point guard that Mo will struggle guarding (Jrue is big and long), but Mo was torched by Holiday tonight. He gave up 20 points on 8 for 12 shooting and 9 assists. Still, there will be a point when Mo makes up for those shortcomings and learns the spots that Blake wants the ball in the pick and rolls, and in which areas he shoots the ball best (Blake had two shots from the top of the key, both misses, and zero shots out on the extended block). There is still improvement to be made.

Let’s be honest, as good as Bledsoe has been, even in this game he struggled to shut Holiday down, too. Bledsoe was largely responsible for the 10-0 run to bring the Clippers back into the game (he scored the layup before the third quarter buzzer, dished out a beautiful assist to DeAndre, lulled the Sixers to sleep before driving for a layup and also made a jumper), but Jrue Holiday did just as much damage. Holiday abused Bledsoe on the block and out on the perimeter. Jrue scored 9 points in the fourth quarter, with Bledsoe his cover for the majority of the time. Jrue put the game away.

After the game, Blake hardly looked in celebratory mood, and it was completely understood. The Clippers were thoroughly undressed, Blake just as much as anyone, and that’s not going to make the birthday feel any better.

Notes:

• Jodie Meeks? Really? He’s a dead eye shooter but the Clippers need to know that and close out on him so that he doesn’t score 22 points with 5 threes.
• DeAndre Jordan was a mixed bag tonight. He had amazing stats, and his activity showed in many spots (like his offensive rebound at the end of the third quarter that he put back in before the buzzer) but he also struggled mightily on Elton Brand. He had to switch over to Brand because Blake doesn’t have defense in his arsenal yet, but even DeAndre struggled. There were times when DeAndre got a hand in Brand’s face, but I’m not sure that DeAndre really knew how to figure out Brand, with EB playing away from the basket so much.
• Blake didn’t take advantage of the post offense, well neither did Kaman. In 19 minutes, Kaman scored 8 points on 4 for 12 shooting, with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks. Most disconcerting? That Kaman settled for jump shots against a team not typically good at defending in the post.
• Elton Brand played very well against the Clippers, guarding Blake on one end (5 blocks) and schooling DeAndre (and sometimes Kaman) on the other (19 points on 7 for 15 shooting).
• Clippers had 17 turnovers to the Sixers 11. Not the differential they were looking for, the Sixers’ defense only directly forced 5 but the Clippers looked rushed all night.
• Aminu played well in the first half, as he posted his game totals of 5 points and 6 rebounds. Obviously, that makes the second half problematic with Aminu. When Aminu is active he looks like the kind of player that will be successful in the NBA for years to come. But when he drifts around the perimeter, fake dribble drives and passes out, Aminu makes you want Ryan Gomes back out there, which is really saying something considering how bad Gomes has been playing.
• Speaking of Gomes, 0-3 tonight and he’s looking less and less like a rotation player. I like Gomes and thought he was a decent signing, especially with his contract, but he’s been massively underwhelming.