(Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
The LA Clippers got PG Chris Paul back, traveled to Sacramento, and came away with their 3rd consecutive win to begin the month of January and the year of 2017 in a 106-98 victory over the Kings.
Top Performer: Austin Rivers got the start at SF again, and he responded with a team-high 24 points while adding 6 rebounds. It’s the first time in Rivers’ five-year career that he has had back-to-back 20-point games, and 18 came in the 1st half, the most points Rivers has scored in a 1st half as a Clipper. Rivers made 4-of-7 from three, marking the 5th time this season he’s made at least 4 threes in a game. Rivers had 5 career games of 4+ threes in his first 4 seasons combined, and this was also his 5th 20-point game of the season, the most 20-point games in a season in his career.
X-Factor: As the game went along, LA got better shots. The Clippers made only 36.4 percent from the field in the 1st quarter, but bounced back in the 2nd quarter to make 46.4 percent from the field. LA was even better in the 2nd half, making 52.9 percent from the field while trying to hold on to a double-digit halftime lead.
Major Moment: For the 2nd game in a row, the Clippers had to dig themselves out of a double-digit deficit in the 1st half. The Kings had a 22-8 lead less than 8 minutes into the game, with Sacramento PF Rudy Gay outscoring the Clippers by himself with 9 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field (LA started 3-of-13 from the field). But from 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter until just before Sacramento’s final possession of the 1st half, LA obliterated the Kings, outscoring them 45-17 over a nearly 16-minute stretch. Rivers dominated Sacramento during this stretch, making 6-of-9 from the field for 14 points while the Kings made only 6-of-27 from the field as a team (22.2 percent). Gay didn’t score again for the rest of the 1st half, missing his last 3 attempts from the field. Clippers SG J.J. Redick also added 3 threes of his own during this stretch, and LA never relinquished the lead in the 2nd half.
Key Lineup: It’s time to watch out for the 4-guards with DeAndre Jordan lineups. Doc Rivers only used Paul, Raymond Felton, Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford, and Jordan for 2 minutes in the 2nd quarter, but that unit made 3 threes as part of a 9-0 run. More notably, that lineup forced Sacramento to shoot 0-for-5 from the field, so expect to see it again at some point. The lineup that hurt the Kings the most was their bench of SG Arron Afflalo, SF Garrett Temple, PF Anthony Tolliver, and C Kosta Koufos with starting PG Ty Lawson. That unit compiled a -52.0 net rating in 7 minutes, getting outscored 19-11 while shooting a miserable 3-of-13 from the field (23.1 percent).
The Definition: The return of Paul was nice, but the fact that he’s healthy is the best takeaway. Paul moved into 10th place on the all-time career assists rankings, passing 17-year veteran Rod Strickland, and he finished the game with 14 points (3-of-5 FGs), 6 rebounds, 12 assists, and 3 steals in 31:26.
“I don’t feel anything … came out unscathed,” Paul said after the game. “I’m excited about Sunday.”
Austin’s 24 years old.
Austin’s averaging 17.5 ppg during his 10 starts this year. He’s shooting 40% from 3 and is on pace to make 110 of them.
Yeah, no other team would want a 24 year old combo guard putting up those numbers. Straight nepotism.
Fat and benched Jared Dudley is making $10.4M per year
The Mid-Level Exception will be $9M next year. Guys like Wes Johnson and Matt Barnes will be making $9M next year.
But 24 year old Austin Rivers making $11M per year is one of the worst contracts in the NBA?
Austin must have the super powers!
Or he’s 24 years old and getting better because he’s working at it.
It’d be nice if Doc could acquire another good young player that isn’t related to him.
The Clippers are the oldest team in the NBA for a reason. They can’t draft or trade for shit.
Move Rivers to the starting 3-spot, he can defend his position, when you at the rim protector, and he’ll be a nightmare for defenders, with the combo guard skills. Luc would just bolster the defensive minded bench.
The 27-8 defending Champs are trying to improve their roster.
The 31-6 Warriors are yelling at each other to improve their ball movement.
The 25-14 Clippers are talking about the playoffs and promising not to get techs. And they wonder why they’re f**king losers.
yep
I apologize. The Chris Paul era Clippers aren’t losers.
They won back to back Pacific Division titles!
An update on the draft picks.
One guy has a bad back.
One guy is getting benched in the D-League.
One guy is playing like garbage in the French League.
None of them are good enough to help on the floor. None of them are good enough to help in a trade.
Chris Paul has made the playoffs 8 times in his 11 year career. This is where his teams have finished in Regular Season wins in those 8 years.
tied for 3rd
10th
11th
8th
tied for 5th
3rd
tied for 3rd
6th
6th (currently)
The Hornets were the #2 seed in 2008. They lost in the 2nd round. That’s the highest seed of Chris Paul’s career. He finished 2nd in MVP voting. He was 22 years old.
9 years later and playing on the oldest team in the league Chris Paul’s going to carry the Clippers to a Championship?
Chris Paul is often compared to Isiah Thomas and John Stockton.
Thomas made 3 Finals and 5 Conference Finals. He won 2 Titles.
Stockton made 2 Finals and 5 Conference Finals.
The Clippers want us to believe games like that will get them ready for the playoffs.
Against what f**king playoff team will the 4 guard lineup work?
It won’t work against Utah, OKC, Memphis, or San Antonio. Those teams could put two legit big men on the floor. You could do it against Houston if you want to get into a 3pt contest with them. That’s unwise.
With Austin Rivers in the starting line up, anything is possible. DJ, Blake (healthy), CP, Reddick and Rivers, they could run the table, no doubt.
I’m thinking they should trade Chris, Blake, DJ, Jamal, and JJ for draft picks.
They can build the franchise around Austin.
If they become a lottery team they get to keep all those 1st rounders they traded away.
Who am I kidding? There’s no way an Austin Rivers led team falls into the lottery.
You want lotto picks? Who? Lemond Murray, or Chris Kaman, Shaun Livingston, LO, Michael Olo, Eric Gordon? Nah, I’ll keep CP and Blake, thanks though. Clippers in win now mode.
The Spurs are fully healthy and they’re giving minutes to Bertans and Dedmon because the Spurs actually see the big picture.
The Clippers just talk about seeing the big picture.
They’re running their old ass Guards into the ground. And then they’ll use the fatigue excuse when they get bounced in the playoffs.
So, we’ve gone from rooting for a Championship to rooting for players to retire as Clippers? So, everybody is cool with counting down the careers and career accomplishments of Jamal, J.J., and CP3?
This franchise is about to become a retirement home.
Forget about the Finals. We get to track how high Jamal gets on the all-time scoring list. We get to track how high Chris gets on the all-time assist list. We get to track Blake and DJ breaking Clipper records.
That’s so much better than rebuilding, right guys? And the best part? The Clippers get to stay in salary cap hell while doing it. That’s a win, win, win!
The Clippers are 21-29 in the playoffs during the Chris Paul era. The Clippers are the oldest team in the NBA.
The Cavs and the Warriors are getting better.
The Spurs and the Rockets are going to finish with better records.
So, what’s the f**king point of sitting on your balls?
I’m feeling pretty good about the Clippers in January now that Chris Paul is back. The January schedule is easy and Paul is running a good show, and then after January Blake Griffin will be back. They’ve got a good shot at the 4 spot. Then they could do better than expected in the playoffs, if and only if Griffin and Paul are healthy and playing very well.
I do agree that Jamal Crawford is a big negative, because of age and because he’s very old and because he can’t do anything but shoot and he’s often stone cold even at that, and he always washes out in the playoffs where teams play tough defense and he wilts under it. But I don’t see any chance of any team taking him off the Clippers hands, especially not with his big three year contract.