The Clippers will end the season the way they started it, with a brutal schedule of opponents. In the next 8 games, they play Dallas, Phoenix (road), OKC, Memphis (road), OKC (road), Houston (road), Dallas (road) and Memphis. Of all those opponents, only one is under .500, the Phoenix Suns (36-37). The whole schedule combined has, currently, a .599 winning percentage and the three best teams (Dallas at 52-21, OKC 49-24 and Memphis 41-33) the Clippers have to play twice.

Two of their last three home games will happen this week, tonight against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are two of the toughest teams in the league. Both have at least twice as many wins as losses and have MVP caliber players enjoying great seasons (Nowitzki, Durant and Westbrook), so the Clippers will test their mettle against these teams.

Tonight’s match-up, the Mavericks, remain the lone elite team in the West that the Clippers have not upset this year. They’ve nipped the Spurs, the Lakers, the Thunder, the Nuggets (with and without Carmelo) and the Hornets (when they were elite) in the West as well as the Celtics (on the road), the Bulls (on the road), and the Heat in the East. The Mavs have matched up very well against the Clippers and they also sport the best road record in the league (26-10), so the Clippers will have their hands full.

This season has had a lot to do with progression, after all, if a team is not good, the next best thing is if they show legitimate signs of progress (let’s not use hope due to Roeser’s recent comments). This year started with a bloodsucking 1-13 streak that drained the team of any hope to win now. But they improved with those aforementioned big wins, they started to win at home against quality opponents (like the Heat and Lakers) and finished with a 9-5 record in the month when they feasted on home cooking. February was the month of the road game, and while the expected improvement didn’t show (largely due to Eric Gordon’s absence), the Clippers have turned it back around in March. If the Clippers win tonight, they’ll match that 9-5 monthly record of January, having won almost as many games on the road as they played in that first month (three road wins to 4 road games played in January, the Clippers lost all four January road games). A win over the Mavs would give the Clippers a boost of quality wins comparable to January, when they seemed so hot. Wins over Dallas and the Celtics (on the road) might not be as sexy as wins over the Lakers and the Heat (after the heat had won 21 of 22 games), but they’re still equal quality opponents and they had a .500 record on the road. So what’s the next step in the progression? Beating a succession of quality teams, some on the road. That stretch starts tonight for the Clips.

Bonus, David Thorpe breaks down the improvement of rookies across the league. Here’s what he says about two Clippers:

Blake Griffin, Clippers
Griffin’s numbers have dropped a bit recently, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t improved. Quite the contrary. To continue to rack up 20-and-12 performances is even harder to accomplish now that he’s drawing so much more attention from opponents.

Taking into account where he was a year ago — recovering from a serious knee injury — makes his progress even more impressive. It often takes players a full year to recover mentally from any kind of injury involving their lower extremities. And let’s be honest, not even the most passionate Clippers fan expected Griffin to be an NBA superstar in his rookie season.

If Griffin makes a jump next season like he did this season, you’ll hear MVP chants in L.A. — and not for a certain shooting guard on the Lakers.

Eric Bledsoe, Clippers
Bledsoe looked like a steal back in July thanks to his incredible athleticism and powerful body. But he was far from ready to be an NBA point guard. Although he still has to get much better if he wants the reins to Griffin’s team next season and beyond, he is showing serious improvement in running the show.

Bledsoe looked good early on when he was getting lots of playing time and has continued to read the game better even when his minutes dropped. Explosive off the dribble, he is better now at picking his spots: Blowing past his man only to run into trouble in the paint has become less of an issue.

Double bonus, news that the Elgin Baylor suit has gone the way of Michael Olowokandi’s NBA career.

Keys to the Game

- Blake Griffin. The Dallas Mavericks give Blake fits. In the Clippers two losses, he has averaged 18 points on 35 percent shooting and 10 rebounds, well below his season averaged of 22.4 points and 12 rebounds on 50 percent shooting. The Mavericks throw their length at Blake, Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood and even Dirk Nowitzki have given Blake plenty of problems. This, of course, comes when he also has to guard Dirk Nowitzki, the most versatile power forward in the game. The last los was relatively close,112-105, so an on-point Blake Griffin could mean a win.

- Outside shooting. Under Dwayne Casey, the Dallas Mavericks employ a very aggressive and oft-used zone defense. To break that zone, the Clippers have to make their long balls, whether that’s from Eric Gordon, Mo Williams or Randy Foye (even if Foye’s toe is on the line).

- Bench play. The Clippers aren’t known for their deep bench, and with Eric Bledsoe, Al-Farouq Aminu, Ike Diogu, Brian Cook, Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan, you’re not looking at a group of offensive weapons. Bledsoe, Ike and Craig are the best at creating their own shot, but the unit isn’t very balanced from a perimeter shooting perspective, which could give them fits when facing the Dallas zone defense. Oppositely, the Mavericks have a very good bench, anchored by supersub stalwart, Jason Terry. They have averaged 46.5 points from the bench (bolstered by last games 53 point combo of Jason Terry and Jose Juan Barea), which will have to come down for the Clippers to win.

Injury Report

None

Expect the game between the Raptors and Clippers to be a spirited contest. Over at Clippers.com, D.J. Foster is talking about the Raptors having a “whiplash game”, or a bounce back game, after the Raps suffered a humiliating 138-100 beatdown at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. Add to that, the Clippers look to rebound from their frustrating loss to the Lakers last night as well as avenge their defeat to the Raptors back in February.

Keys to the Game

- DeMar DeRozan. He returns to his hometown and Staples Center a month after feeling like he was short changed in the dunk contest. He made his comments to reporters that his dunks were underscored because they didn’t use silly props. Even the announcers have taken to saying “No props!” when he dunks, which intimates that DeRozan hasn’t forgotten the slight. That kind of motivation for a scorer (16.6 points per game, 47.5 percent from the field) could lead to a retribution game.

- Get Eric Gordon going. Normally a paragon of consistency, Eric Gordon has struggled to find his groove. In the four games since his return he has put up 29 points (9 for 20 shooting), 10 points (4 for 11), 32 points (11 for 21) and, last game, 7 points (3 for 14). No surprise that the Clippers lost the games when EJ scored 10 points or fewer, so they’ll need to get him in a rhythm.

- Attack the paint. Clippers are sixth in the league with 42.2 points per game in the paint, and Toronto doesn’t have the most intimidating front court. Ed Davis did post a monster game against the Clippers in February (13 points on 6 for 8 shooting, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks), but that’s far from standard (Davis averages 6.8 points and 6.8 rebounds on the year). The Clippers need to take advantage of their size and strength.

Injury Report

Amir Johnson: sore left ankle, questionable
Reggie Evans: sore right foot, questionable

Friday night fight night as the Clippers play Lakers in the final game of the hallways series! Andrew Kamenetzky of the Land O’Lakers Blog stops by to talk Lakers and Clippers before the match-up

Breene Murphy: The Lakers have been playing great recently, and Kobe has been the most emotionally exuberant in a while, what do you attribute it to? Bynum’s health? Lakers getting more home games? End of the season wake up call?

Andrew Kamenetzky: All of the above, really.

The All-Star break couldn’t have come any quicker for the Lakers. They looked like a team in need of a break from the game, from each other, and from anything basketball-related. Derek Fisher later admitted the negativity from fans and media regarding their inconsistent play was getting to everyone, in part because they shared the same frustrations. The time off allowed everyone to recharge, plus there was a team meeting following the Cleveland debacle, and the sitdown was apparently effective.

Individually, Matt Barnes is steadily rounding into form after returning from knee surgery and Ron Artest and (to a lesser degree) Steve Blake have played better in March, which has helped matters. Still, no one player has made a bigger difference than Andrew Bynum. The kid has been flat out redunkulous. Since the All-Star break, he’s averaging 11.8 points, 13 rebounds and nearly three blocks. In his last five games, 14 points and 15 rebounds. That’s insane, when you consider the other scorers and rebounders alongside him. And beyond the stats, his overall defensive presence has been off the charts. He’s altering and changing shots on a regular basis, and beyond those in the lane. He’s aggressively stepping out to the elbow, the free throw line, and even further out to bother shooters. In the meantime, the basket has been exceptionally well-protected.

The metaphorical “finish line” in clear sight also helps. This team’s core has played a LOT of basketball for the last few seasons, which makes the regular season physically and (especially) mentally draining at times. With the playoffs in close proximity, plus the welcome challenge of jockeying with teams in both conferences for home court advantage, they’ve discovered a second wind.

BM: Due to DeAndre’s health, the Clippers have been going with Kaman and Blake in the front court. How have the Lakers handled other strong front courts, like Chicago (with Boozer and Noah) and Memphis (Z-Bo and Marc Gasol)? Do the Lakers alter their play?

AK: Like most teams, even those as big, long and talented as the Lakers, a tougher opposing front court provides a more difficult challenge. It’s certainly easier to score down low against Nenad Krstic than, say, Joakim Noah. Having said that, I’ve never noticed the Lakers’ significantly alter their game plan in reaction to a noteworthy 4 and 5. They (rightfully) have confidence in Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and will put eggs in the basket of those three every day of the week.

As for the effect of an opposing talented front court, it’s typically most dependent on the individual big man’s style. If the big in question is overly physical, Pau Gasol can sometimes be bothered (although no longer to the degree of his “soft” reputation). But if it’s possible to match Bynum against the bruiser, that may solve the problem, especially the way Drew is playing right now. If it’s a mobile big, the matchup may not be ideal for Bynum, but Gasol and especially Odom are fine. And in the meantime, all three Laker bigs can provide major mismatches of their own and move the ball extremely well. The Lakers’ interior passing is the best in the league, hands down.

In terms of the specific matchup tonight, Blake Griffin has struggled all season against the Lakers, one late-game surge aside. Unless the rook can figure out a way to be more effective in the Hallway Series, I think the edge remains with the Lakers, the kid’s obvious talent acknowledged.

BM: Eric Gordon is back for the Clippers and in his two games against the Lakers he’s played well (27.0 ppg on 62 percent shooting). Kobe is obviously having another great season, but have you seen slippage defensively? Are opposing shooting guards a common weakness for the Lakers?

AK: I wouldn’t say slippage is really a problem for Kobe, even though I don’t think his defense has been consistently great this season. In the recent loss against Miami, for example, Kobe corralled Dwayne Wade for most of the game. There were struggles down the stretch, but we are talking about one of the league’s premier talents, so being able to check him at all, often without help, speaks to the skills still intact. He’s also been effective against Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook, despite the speed and age disadvantages. When engaged, Kobe is still among the best wing defenders in the game.

If anything, there is a tendency to disappoint defensively against the Sam Young’s and Xavier Henry’s of the world. (Not randomly selected dudes, as both Grizzlies have enjoyed big games with Kobe checking them.) The less respect Kobe has for a player, the more the assignment gets ignored, even when the C-Lister in question is clearly heating up from the open looks. This situation has presented itself on several occasions, often to detrimental effect.

But a marquee matchup tends to motivate Kobe, and Gordon would certainly qualify. It wouldn’t shock me if Ron Artest gets his share of cracks at Gordon. His defense has been excellent of late and the crossmatch would lessen the load on Kobe. Then again, Artest has also struggled against Gordon’s quickness at times, so Kobe shadowing him is probably inevitable at some point, unless Ron is truly in a zone.

Check out the Land O’Lakers Blog to see what they asked me about the Clippers.

Keys to the Game

- Chris Kaman’s Jumpshot. Andrew Bynum has been playing very good interior defense. In the 10 games before Bynum’s two game suspension (he knocked Michael Beasley of the Wolves out of the air), he averaged 13.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, and if Chris Kaman is making his jumpers, Bynum’s presence will have to be pulled further out, providing more space for Blake, Gordon and the rest of the Clippers to get into the paint.

- Mo Williams. Derek Fisher plays as effective defense as his body will let him. He’s smart enough to draw charges, and funnel players, but he’s 36 years old and doesn’t have the foot speed to deal with a guard like Mo Williams. If it weren’t for the Lakers bigs in the paint, this would be Mo’s ideal matchup. And with Kobe on EJ and Pau on Blake, the Clippers might need to rely more heavily on Mo.

Injury Report

DeAndre Jordan: pneumonia, questionable

NOTE: Due to extenuating circumstances in Bloggerdom, the Clippers/Lakers recap won’t be up until tomorrow morning.

With the Wizards and the Clippers squaring off, it’s hard not to think of “What if Blake Griffin and John Wall played on the same team?” It’s not to hard to imagine, the Clippers overcame similar odds in 2009 when they drafted Blake Griffin, and had that happened in 2010, we might have seen more of this:

Can you imagine the alley-oops? The efficiency of VDN’s PnRs? The Dougie-ing? The team would have been mind-bending and fun to watch.

Instead, the two are separated onto low end teams that, even if they combined their wins, would only have 44 wins, fewer than the Spurs (57), Lakers (51), Mavericks (49), Thunder (45), Celtics (51), Bulls (50), Heat (48) and Magic (45). The game between the Wiz and the Clips relegates its interest to the forgotten fan bases of the Wizards and the Clippers and NBA fans attracted to esoterica (Rookie of the Year Candidates! Two consecutive number 1 picks! The Wiz might be the worst road team ever with their 1 and 32 away record! Elgin Baylor is from D.C. and he used to be GM for the Clippers!).

Keys to the Game

- John Wall. No surprise here. Despite losing by 21 points at home, the Wizards didn’t lose because of John Wall. He scored 25 points on 9 for 23 shooting, grabbed 7 rebounds and doled out 8 assists. Wall isn’t the best shooter, as evidenced by his shooting in the last game, but he gets to the rim with shocking efficiency and he plays surprisingly good defense for a young point guard (1.7 steals per game). The Clippers will benefit from a game plan with Wall, with hard hedges on the pick and roll, because Wall is way less efficient far from the basket (shoots under 30 percent outside of 3 feet) and his teammates are banged up or just plain bad.

- Get Blake and Eric Gordon back. Blake has been in a constant downward trend since the zenith of his play in January (when he averaged 26 points and 13.4 rebounds). He hasn’t had double digit rebounds in the last 7 games (6.9 rebounds during that stretch) and his field goal attempts are down as well (15.5 attempts in those 7 games compared to 16.6 over the course of the season). Blake won’t get the same amount of touches now that Mo, Kaman and Gordon are all playing, but how the Clippers deploy his talents should be better used. Blake’s post game has been functional, if limited, all season. He has a small repertoire, but the league has caught on and Blake’s athleticism has been the reason he continues to get buckets. He works very well moving, so the pick and rolls need to stay around, but would it hurt to see some off ball screens that would open him up at the high post where he can use his dribbling abilities to break down his man? He could also pass the ball from the high post, where he’s been most effective, often getting Gordon open threes. This is where VDN comes in, he needs to figure out a few plays that expand Blake’s threats without him learning a new move, just a simple cut, screen or misdirection. And if VDN were to include Eric in those plays, that might kick start Gordon too. I’m not as worried about Gordon, because he has played well in two of his three games back from injury (I’m counting the Houston game when Mo first arrived), but Gordon and Griffin need to be the focal point, which hasn’t been the case in the recent losses. I like Kaman but he’s a second or third option now (a reason why I like him coming off the bench for 25-32 minutes a game). One of the points of the Baron trade was to re-center the team around Gordon and Blake, now the Clippers should do it.

- Jordan Crawford. I could probably pick something more tangible out, but I just have this gut feeling that with Crawford in the starting lineup and the way he relentlessly attacks, that he’ll be a factor in this game. Since coming over to the Wizards in the Hinrich trade, Crawford has averaged 12.9 points per game. Yes, it’s been on 13.2 field goal attempts per game, but his tenacity, the confidence boost from starting and his relatively low profile gives me the feeling that he’ll be the guy that slips through the cracks against the Clippers. I hope I’m wrong.

Injury Report

DeAndre Jordan: pneumonia, questionable

Nick Young: sore left knee, day-to-day
Andray Blatche : shoulder, out
Josh Howard: knee, out
Rashard Lewis: knee, out

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