When is losing better than winning?

The obvious answer has something to do with extra lottery balls, but let’s ignore that aspect (for now). Sometimes winning can complicate things where losing won’t. A loss is just a loss, and a defeat to the Hawks is to be expected given the circumstances. But a win? A win tonight would have made an even bigger scapegoat out of Baron Davis, who sat out with a sore back. A win tonight would have slightly dinged whatever trade value Baron has left. A win tonight would have required us to put at least a little hope back into the season, in Steve Blake, and in Kim Hughes among others. Does any actual good come from that scenario? Was Red right the first time? Is hope really a dangerous thing after all?

For a bit the Clippers threatened to complicate things by winning. Despite the turnover discrepancy and Atlanta’s dominance in the paint (70-38), the Clippers were only down 6 points going into the fourth quarter, 81-75. Not unlike the last time these two teams met, Atlanta turned it on in the fourth quarter and stepped up their intensity when it mattered most. The Clippers’ shot selection to start the fourth quarter looked like this:

• 22-foot missed jumper by Bobby Brown [11:40], 25-foot missed three-point attempt by Rasual Butler [10:56], Chris Kaman made two point shot [10:08], 28-foot missed three-point attempt by Steve Novak [9:30], 15-foot jumper missed by Chris Kaman [9:07], Craig Smith traveling [8:38], Craig Smith turnover [8:18], Chris Kaman Technical Foul [7:39].

In a little less than 5 minutes of game time, the above stretch put the Clippers behind 18 points. The results shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Bobby Brown is primarily a jump shooter, Steve Novak is strictly a jump shooter, Rasual Butler sticks to the outside and Chris Kaman in the 4th quarter is always primed to shoot more jumpers than anything else. Eventually you have to consider that it’s not the coaching, the scheme, or the execution, but instead it’s the personnel. The Clippers have a lot of guys in love with their jumper on the roster and they don’t have anyone who can consistently penetrate and get to the rim. Until that changes (and it will eventually), these types of quarters are bound to keep happening.

All in all the Clippers don’t play poorly on the offensive end. They shoot 50.7% from the field and do a decent job getting clean looks for Rasual Butler in particular. Steve Blake dishes out 9 assists to 3 turnovers, which is pretty impressive considering he has yet to practice with the team. Maybe the most admirable contrast between Blake and Baron is that Blake gets the Clippers into their sets almost immediately with little to no senseless dribbling. Blake can’t hit anything tonight (1 for 6 from the field), but the moderation on his shot attempts is a breath of fresh air. There are things Blake will never be able to do as well as Baron, but at least Blake is mostly aware of his limitations. He’s not the first player to have a successful NBA career built off a keen sense of self-awareness.

It’s strange to say this but the Clippers miss Al Thornton quite a bit tonight. I’ve never been high on what Thornton brings to the table, but tonight against his hometown Atlanta, a team he always played well against, Thornton likely could have contributed. The irony of Thornton being traded just hours before tip-off isn’t lost on me. In December I wrote a piece about Al Thornton being transformed and concluded he had figured it out, and that he was now much more efficient, and that he was well on his way to cutting out the long range jumper from his arsenal completely. Practically right after I hit “submit” Al went back to throwing up contested 20-footers in an effort to boost his stats and earn more minutes. That’s just the way Al Thornton played — he’d look dominant one game, and fall of the face of the Earth the next. There’s a special spot all carved out for him in the illustrious pantheon of frustrating Clippers. Who knows which Al Thornton would have came to play tonight, but the Clippers desperately needed someone who could at least challenge the Hawks at the rim.

In a way watching tonight’s game is a liberating experience. Gone are the days of eyeballing the standings and stressing over wins and losses. Gone are the stretches of not being able to stomach DeAndre Jordan’s now easily forgivable follies. Gone are the hopes and expectations that came with the former collection of talent. After the transactions the last two days, the present and immediate future suddenly bare no consequence. It’s freedom. It’s probably not the brand of freedom the players thought they were getting when Dunleavy moved up to the front office, but it’s freedom nonetheless.

From Adrian Wojnarowski’s Twitter:

“Cavs get Jamison and Telfair, Clippers get Drew Gooden and Washington gets Illgauskas, Al Thornton and Brian Skinner and Cavs 1st round pick.”

Here’s how the trade looks on ESPN’s Trade Machine.

Drew Gooden’s contract expires at the end of this year. By making this move the Clippers avoid the chance of Sebastian Telfair activating his 2.7 million dollar trade option for next year and also get Al Thornton’s 2.8 million off the books as well.

The Clippers will have 33.5 million guaranteed on the books for the 2010-2011 season, not including the cap hold their 1st round pick will demand or the 6 minimum cap holds. It was predicted earlier in the year that the 2010-2011 salary cap would be anywhere between 50 – 54 million dollars. With that scale in mind, a maximum contract should check in right around 16 million dollars (30% of the salary cap number). According to those numbers, the Clippers should now have the space to offer a max contract.

Update (4:05p PT): The Clippers plan to buyout Drew Gooden’s contract and allow him to become a free agent, a league source told Y! Sports.

Update (4:25p PT): Ric Bucher reporting that Brian Skinner is actually not included in this deal.

Update (5:15p PT) The Clippers have given no indication that they’d buy out Gooden.

Update (6:37p PT) Baron Davis may sit out tonight due to a sore back.

The expected stylistic change brought on by interim head coach Kim Hughes raises an all-important question: Can the Clippers function effectively as a running team? I took the opportunity to watch a ton of game tape to get a better sense of the Clippers’ tendencies, strengths and weaknesses when they push the ball in transition. Let’s take a look and see who is fit for the running game.

The Wings: Gordon, Butler, Thornton, R. Davis

• Eric Gordon – Gordon might possess the least complex game of any guard in the league. The simpleness of Gordon’s game is particularly evident in transition. When filling the wing on the break, Gordon either spots up on the arc or makes a b-line straight for the rim. There’s no in between. Think about this: When was the last time you saw Gordon attempt a reverse? A floater? A shifty hop step and opposite hand finish? Gordon’s main tactic on the break is to go a million miles per hour towards the rim and attempt a right handed layup, contact and defenders be damned. In a way, Gordon reminds me of a top-end speedy sports car with bad tires in the snow: There’s a lot of power there, but it easily slips out of control. Gordon’s main problem is that he absolutely pounds the ball into the hardwood, almost as if he were playing with a flat ball on a dirt court. Gordon has a ton of time to progress towards harnessing his explosiveness and staying under control, but for right now he’s far from a polished ballhandler and playmaker on the wing. Verdict: Despite the likely increase in turnovers, Gordon’s increased free throw attempts and added scoring should make up for it.

• Rasual Butler - As the proverbial “3 and D” guy for the Clippers, Butler is essentially a specialist who does a few things very, very well. However, outside of perimeter shooting and on-ball defense, Butler doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table. As the wing man on the fast break he often shies away from filling the lane completely, and instead opts to back off and spot up for short to mid range jumpers, of which he shoots a pretty bad percentage (36% from 10-15 feet). The same aspect of Rasual’s game that can allow him to go off for 30 points will also likely keep him from being a great wing player in transition: Butler rarely ever passes up his shot, even if he’s gone cold. There’s a selflessness and playmaking ability necessary to consistently run a successful fast break , and I’m not sure Butler has that. When Butler avoids his natural tendency to spot up and fills the lane completely, he’s a subpar finisher unless the dunk is readily available. Verdict: An increased tempo means Butler will have the ball in his hands more often…which also means he’ll be liable to shoot some frightening PUJIT’s. He’s much better suited for the halfcourt.

• Al Thornton – Thornton’s role has diminished quite a bit this year, yet he’s still one of the better finishers at the rim on the roster. In theory, an uptempo game  should better showcase his talents and athletic ability. There’s a problem here though. Most 2 on 1, 3 on 1, or 3 on 2 fast breaks happen from blocked shots and steals. Rarely will you see a defensive rebound result in a mismatched fast break. The strong majority of transition opportunities actually come from your secondary break. The resulting looks from those secondary breaks? Spot-up jumpers. Ask yourself this: Do you really want Al Thornton shooting more jumpers? I’d be more inclined to predict success for Thornton in an uptempo game if: A. The Clippers actually caused turnovers and B. The Clippers secured long defensive rebounds more frequently. Verdict: Is a 20 foot Thornton jumper a better look than what the halfcourt offense could produce? Probably not.

• Ricky Davis – In Mike Dunleavy’s offense, Ricky Davis provided one key service: He stretched the floor. Ricky has actually been a pretty solid player in his limited time –he ranks favorably among the league’s other wings in field goal percentage and three point field goal percentage. Ricky’s transition opportunities have been limited, but he’s been less than impressive in his chances. Not surprisingly for a man with the nickname “buckets”, Ricky Davis is first and foremost a shooter. Nearly every one of his field goal attempts this year have been jumpers. Similar to Rasual Butler, if he gets an open look, he’s firing. Verdict: Ricky Davis can be useful in an uptempo setting, but his real value is in the halfcourt.

We’ve long discussed how the Clippers wingmen are terrible on the defensive glass, but this year they’ve taken it to a whole new level. Out of players who log at least 25 minutes a game, only four wing players in the entire league average lower defensive rebounding numbers than Rasual Butler, Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. Andre Iguodala (5.9 DRB per game) nearly averages more defensive rebounds a game than Butler, Gordon and Thornton combined (6.7 DRB per game).

What’s one solution for wings that don’t box out and usually don’t even come within 10 feet of available rebounds? Release. Close out on outside shooters, and then fly by and leak out. Camby and Kaman may not be Wes Unseld and Kevin Love, but they can deliver some decent outlet passes.  What’s the risk if the wings aren’t doing anything on the glass as is? Might as well try and get some easy buckets, right?

Even with all that said, the reality here is that the Clippers’ wings are shaky ballhandlers and even shakier decision makers. Since three of the four wings are jump shooters, speeding up the tempo will create them more open jump shot opportunities, just without Kaman or Camby underneath in prime offensive rebounding position. The mid to long range two-point jumper is the most inefficient shot in all of basketball, yet the Clippers’ wings (primarily Butler and R. Davis) use that as their main calling card on the fast break.

The goal of an increased tempo is to create easy looks. However with the Clippers’ current personnel on the wings, a running style might not accomplish that.

Gordon was selected to the team, along with Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, Danilo Gallinari, Russell Westbrook and Marc Gasol.

The game is scheduled for February 12 — in 16 days. Presumably, Gordon’s toe will be healed by then.

Then, of course…

At halftime of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, the Clippers’ Gordon and the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan will compete in the first NBA All-Star Slam Dunk-In, a single-round slam dunk competition. Fans will be able to vote via SMS text message and at NBA.com to determine who will advance to the Sprite Slam Dunk the following night.

Oddly, DeRozan didn’t make the rookie team, which means he’ll be well-rested for his dunks.

Last year, both Gordon and Al Thornton turned in solid performances at the Rookie Challenge in Phoenix. Gordon scored 19 points (6-8 FG), grabbed six rebounds, dished out two assists and recorded two steals. Thornton went for 10 points (5-7 FG), two rebounds and two assists.

Five thoughts from tonight’s game:

• Bench Play – After a sloppy first quarter from the starters, the Clippers bench came in and made an immediate impact, accounting for 22 of the team’s 50 first half points. Al Thornton’s role becomes more and more defined as the season moves along, and again tonight he proved what he’s capable of doing when healthy. Thornton went 7 for 9 from the field for 17 points in 17 minutes of play by winning his one on one battles and attacking at every opportunity. Ricky Davis flirted with a triple double with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in his 27 minutes. Craig Smith didn’t get to double-digit points again tonight, but he did have the game high +/- mark at +12. The bench may need to continue their hot play, as both Gordon and Telfair went down with injuries late in the second half tonight.

• Bulls Offense – It’s no real secret that no one on the Bulls roster can score in the low post. Since that’s the case, the Bulls are forced to shoot a ridiculous amount of jumpers in the halfcourt setting; they actually lead the league by an overwhelming margin in attempts from 16-23 feet, which also happens to be the least efficient area on the basketball court to shoot from. Point being, if the Bulls are missing their perimeter looks in the halfcourt, they’re likely going to lose. Part of the reason the Bulls were able to jump out to an early lead was because they avoided their halfcourt offense like the plague. By constantly pushing the ball and turning the game into a track meet of sorts, the Bulls were able to jump out to an early 26-19 lead. When the tempo finally settled down, the Bulls offensive deficiencies became more clear. They had no one to dump it into on the block, so instead they settled for lots of Hinrich and Rose jumpers. The pair of guards combined to go 13 for 38 (34%) from the field. You live by the jumper, you die by the jumper.

• Clippers Bigs vs Noah – There may not be a player in the NBA who more closely resembles Camby’s unique style of play than Joakim Noah. Both attack the offensive glass incredibly hard, both are very good defensive rebounders, both have hideous jumpers (although Camby’s is effective while Noah’s is not), and both play with an incredible amount of energy. Tonight, Camby pulled in an obscene amount of rebounds (25) while Noah posted yet another double-double (14 points and 15 rebounds). Chris Kaman struggled a bit when matched up against Noah, and found most of his success (surprisingly enough) taking Noah off the dribble. Tonight’s game really served as evidence to the maturation of Chris Kaman. Instead of banging his head against the wall and continuing to fire up jumpers against a phenomenal and lengthy defender in Noah, Kaman put the ball on the ground and forced Chicago to send him to the line. Noah is one of the better post defenders Kaman will see all year, and to put up 20 points against him and a strong Chicago defense is impressive.

• Offensive Versatility – Individually, the Bulls have a ton of defensive talent spread across the floor. Hinrich is a tough perimeter defender, Noah is emerging into a premier post defender, and Luol Deng can more than hold his own against most small forwards. Ideally, you don’t want to attack these defenders in one on one situations. As soon as the outsized Jannero Pargo got on the floor though, the Clippers attacked their new found mismatch. It didn’t always yield points, but more often than not the Clippers offense felt “smart” tonight in the halfcourt. If opposing coaches want to play specialists, smaller guards or general defensive liabilities, Dunleavy will always call sets to attack those players. More often than not, it works.

• Baron Davis, Dagger Provider – The Clippers’ bench built the lead to 14 at the 6:35 mark of the fourth, but the Bulls came roaring back behind some transition opportunities and quick pick and rolls early in the shot clock. After a Noah dunk at the 4:09 mark of the fourth, the Clippers lead was suddenly down to four. Enter Baron Davis. A cringe inducing three point attempt fell first, then a 19-footer the next possession, then a heady pump fake to draw the foul on a three point attempt. After knocking down 2 of 3 from the stripe, the Bulls continued to answer and didn’t go away until Baron hit a runner and eventually iced the game with two free throws late. For those of you keeping track at home, that’s 11 huge points in the final 4 minutes. Baron’s play down the stretch was clutch scoring at its finest.

• Mike Dunleavy returned to practice Saturday after going to the hospital Friday morning for treatment on a herniated disk in his back. “I feel OK,” Dunleavy said, “but I’m not going to be doing any dancing any time soon.”

• Eric Pincus grades the first 30 games for the Clippers. Pincus points out the biggest change in the most improved Clipper so far this year, Chris Kaman: “The biggest difference in Kaman’s offensive attack this year is a smooth face up jumper.  It’s a shot Dunleavy has encouraged Chris to take for years – but it’s only over this past summer that Kaman developed enough confidence.”

• Al Thornton continues to statistically baffle. The good news is that among all small forwards who have logged over 25 minutes a game, Al Thornton ranks second in offensive rebounds per 40 minutes. The bad news? Thornton ranks dead last in defensive rebounding. Is this a cause for concern, or just a case of Marcus Camby gobbling up all the available boards?

• Sandy Banks of the Los Angeles Times writes an interesting profile on Donald Sterling.

• In his latest entry on Jordan’s Journal (login required) DeAndre updates us on what it’s like to guard Kevin Garnett, his New Years resolutions, and why Steve Novak is getting his bad Santa on. The question on my mind: How much longer do we have to wait before we can see Blake and DeAndre star in a cheesy buddy cop movie? Someone get a script to Baron Davis, pronto.

• Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times checks in on Blake Griffin.

• Via Lisa Dillman’s twitter account: “Clipper update: Al Thornton not practicing because of a stomach virus. Questionable for game tomorrow vs. Portland.”

• All-decade lists dominated the internet the last few weeks, so I’ll spare you and pose just one question: Who was the Clipper of the decade? Was it Elton Brand? Chris Kaman? Sam Cassell, perhaps? Write-in votes will also be accepted. Let’s hear it.

The Clippers post an efficient offensive game — one that would have been exceptional if not for the bevy of offensive miscues, sloppy interior passes, a series of botched shots at the rim, missed free throws, and offensive rebounds that slide off the Clippers’ fingertips. Still, they use their length and side-to-side movement to create plenty of shots for themselves. It’s their atrocious defensive effort against a Portland team without a legitimate center, and that loses LaMarcus Aldridge midway through the first quarter, that produces one of their least satisfying losses of the season.

Trying to examine the reasons why they couldn’t defend a frontcourt featuring Juwan Howard and rookies Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph for 90 of its 96 minutes is an exercise in frustration. Chris Kaman, despite a monster offensive game (25 points, 12-19 FGs, 1-2 FTS, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 turnover), shares some of the blame. Marcus Camby seems slow on rotations and frequently a couple of feet from where he’d be more useful. Al’s working, but he’s in the wrong places at the wrong times. This poor defensive execution and timing result in a slew of wide open elbow jumpers for the Trail Blazers’ big men. Cunningham demonstrated in Summer League that he’s not going to embarrass himself on an NBA floor. Give him enough space to work, and he’ll get two points.

Then there are the inexplicable results on the glass. Posting a rebounding rate of 44.2 against a teeny squad like Portland means the Clippers give back their most decisive advantages — size and length. Strengths mean something only insofar as you capitalize on what they’re offering you. When you get reamed on the boards and finish even in the paint (44-44) against an undersized squad that has no right finding space down low, you’re not really a big team. If you’re not challenging guys like Pendergraph and Cunningham and making them irrelevant with your superior size and skill set, then you’re not deriving any value from your assets. You’re a small team that happens to be occupying big frames. And if a game between these two teams turns into a decathlon of little-man events, the Trail Blazers are going to win — which they do.

Sometimes I worry about the composition of the Clippers. They’re so traditional in personnel and so programmatic (qualities that help them at times), that a game against a Guerrilla unit like the whoever’s-left-standing Trail Blazers presents a challenge it shouldn’t. The Clippers play quality defensive games against teams with conventional positional personnel (not just lousy conventional teams, but good ones like Boston and Denver), but start throwing curve balls at them, and they become discombobulated. Kaman and Camby get taken out of their comfort zone defensively — and they’re very good defenders in that safe place. Just don’t introduce so many strange variables.

Please take a look at this possession, I know you’ve got to trap Brandon Roy up top, and that Dante Cunningham rolls to particularly vacant real estate on the floor. But the spacing on the right side for Portland is tight and clustered. With the ball in Roy’s hands, you can zone up on the back side 2-on-3 while someone stays in proximity to Cunningham, then closes hard on him if he gets the pass. You’re professional defenders.

The Trail Blazers don’t shoot all that well from beyond the arc, converting only five of 16, but they get some clean looks, particularly for Steve Blake. The first comes in transition, when Baron never picks him up. The second bomb occurs when Baron lingers in the lane, presumably to stay in closer proximity to Roy, rather than follow Blake to the weak side corner.

Baron, like a lot of point guards, spends most of his time playing the ball and is less instinctive defending off it. He’s drawn to the ball, but his man, Blake, functions as a wing on this set. I suppose you could say that, as a defensive unit, you can never have too many bodies between Roy and the basket given the personnel out there for Portland. But the better play by Baron here is to squeeze Blake and, at the very least, make it a much tougher pass.

The one area the Clippers defense proves acceptable is in its containment of Brandon Roy. He gets 25 points on 20 shots, but Portland afflicts its more serious damage on the Clippers with Roy on the bench. When Roy bothers the Clippers, it’s not because he’s beating his man or getting contested shots. It’s because defenders on the weak side (like Baron) are preoccupied with Roy at the expense of their primary defensive assignments.

Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon propel the Clips offensively. Gordon scores 24 points on 14 true shots, though he’s still suffering from whatever it is that’s afflicting his handle of late. He coughs up four ugly turnovers, though more than compensates for it overall. Kaman, as he should against a team with no bigs, has his way on the block and on releases from the post for jumpers.

Sebastian Telfair’s unit isn’t doing a whole lot to help the team right now. They operate better in transition, but unfortuntely they’re not capable of getting defensive stops. In the interim, maybe they should go back to that Telfair-Smith pick-and-roll with Butler hanging out in the corner.

This loss constitues a real setback, not just for the emotional toll of canceling out a hard-earned win against a top team on Sunday, but because the Clippers, with their strength, should devour a team with Portland’s deficiencies.

From Lisa Dillman at the Los Angeles Times:

Two others could be Al Thornton and Marcus Camby, both suffering injuries in the Clippers’ most-recent loss, at Houston, on Tuesday. Thornton and Camby did not practice Thursday.

Thornton jammed his right big toe against the Rockets, and Camby suffered a hyper-extended knee in the fourth quarter of the Houston game. They are both considered questionable for today’s game at Phoenix.

Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy was asked about their availability against the Suns.

“At this point I can’t tell,” he said. “If the swelling does go down, guys have a better chance of playing. If it doesn’t go down, they could miss it.”

Only 26 games are in the books, but Al Thornton has already endured a full season’s worth of drama. After shooting an abysmal 12 for 36 from the field in the Clippers first four losses to start the season, the third-year pro was demoted to the bench for the first time since becoming a starter late in his rookie season. Thornton would soon see his playing time decrease dramatically (21 min, 18 min, 16 min) in three straight Clippers wins with his coming off the pine. After the last of those three games, a 113-110 win against Memphis on November 7th, Thornton was asked if he was growing comfortable with his new role off the bench, and he answered with an emphatic “No.” Struggling on the court and brooding off of it, Thornton desperately needed to catch some sort of break. Luckily for him it wouldn’t take long, as Eric Gordon’s hamstring injury would result in Thornton’s unheralded return to the starting lineup.

With his starting job back and a new chance in front of him, Thornton went to work. He scored 15 points against New Orleans, then went for 20 points two games later against the Thunder. Then after dropping 30 in a rematch against the Hornets, Thornton went off against the Timberwolves for a season high 31. It was an extraordinary turn of events for Thornton, who credited his improved play to the motivation from the benching and a better diet. While there’s no doubting that a healthier nutrition can lead to improved athletic performance, it seems like this was more about Al needing something to blame for his early season struggles so he could move on and begin to play with confidence. Remember, this is the same Al Thornton who randomly decided not to talk to his girlfriend or get a haircut until the Clippers were able to snap out of a losing streak last year. It may come off as goofy superstition, but for Thornton it all comes back to confidence.

Really it was Thornton’s receptiveness to coaching during this stint  that may have been the biggest mental adjustment of all. Surely the coaching staff had been telling Thornton to take it to the rim since the day he was drafted, but it took a willing Thornton for the change to actually be made. The extra motivation, diet, receptiveness to coaching and regained confidence certainly helped Thornton get things back on track, but what exactly has he been doing differently out on the court?

Fewer Jumpers

• Last season, 54 percent of Thornton’s total field goal attempts were jump shots, and he was only able to connect on 36 percent of those attempts. This season, Thornton’s percentage of field goal attempts that were jump shots is down considerably at 39 percent.  He’s only connecting on 31 percent of those attempts, but he’s shooting far fewer of them. Last year around this time, Thornton had attempted roughly 165 jumpers. This year, that number has been drastically reduced to 93. Perhaps the biggest difference in Thornton’s game is that he’s all but eliminated the 3-point ball from his repertoire. Last year at this time, Thornton had already attempted 32 3-pointers. This year, Thornton has only put up six shots from deep. The results have led to a more consistent, efficient style of play. Thornton has scored in double digits in all but two games since being inserted back into the starting lineup, and is also only 3.3 points short of his season average last year despite shooting the ball four fewer times per game.

Off the Ball Movement

• Perhaps Thornton’s best work this year has come away from the ball. One of the main gripes with Thornton is that he ruins offensive spacing because he’s simply not a threat from outside 15 feet, and while that’s still a valid concern, Thornton has taken steps this year to help partially alleviate those worries. When he’s without the ball, Thornton now relentlessly dives to the hole and forces the defense to collapse on his cuts. On sets designed for him, he’s doing much more work before the ball ever touches his hands. He’s been big and physical when posting up, often getting pretty good position down on the block instead of getting pushed out to the perimeter away from his scoring comfort zone. While the Clippers aren’t exactly a run and gun team (18th in Pace Factor), Thornton himself has done a good job in transition by getting out early and running the floor. He’s been simply outstanding finishing on the break this year, with his most memorable performance coming in the fourth quarter comeback against Memphis on November 29th that saw him score multiple times in transition.

Offensive Rebounding

• What to do when you’re not getting as many touches as you’d prefer on the offensive end? Create your own opportunities. While Thornton’s defensive rebounding totals leave much to be desired (2.6 DRB per 36 minutes), his work on the offensive glass has been admirable. Al’s averaging 2.3 offensive rebounds per game, but he keeps quite a few balls alive for Camby and Kaman and is constantly forcing his man to place a body on him on the boards. It’s a new important wrinkle to Thornton’s overall game, as now he has a way to contribute on nights when the rest of his offensive game betrays him.

Defensive Intensity

• While Thornton’s overall defensive numbers haven’t shown much change from last year, he’s certainly passing the “eye test” better than before. Thornton has had some fine individual moments similar to when he recently defended the much larger Marreese Speights and held his own. The effort hasn’t always been consistent, but there have been multiple games where Thornton has been able to string together impressive possessions against a wide range of different styled players by using his strength and aggressiveness. He’s nowhere near the best defender on the Clippers roster, but he may be the most physical and the most athletic player not named Blake Griffin, which eventually could translate into something on the defensive side of the ball.

The numbers behind Thornton’s vastly improved play don’t lie: Since Thornton returned to the starting lineup November 9th, he’s 118 for 228 from the field, good for an incredible field goal percentage of 52 percent. It may be natural to assume this a statistical aberration similar to what Chris Kaman experienced earlier in the season, but it’s important to note that Thornton isn’t relying heavily on his jump shooting like Kaman was. Although Thornton is shooting roughly 10 percentage points higher from the field than his career average, his jump shooting percentage has been much worse this year than in previous seasons. If Thornton starts knocking down even a respectable amount of his jumpers, look out.

What’s most important about Thornton’s transformation isn’t his individual statistics; it’s how he influences wins and losses. Although the numbers point to a more productive lineup when Rasual Butler starts instead of him, there’s no question that Thornton has earned the right to finish games. Chris Kaman’s habit of fading in the second half teamed with the perimeter players’ struggles to penetrate late in ballgames have caused Dunleavy to search for new primary scoring options in crunch time. It’s unbelievable considering where he was 18 games ago, but if the Philadelphia game serves as any indicator, that primary source for late game scoring just may end up being Al Thornton.

We speak abstractly about the razor thin margin between winning and losing in basketball, but rarely do we get such a lucid illustration. I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen a game in which a team has been resuscitated the way the Clippers are Saturday evening.

With the game tied 99-99 in regulation and 0:11.1 remaining, the Sixers have possession:

Most hardcore basketball fans are programmed with the ability to instinctively determine the legality of a buzzer-beater most of the time. Watching it initially, I thought Iguodala hit it. Did you?

On second review, I have no idea. If the ball is still on Iguodala’s fingers, it’s barely grazing the hair on his knuckles.

UPDATE: NBA.com offers a better look (about the 1:29 mark of the reel), and the ball appears to still be in Iguodala’s hands:

The Sixers execute poorly in overtime, while the Clippers put together a string of solid offensive possessions. Baron attacks, the Sixers fall asleep when they let an unmanned Rasual Butler set up early along the right side of the arc, the Clips pick up a bucket in transition and Butler manages to create something off the dribble.

Defensively for the Clips, Maureesse Speights is less comfortable against Al Thornton than Rasual Butler. Al’s got more muscle to contend with Speights, who likes to bully smaller defenders to get himself inside. That adjustment helps the Clippers in OT, as does their good pick-and-roll defense (on one possession, they blanket both a Green/Brand S/R up top and an Iguodala/Speights S/R counter on the side.

Overtime is almost anticlimactic without discounting the really important development: The Clippers win a game they badly needed.

Some bigger themes of the night:

Keeping Kaman on the floor with five fouls
My position is fairly dogmatic on this issue. Lifting productive players with two fouls in the first quarter is ill-advised, as is sitting them with five midway through the fourth quarter. It’s unwise not to maximize that player’s number of possessions, and yanking him doesn’t do that. On the possessions between Chris’ 5th and 6th fouls, the Clippers play the Sixers even. They convert two field goals on consecutive possessions when Kaman delivers pinpoint passes – the first to Thornton against a swarming double team, the second to Telfair when Chris is one-on-one against Elton Brand. On the other end, the Sixers score on a contested, unstable 20-footer by Iguodala and, of course, when Speights goes to the stripe when he draws Chris’ 6th.

The Sixers’ mismatches
Thad Young is the kind of 4 who will give the Clippers fits this season with Camby and Kaman as the starting frontcourt. Both are decent defenders, but neither has the athleticism to defend a player like Young who is so dynamic from the perimeter. This is where the Clips miss Blake Griffin, who’d be a natural cover to combat Young’s versatility. Young keeps the Sixers in the game through much of the first quarter. Mike Dunleavy adjusts by sending in Mardy Collins to work on the defensive end against Thad Young, and to Collins’ credit, he does an effective job keeping Young in check. Collins is useful in a limited defensive capacity. On the other end, though, posting Mardy Collins doesn’t strike me as the best way to bust the Sixers’ zone, but that’s the kind of offense you see from the Clippers in the latter minutes of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter once Kaman fouls out, the Clippers don’t have an answer for Maurreese Speights, who exploits a mismatch against Rasual Butler in the Clippers’ zone. Sometimes there’s value in the zone to protect a defense against a guy like Speights when you don’t have a natural defender who can match up, but when that zone features Butler who, albeit a sound perimeter defender, doesn’t have the bulk to deal with Speights on the block, it doesn’t give you the best chance to win. Speights generates five points over possessions inside of two minutes against an undersized Butler.

Al Thornton’s late fourth quarter
In addition to the layup on the pass out by Kaman, Thornton muscles his way to the hoop for the Clippers’ two most important buckets of the night. On both possessions, the Clippers trail by two. The first comes on a drive from the left wing against Thad Young. Al goes middle and unleashes a running right-handed hook. The second occurs when Al beats on the league’s best one-on-one perimeter defenders with a left-handed baseline drive.  makes a strong stand on the drive, but Thornton bursts to the hoop and hits a high-degree-of-difficulty shot high off the glass.

The parallels to the New York game are unsettling, and there are sequences in the second half when the Clippers are unable to get a decent look, most of those instances their own fault. Eric is uncharacteristically impatient, Mardy Collins plays an unnecessarily central role in the half-court offense, and Baron tries to create when there’s better stuff available on the weak side. And because they’re not getting stops, the Clips aren’t able to generate more than two fast break points in the second half, zero in the fourth quarter.

Chris Kaman vs. Elton Brand
I don’t generally get caught up in meta narratives, but watching Chris Kaman and Elton Brand face off mano a mano was fascinating, particularly in the tight stages of the fourth quarter. The two were playing an informal game one-on-one when Brand ruptured his Achilles tendon in August 2007, which adds a level of curiosity to the match-up.

In the first half, Kaman wins the battle. His best move comes at [2nd, 6:23] when he backs Elton in with his right shoulder, then spins baseline for an soft right-handed hook. Elton gets things started in the third quarter when he takes Chris off the dribble from the top of the circle, spins counterclockwise, then elevates for a jumper over Chris that falls through. Chris matches with the identical right shoulder/right hook from the first half. He follows by draining an open jumper from 18 feet when Elton gets crossed up on a Butler/Kaman angle S/R. Elton gets his say: He drains a face-up jumper from the right side (!) the next trip down.

Watching Elton against the Clips this season doesn’t induce the same emotion from me that it did last season. My visceral feelings about him have diminished. He’s certainly not just another guy out there, but I find myself more able to experience him apart from his legacy with the Clippers, the possessions against Kaman the possible exception.