While you keep your fingers crossed for the MRI results on Chauncey Billups and his left Achilles, let’s give you some waiting room material to browse over.

• Jordan Heimer was on Lob City Ledger duty last night, and pointed out something that’s been mentioned in the comments section here: Griffin’s new rhythm dribble helped him go 6-for-7 from the free throw line. It begs the question: Is it a confidence thing, or a mechanics problem? I’ll still argue that Griffin locks his knees far too early and relies on his upper body, but his stroke last night did look a little more fluid and less mechanic.

• In addition to some of the other cool stuff we’re getting to do, ClipperBlog will have a home on ESPN’s new and improved Daily Dime going forward. Last night, I broke down what I felt to be the most important plays of the night — Caron Butler and Ryan Gomes grabbing two offensive rebounds in overtime to milk the clock and force Orlando to foul.

• ESPN’s analysts (including Kevin Arnovitz) weigh in on whether or not a lengthy Billups injury ruins the Clippers title chances in the latest NBA 5-on-5. The answers might surprise you.

• Over at ESPNLA.com, I’m a little more pessimistic about contending for a title without the services of Billups. I’ve been critical of Billups in the past, but he’s still a definite upgrade over Randy Foye…and the Clippers’ defense has been leaps and bounds better when Billups plays with the starters as opposed to Williams. There’s more there in the article, but let’s hope it’s rendered meaningless after today.

The Clippers demolished the Wizards 107-81 to kick off their six-game road trip. Our two ClipperBlog writers — and guest contributor John Krolik — discuss what happened at the Verizon Center in Washington.

Most encouraging takeaway from the blowout win?

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: The most encouraging takeaway from a blowout win? That it was indeed an emphatic, never-in-doubt, Wizard-destroying blowout win. The Clippers never took their collective foot off the gas, beating the Wiz by at least ten points in each of the first three quarters, and resisting the temptation up twenty to stop running the offense and start freelancing. Three quarters of dominating play earned the starters a fourth quarter on the bench cheering on the scrubs.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog:The Clippers’ offensive efficiency was off the charts. Ninety-five of the Clippers’ 107 points came from the paint, the free-throw line, or the 3-point line – the most efficient areas on the court. That’s not just a product of talent, it’s a product of discipline. Even with a comfortable lead, the Clips continually looked for high-percentage shots instead of relaxing and chucking up the first shot available.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: Just that there was a blowout on the road. The ClipperBlog crew hung out tonight and the big question was: How many games has Ralph ever called like this in his 30+ years? 4? 5? Love seeing the starters getting rest at the start of a road-trip heavy month.

More impressive on Saturday night — Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan?

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: DeAndre Jordan. Blake was good – DeAndre was perfect. 18 points on 9-11, 7 offensive rebounds, 3 blocks, and the dunk of the game. But honestly, picking one over the other misses the point. It was the tandem of Jordan and Griffin that was collectively unstoppable – the Wizards won’t be the last team on this road trip that simply lack the size, speed, and strength to match up with the Clips’ front court.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: Call me spoiled by expectations, but I’m going to go with DeAndre. In a vacuum, Blake would probably get my pick, but DeAndre was the best possible version of himself, which you can’t say about Blake. 9-11 shooting from the field, one vicious dunk after another, and 7 offensive rebounds, all while shutting down the Wizards’ attempts to attack the rim.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: Blake’s always more impressive. But if you’re going more relative on this, I would say DeAndre Jordan. DeAndre’s amazing dunk-rescue of Mo’s faith-based pass was the cherry on top of an incredibly efficient night.

3. Any advice to cure the Clippers’ free throw shooting woes?

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: Um… shoot underhand? Hypnosis? A freak, but fortuitous ulna-break a la Rookie of the Year that results in perfect shooting form? Trolls on Clipper comment boards refer to Blake’s woes from the charity stripe as “free throw despair.” To his credit, Griffin continues to attack the rim regardless of the frustrations that await him at the line – but their ineptitude will inevitably cost them a game sooner rather than later.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: I’m going to get cute and suggest that Blake and DeAndre work with Rick Barry this off-season and bring back the underhanded free throw, especially for DeAndre, whose arms and giant hands are going to make it tough for him to become a good “conventional” free throw shooter. Some of Blake’s free throw issues are mental, and I think he’ll get back to 60-65 percent when his confidence comes back, but I’d love to see him make the underhanded free throw cool again — I’d like to meet the fan or player who thinks that shooting free throws underhanded is more emasculating that being on the wrong end of one of Blake’s throwdowns.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: Can we get Blake to take some rhythm dribbles? At least one? I like that he’s trying to “react” as much as possible in his free throws, but it’s not like he’s a good jump shooter to start with. DeAndre, however, will probably always be a bad free throw shooter. Maybe the rest of the Clippers just have to ignore Blake and DJ’s free throw mojo for now.

Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images

Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Clippers

7:30 p.m.

Fox Sports Prime Ticket

KFWB 980 AM

ClipperBlog’s Charlie Widdoes, Jovan Buha and Breene Murphy preview the matchup with the red-hot Grizzlies.

1. Who would you rather have for this Clippers team: Chauncey Billups or Tony Allen?

Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: Tony Allen, and it’s not even close.  Chauncey was brought in to play off the ball and knock down shots, but is shooting only 33% from the floor with questionable shot selection and a declining 3-point stroke that once upon a time made up for his offensive weaknesses.  Oh yeah, and he’s even more of a defensive liability than he’s ever been (110 points allowed per possession), whereas Allen locks down the best of the best (98 defensive rating).

Jovan Buha, ClipperBlog: Besides Caron Butler, the Clippers have no length on the perimeter. More importantly, they lack a defensive stopper and are susceptible to scoring outbursts by elite scorers. You know the story. Allen fits both needs. While Billups has added leadership, experience and in-game decision-making to the roster, he’s not the best fit with Paul. Allen can’t shoot, but he’s an underrated offensive contributor. Plus, I’d love to ask him about his tweets.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: Definitely Tony Allen. One of the biggest flaws of this Clipper team is that they don’t have a single player that can consistently lock down the opposing team’s best wing. Tony Allen is up there in that Andre Iguodala/LeBron James/Luol Deng category of elite wing defenders.

2. Over or Under: The Clippers turn the ball over 15 times against the Grizzlies.

Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: I’ll take the under.  For all their other issues, I don’t see them coughing it up more than their season average of about 14 a game, especially if Chris Paul is able to play more minutes in his second game back. 

Jovan Buha, ClipperBlog: Over, but barely. The Grizzlies have the 11th best defense and lead the league in steals and opponent turnovers. Meanwhile, the Clippers turn the ball over the third-least amount of times per game and are second in opponent steals (how many steals their opponents get). Something’s got to give. I say the Grizzlies (force 18 TOs) and Clippers (average 14 TOs) met somewhere in the middle — 16.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: Over. There’s not just Tony Allen, but Mike Conley to pester the Clippers into turning the ball over. And with the Clippers playing on the second night of a back to back, I’d guess they’d be slightly tired and given to sloppier play.

3. Fact or Fiction: The Clippers get a double dose of Gasol and lose to the Grizzlies tonight.

Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: Fact.  Paul was unable or unwilling to put the type of pressure on the Lakers defense that the Clippers need from him, and if that’s the case again, the Clippers should struggle.  Considering it’s the second part of a back-to-back and hamstrings tend to linger, I’m leaning toward the Griz, who come in having won 7 of 8.

Jovan Buha, ClipperBlog: Fiction. Some may overreact to the Lakers’ loss, but the Clippers were ahead almost the entire game and were a couple possessions away from being 10-5. The Grizzlies have won seven of their last eight, but besides defeating the Bulls without Derrick Rose, they’ve yet to have an impressive victory in the streak. I expect Paul to bounce back from a lackluster performance and the Clippers to silence the noise from the growing doubters.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: Fiction. If Blake were required to guard Gasol, I would say fact, but that’s not the case. Blake will probably see most of his minutes on Marreese Speights, who doesn’t exactly frighten me. Nor should Speights be an obstacle when Blake’s on offense. The bigger concern is whether Chris Paul plays as tentative as he did last night coming off a hamstring injury.
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Twitter: @charliewiddoes, @jovanbuha, @breenemurphy

Ed Note: I’ll spare you guys the Star Wars comparisons this time. You can hear me Jar Jar Binks the whole thing in the last segment of ClipperBlogLive. It was as awful as it sounds, but hopefully still entertaining. — D.J.

How you view this game largely depends on whether or not you’ve fully adapted to the new Clippers psyche. Let’s break this thing down with the two different viewpoints.

With Chris Paul back in the lineup, the Clippers lost 96-91.

Old Psyche: Sure, Chris Paul was back — but did he do anything? Paul was 2-for-8. He had 4 points. The majority of his assists came on the perimeter, not at the rim. The corpse of Derek Fisher outscored him, so you know he wasn’t himself. If he’s healthy, it’s a completely different story. Really, it’s promising the game was so tight without him playing well.

New Psyche: It doesn’t matter if Chris Paul wasn’t at full strength — he’s a better point guard than Fisher on one leg. It’s inexcusable that with all the talent on the perimeter, Andrew Goudelock put up more points than Paul and Billups combined. Why can’t the Clippers offense consistently create good looks? This is a coaching problem.

The Clippers shot 37-for-87 from the field (42.5 percent) for their 91 points.

OP: Hey, the Clippers are a jump-shooting team. Sometimes they just don’t fall. You know what’s great to take away from this game, though? The Clippers got up 21 more shots than the Lakers. They’re winning the possession battle just about every night because they’re rarely turning the ball over. If the backcourt doesn’t have an outlier of a night shooting the ball (11-for-41 between Paul, Billups, Williams and Foye), they probably win this game by 20.

NP: Relying on jumpers is not a sustainable way to win basketball games. What if they go cold for an entire week during the playoffs? Is that going to be the calling card for a Chris Paul/Blake Griffin led team? 19-foot jumpers? This is a coaching problem.

Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol combined for 42 points on 15-for-24 shooting.

OP: There’s no shame in this. Gasol is one of the most skilled big men in the game, and Andrew Bynum is a load in the paint. Not to worry — we’ve seen this song and dance before. Bryant will go into takeover mode when he doesn’t have to, and Bynum and Gasol will become non-factors. Tonight, they just played like elite talents who were finally properly utilized.

NP: Why have so many other teams figured out how to slow down Pau Gasol, but not the Clippers?  He was just coming off an 8-point game against Indiana! Why didn’t they double down off Fisher or Barnes and make those guys beat them? Why was human foul and rebound machine Reggie Evans left on an island to handle Gasol all by himself in the second quarter? It’s a concern that Griffin and Jordan are getting ran over by good frontcourts. This is a coaching problem.

The defensive lapses down the stretch came up again, as the Lakers came from behind and stole the win. 

OP: Defensively, the effort was there. Caron Butler made Bryant work and got a hand up on most of his shots. Of course, Bryant getting buckets was inevitable and it’s understandable that Bynum and Metta were going to get away with some things once the game became even more physical. History says that Chris Paul’s team will be better than Kobe Bryant’s team in the game’s final minutes 9 times out of 10. Look — the Lakers were just better tonight.

NP: Nope — that’s too many games in row where the Clippers have yielded open looks when their defense is supposed to be getting tighter. The need for a wing defender is still a glaring one. The crusty old Lakers found a way to get blocked shots and steals towards the end of the game — why couldn’t the Clippers? The defensive rotations are slow and often unpredictable, and the closeouts are half-hearted at best. This Clippers are 23rd in defensive efficiency and can’t cook up ways not to rely so heavily on Billups and Butler to be fresh and active defenders on the perimeter. This is a coaching problem.

It’s crazy to think that we’ve arrived to the point where no loss is acceptable and there are no moral victories, but here we are. Which side do you stand on? Are the Clippers in trouble or not? Is it no longer okay, given all the talent, that the Clippers get outplayed by a championship contender?

Yours in the comments section.

Here’s an excerpt from Kevin Arnovitz’s excellent piece over at ESPNLA.com:

Before he made Mozgov a verb and before the nightly media scrum around his locker swelled to a pyramidal mass, Blake Griffin was contemplating what it would mean to be another in a procession of draft busts. He was killing time at movie theaters on Los Angeles’ Westside between rehab sessions on his left knee, cursing the snarl of traffic in his new hometown and basically managing his misery.

Over the spring and summer of 2010, Griffin’s patellar tendon became stronger and he gradually regained the range of motion in his knee. He endured that trial — the lost season, the solitude of the recovery process and the anxiety of having zero control over whether that little piece of broken kneecap would render him nothing more than a footnote. And that autumn, Griffin descended from the basketball heavens like an avatar.

From there, Griffin’s legend grew. His dunks sent grown men into delirium. He leaped over a Korean sedan, a Russian center and our wildest expectations. Griffin was the unanimous choice for rookie of the year. When owners locked out the players, Griffin worked on his extracurricular game as an intern at Funny or Die and honed his persona as a snarky, but imminently marketable, NBA star.

Everyone took notice of the full package, including a diminutive point guard in New Orleans who was a talent as transcendent and unimpeachable as Griffin. For the downtrodden Los Angeles Clippers fans desperate for a hero incarnate — not just some abstract hope the team was heading in the right direction — Griffin was a savior. Best of all, he renounced the idea that their team was predestined for failure. And they believed him, not because of anything he said, but because they could see the manifestation of that promise every time he soared through the lane.

Griffin’s first season was one of pure affection, but the only thing we enjoy more than falling in love with a star is falling out of love with him. Last season, fans wallpapered the Internet with his highlights, but lately Griffin is being seen through a different lens. We still get breathless whenever he gets loose above the rim, but that anticipation brings with it the growing feeling that what was deemed basketball perfection less than a year ago has evolved into something else.

The qualities we use to distinguish a proud warrior from a prima donna are quite subtle. You can almost hear the spirit of John Wooden utter, “Be bold, but don’t preen.” We beg to be thrilled, but reject any direct salesmanship of those thrills (Unless they occur during a certain athletic showcase on a Saturday in February). We’re drawn to charisma, but arrogance repels us — that’s true of rabid dunkers, prom kings or presidential candidates. We’re not always good at delineating between those two poles, but we’re pretty sure that border is there, even if we can’t see it.

Read the conclusion to the piece by clicking here.

Sooner or later the Clippers were going to get burned. It’s not that they’ve been playing poorly as a team, it’s just that their way of winning games felt a little unsustainable. To use our most recent popular term here (move over, glue guy!), the Clippers offensive performances without Chris Paul have been a little bit of “fool’s gold.”

The Clippers are a jump-shooting team. That’s their identity right now. According to HoopData.com, the Clippers lead the league in shot attempts beyond 16-feet. It’s what this roster is built to do. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does put the team in an awkward position when the shots from the perimeter stop falling.

The shots didn’t stop falling tonight, at least not initially. Mo Williams remained virtually unstoppable for the second night in a row, going 7-for-7 from the field (again) in the first half. Williams tallied up 25 points on a series of tough jumpers and forays to the hole before Minnesota received some “help defense” in the form of an ejection at the 6:20 mark of the fourth quarter. With Williams tossed, the Clippers offense, and depth, would be tested even further. Already without Chris Paul, playmaking duties would be placed solely in the hands of Chauncey Billups.

Losing Williams ended up being the turning point in the game. His scoring was the steadying factor for the offense — something they could rely upon consistently. After Williams left, the Clippers offense turned to mush.

• In the last 6:20 of the fourth quarter, with the team nursing a four-point lead, the offense went 2-for-8 from the field and registered three turnovers.

• Billups and Griffin, somewhat predictably, were the only players to score in that timeframe.

In a vacuum, you can survive that kind of offensive output — so long as your defense steps up. As bad as the offense was without Williams, the fact remains that the Clippers were the ones with a lead. Get stops, and it doesn’t matter much what your offense does, so long as they get shots up (the Woody Allen offense) and don’t turn it over. The Clippers won with that formula against Miami. It’s the right formula. Something has to be consistent. Usually that will be Chris Paul — he’ll be the rock for this team. But without him, the Clippers desperately needed it to be their defense once Williams left the game.

Through three quarters, the defense was pretty decent. Ricky Rubio was held without a field goal, and Kevin Love had about 10 points. Darko Milicic (!) had 22 points on the night, which should never, ever happen, especially since DeAndre Jordan had been doing such a good job sitting on his opponent’s strong hand this season. Maybe Jordan didn’t know Darko was left-handed? Maybe he thought, for some asinine reason, that the double was coming from a certain way? Regardless, the Clippers were playing well enough defensively to win, even if they looked soft in the middle.

But then, all hell sort of broke loose in the game’s final minute.

1:00, 4th Q: With a four-point lead, Blake Griffin steps up to the line to shoot two. He’s had a good night at the line up to this point (7-for-9), so Milicic’s mauling of Griffin doesn’t look terribly smart. However, despite his good night, Griffin misses both of his freebies. The second miss is terribly short, and serves as a reminder that Griffin’s free-throw form is still broken. It’s everything a free-throw shouldn’t be. It’s not smooth. It’s not one motion. Griffin bends his knees initially, but then locks them way before he releases the ball. It’s all upper body, and once fatigue sets in, that will lead to short misses.

:51, 4th Q: Even with Griffin’s missed free-throws, it’s still a two-possession game. The Wolves enter the ball off the timeout to Kevin Love at the elbow extended, and run an off-ball double-screen on the opposite side for Luke Ridnour, who is sitting in the corner. Ryan Gomes recognizes the play quickly, and switches men with Chauncey Billups to thwart the Wolves shot at getting an open 3. So far, so good.

The Wolves enter their secondary action, as Rubio curls up to the wing to receive the hand-off from Love at the elbow. As Rubio looks to turn the corner, Love sets a nice big screen (he’s still one of the best in the game at this, despite the weight loss) and takes out a trailing Randy Foye. Although he correctly fights under the screen, Foye is off-balance at this point and overplays Rubio to his right hand. Rubio recognizes it and goes to one of his pet moves — the spin back to his left hand. As he slithers through the area created by the screen, Rubio gets to the rim, but is wisely fouled by DeAndre Jordan to prevent the easy two. Rubio hits one of two, and makes it a one possession game.

:49, 4th Q: The Clippers go to their bread-and-butter, as they should, on their ensuing offensive possession. They’re in a tough spot. They need to run clock, but getting a score and pushing the lead back to two possessions is even more important.

As Blake Griffin comes to set the high ball-screen for Billups at the top of the three-point line, Rubio avoids the screen altogether and chooses instead to trail Billups. Although Billups is a threat to draw a foul with a man on his hip, he temporarily aborts his drive to rub Rubio off Griffin, who has reset above the foul line. They catch Rubio on this one, and Kevin Love is forced to come over and completely leave Griffin to halt Chauncey’s penetration. Chauncey wheels and fires to Griffin at the top of the key, who is momentarily alone. Ryan Gomes’ man, Wayne Ellington, rotates out on to Griffin, but only jabs at him. Griffin swings the ball to Gomes, now wide open in the corner, and Gomes catches the ball with Ellington in a full blown closeout. Gomes puts the ball and the floor and fires up an open mid-range jumper from about 20-feet that misses and bounces long.

It’s a good shot off good basketball plays by both Billups and Griffin. You live with it, mainly because that’s the type of look you’ve been living with this entire season.

:27, 4th Q: The Wolves race the ball back up the floor, down 98-95. Ridnour runs a quick pick-and-roll on the left elbow with Love, and Billups gets completely wiped out by the screen. Jordan, perhaps weary of allowing Love to hit the 3 on the pop, ignores Ridnour and lets him drive unimpeded to the hole. Gomes, in the corner guarding Ellington, does the same.

Now it gets ugly. A two doesn’t hurt you here. There is less than 24 seconds on the clock, so Minnesota would still have to foul. You make your two free throws (Billups and Foye are both around 90 percent from the line) and you’re right back where you were before the layup — just with less time on the clock.

But for whatever reason, Griffin decides that now is the time he wants to contest a shot at the rim. As everyone else stays home, Griffin abandons Derrick Williams at the 3-point line. For Ridnour, the decision is easy. He kicks the ball to Griffin’s man, Williams, who has spotted up and is wide open. Randy Foye rotates from the corner on to Williams — the right thing to do at this point. By this time, Chauncey Billups theoretically should have had enough time to recover. But on the final rotation, the Clippers defense breaks down. Billups is seen jogging, and as Williams swings it to a wide-open Rubio in the corner, he doesn’t closeout or even get a hand up. You don’t need Mark Jackson to tell you what happened. Rubio nails the corner 3, his first make of the night, and now it’s a tie ballgame.

:20, 4th Q: The stage is set for another Chauncey Billups redemption. Tie game, 20 seconds left. The Clippers should at least get the last shot. They don’t. As Billups idles from about 35-feet away, Griffin comes to set the high screen at about the 8 second mark, but it’s a fake. The Clippers have just vacated the right side of the floor, save for Gomes, who is spotting up in the right corner. Billups doesn’t do anything fancy in isolation — he just puts his head down and goes right, hoping to use his body to separate from Rubio or draw the foul. Rubio, to his credit, plays it pretty well. He avoids the contact initially but challenges the ball up top with his long arms. The driving layup is a little too hard, and Kevin Love collects the defensive rebound easily and calls timeout.

The only problem with this play? Billups went too early. The refs put 1.5 seconds back on the clock — more than enough time for a catch and shoot.

:1.5 seconds, 4th Q: De ja vu all over again. Rick Adelman draws up a great sideline out-of-bounds play here, and the young Wolves run it to perfection. The play started with a staggered stack at the free-throw line. The back man in the stack, Derrick Williams, curled off the screens towards the inbounder, and Blake Griffin trailed him.

By design, the curl was (mostly) a decoy. As Williams curled, all eyes were on him. DeAndre Jordan actually turned his head for a split-second to see if he needed to drop back from the free throw line and protect the rim.

That was all the time and distraction Kevin Love needed. As Ricky Rubio and Wayne Ellington pinched together and pass blocked like two All-Pro linemen, Love slipped out of the stack and popped to the three-point line. Knowing that they’d never be called for it in a million years, Rubio and Ellington cling on to Jordan and the other Clippers as they desperately try to get out to Love, but it’s too late. Love has a clean release, and the shot falls through. Bingo. Minnesota wins.

As easy at it would be to blame Jordan for not popping out with Love, it’s not that simple. Defense is never a one-person job — just ask Tyson Chandler in New York. There were many breakdowns that led to this play. Everyone is at fault.

• Blake Griffin didn’t play close enough to Derrick Williams at the outset of the play. You could actually see every member of the coaching staff begging their players to get closer to their men before the whistle blows and the ball is inbounded. Williams being temporarily open on his curl sets everything up. If Griffin closes that gap initially, the distraction isn’t as effective.
• Chauncey Billups fails horribly at his job of defending the inbound passer. Instead of tracing the ball with his hands, he acts like the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. It’s a terrible defensive effort for the second possession in a row. Nevermind the turnovers or quick shots offensively — defense is where Billups hurt the Clippers the most in the fourth quarter.
• Randy Foye forgets the most basic principle of defense: Man and Ball. Foye never even looks at Ridnour the whole time he’s inbounding, so he literally has no idea what’s going on in the play. Even if Jordan yelled switch (not sure if he did), Foye would have no idea where to go because he was staring longingly into Ricky Rubio’s puppy dog eyes. I realize he just hit you for a 3, but don’t you think, in a stack out-of-bounds play, that there might be some screening going on? Shouldn’t you at least know where the ball is?
• Gomes is equally lost, and never even makes a move towards Love. There’s 1.5 seconds left. That’s enough for a shot — not a pass, and not a putback. Just a shot. Gomes gets caught dancing between going to the rim, boxing out, and closing out, and in effect, ends up doing nothing.

This was a crazy game in a crazy season. Darko Milicic scored 22 points tonight — crazy.  Is it the end of the world that the Clippers have had a few defensive breakdowns down the stretch in consecutive games? No. As it stands now, Chris Paul’s play is what defines this team. He is the identity. It’s hard to properly assess a coach, or a team, without him.

You can’t rest on your laurels, but remember, they beat the Heat and the Lakers. If Paul comes back healthy and collapses like this keep happening again and again? Then maybe it’s time to pull the fire alarm. But it’s not that time now.

Follow @fosterdj

The setting is modern day Los Angeles, inside a building begrudgingly shared by diametrically opposed basketball teams.

Exposition:

After playing three games in four nights, the Los Angeles Lakers are a bit weary. They are carried into the game by their aging yet rejuvenated superstar, Kobe Bryant, who has scored at least 40-points in three straight contests and has looked dominant doing it. Their opponent — the Los Angeles Clippers — are on a streak of their own after defeating the league’s best team in the Miami Heat. Even without sharpshooter Mo Williams, morale runs high leading up to the battle for Los Angeles.

Rising Action:

Our protagonists (Blake Griffin and Chris Paul) come out absolutely on fire. Griffin displays his versatility in the Clippers’ first two scoring possessions by striking from distance with a jumper and then by attacking the paint with a sweeping, jumping righty hook over Pau Gasol on the very next play. Griffin and Paul continue to alternate control for the quarter (they assist on or score every bucket except one), but not before Griffin makes a statement of sorts on the defensive end. As Lakers rookie point guard Darius Morris flies in for a dead-ball dunk after a foul on the perimeter by Paul, Griffin stands near the hoop waiting. He’s taken exception to teams shooting in dead-ball spots this year (he’s our Kevin Garnett, just face it already) and so when Morris soars in for the dunk, Griffin gives him a little shove in the ribs. Sort of like a “what are you doing, rook?” push, nothing malicious, but enough to make Lakers coach Mike Brown wig out and almost get tossed from the game.

With the intensity raised a notch, Chris Paul restores order in the quarter’s closing seconds by connecting with a running, fadeaway bank off the glass, plus the harm. Just as the Clippers have seized control, Morris rips it right back with a heave from behind half-court that falls in. 31-24, Clippers after one.

Comedic Relief:

Sensing the audience needed things lightened up a bit, the Lakers and Clippers let their benches take the floor. Although many others contend for the laughs, no one steals the show quite like Brian Cook. After hearing boos upon his arrival, Cook’s improbable rise to prominence comes in the form of a big ol’ swat on Pau Gasol’s fingeroll. Sadly, his fifteen minutes of fame wouldn’t last nearly that long, as one minute later he rocketed a 3-point attempt off the front iron. Perhaps sensing his time in the limelight was coming to a close, Cook went for the glory and drove baseline from the perimeter (yes, this happened), attempting an acrobatic, highly difficult reverse layup in the trees. Blake Griffin was at the scorer’s table before the ball made it’s descent back into this solar system, and just like that, Brian Cook’s brief, hilarious yet saddening performance was done.

Buildup:

As Chauncey Billups rained in shots (4-for-6 from deep), Reggie Evans hauled in offensive rebounds (6 offensive boards) and Caron Butler played lockdown defense (11 points on 3-for-12 shooting for Bryant in the first half), the Clippers lead grew to double-digits with a minute remaining before the half. And just like the first quarter, Griffin found himself yet again in the middle of the fray. After blowing an easy putback chance, Matt Barnes picked up a technical foul for complaining about a push from Griffin that wasn’t called. Chris Paul once again immediately seized control of the game following the technical by nailing a jumper to give the Clippers a 55-42 lead at the break. Only in the movies does a 6-foot-10 monster of a man pick the fights, then let a 6-foot-nothing, tiny little guy settle the score for him.

Conflict:

Red Panda (AKA Bowl Flipping Lady) was not the halftime act.

Of course, there would be no drama if the protagonists weren’t confronted by an antagonist. Awesome montages can only last so long. Matt Barnes, while incredibly annoying, was not threatening enough to fill the role. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are large and talented, but weren’t believable enough as villains. No — only one man would suffice.

You may be familiar with the work of Kobe Bryant. He routinely makes shots that are simply unfair — terrible looks that no player with a conscience should take. Ah, but that’s what makes Bryant so villainous — he has no conscience. He is ruthless, unbending, and at times, unstoppable.

As Bryant starts pouring in off-balance jumpers in the third quarter, the Clippers have no answer. Their stars (Griffin and Paul) can’t guard him. Caron Butler looks exhausted from chasing Bryant and can only do so much. The only answer is…

Randy Foye?

As Foye comes in to try and check Bryant, Kobe’s eyes get big and his jaw widens. The Blake Mamba has a mouse in the house, and it’s feeding time.

Butler checks out with 2:13 left in the period. Foye is left all alone with Kobe. So alone. So cold.

Kobe quickly rattles off 9 of his 21 third quarter points on Foye, and all of the sudden, the Clippers once seemingly insurmountable lead is down to four, 76-72.

Climax:

Kobe remains in the game — and so does Foye. Our protagonists (through no real fault of their own) look like they’re in an awful lot of trouble.

But then a funny thing happens. Reggie Evans chases down an offensive rebound (that’s not unusual) after a Randy Foye airball (that’s not unusual) and gives the ball to Paul with only a few seconds remaining on the shot clock. Most players probably don’t realize the situation, but this is Chris Paul. The Clippers have not had a single shot clock violation to this point in the season, and Paul doesn’t let them start now.

It’s a heave. Paul even does this funny leg kick, mainly because he’s chucking it from 34-feet. It’s just a prayer that Reggie Evans will run over three people and collect the miss off the rim or Blake Griffin will dive into the 17th row to save it and…

Splash.

It was a moment. Staples Center erupts, and the camera catches Paul turning to the opposite baseline, pointing and saying something. I have no idea what he’s actually saying, but I sat there wishing it’s like a kung-fu movie with terrible tracking and he’s saying, “I got this. Thanks for being patient. We’re not losing.”

Falling Action:

From that moment on, everything magically starts to click. Vinny Del Negro makes a great adjustment and has Foye front Bryant all the way around the court. When Bryant does receive the pass, the Clippers immediately double on the catch. Bryant, after all, is the adversary who still needs dispatching.

Tonight though, Bryant is not the hero — Paul is. When Paul gets switched up defensively and finds himself guarding Bryant in the corner on one possession, he puts his chest right into Kobe. He is going nowhere. He is all the same things Kobe is: relentlessly competitive and fearless. But what Bryant and Paul don’t share is the same tragic flaw. Instead of deferring or trusting anyone else to make a play, Bryant decides to do it himself by lowering his shoulder down and moving Paul out of his way. Offensive foul.

Right on cue, Paul delivers the dagger with a 3-pointer on the very next possession.

Of course, since Bryant is a vampire (blood transfusion in eastern Europe? Yeah, okay.) he needs a wooden stake drove through his heart, not a dagger. Bryant retaliates with another series of jumpers, but Paul and Griffin do the work on their end and finally put Bryant and the Lakers away for good.

Resolution:

Although he escapes as the winner, Paul doesn’t leave the battle with Bryant unscathed. He sits out the last few minutes with a pulled hamstring, but doesn’t leave the court until he knows the job is done.

Griffin, meanwhile, miraculously avoids another dust-up with the Lakers and finishes the night without feinting (45 minutes played). He proves yet again to be the perfect complement to Paul, carrying the Clippers offense with energy (22 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists) for the majority of the game, allowing Paul to do what he does best in end of quarter situations.

The Clippers win over the Lakers has plenty of significance, but it wouldn’t be Hollywood if this rivalry wasn’t “to be continued.” In fact, I bet they’ll make this a trilogy. And you know what? The Empire will probably Strike Back. Maybe Kobe will recruit a new adversary and the Clippers will have to scour the galaxy for more Reggie Evans ewoks.

Regardless of all that though, the Clippers (and their fans) deserve to celebrate. They struck a decisive blow tonight. No — the Clippers will never have the rings and money and banners and everything else the Lakers have, but what the Clippers do have is a new hope.

There are a bunch of different things to talk about from tonight’s game, a hundred different moments worth reliving, and plenty of stats worth poring over. But the one thing I keep coming back to is an immeasurable, a subjective thing, something you can’t really pin down.It’s frustrating — I want to talk about the brilliance of Chris Paul, the dominating defense down the stretch, or even Caron Butler’s second half offensive explosion. But I can’t, because all I can think about is toughness.

Mental, physical, emotional — each and every kind of toughness. It was the unifying bond for the Clippers against the Heat, the one thing each player contributed in their own unique way. Maybe I’m conditioned from years of watching a revolving door of players get their empty-stats in the coldest of ways, but the Clippers, to a man, looked as tough as I can ever remember them.

Chris Paul displayed the very macho type of toughness. The confidence, the bravado, the belief that he was better than whoever it was lined up across from him. Paul’s toughness is giving up 8-inches, 60-pounds, a speed and legnth advantage, and simply not giving damn about it. It’s the move at the end of regulation against LeBron, the bringing the fight to Wade with full-court pressure, the drawing out of defenders on mismatches and dispatching them effortlessly. In Paul’s mind, he’s tougher than you because no one is tougher than him.

Chauncey Billups draws his toughness from experience. You know how you can’t beat your dad in arm-wrestling, even though he’s pushing 50? (No? Just me?) That’s Chauncey. It’s the confidence that he’s been there more times than you, that he has more reps, that he’s forgotten more tricks than you’ll ever know. You could tell something didn’t sit right when Wade tried to beat up on Billups in the post. When you get older, you’re forced to sacrifice things. For Billups, he was just making sure that he held on tight to the one of the few things he haa left.

Caron Butler gets his from stubbornness. Rain or shine, Butler will shoot. Against the best player on the planet or a defensive sieve, Butler will shoot. Whether he scored 20 points in the first half or 2 like he did against Miami, Butler will shoot. Even as everything else changes around him, Butler remains the constant. There’s a toughness in knowing exactly who you are, and never doubting it for a second.

Blake Griffin becomes more and more unrecognizable as he drifts further and further away from the basket. It’s cringe-worthy to watch him complain to referees and even more infuriating when he lets opposing players have free shots at the rim. Balancing it all — the skill and the finesse with the rugged build — is understandably a tricky process. But you know what? This was Blake’s most promising game from a growth standpoint, simply because he didn’t back down. He went after loose balls, he carved out space in the paint, he contested shots. He got dirty (and bloody) again. Blake’s game against Miami had something that was lacking in previous contests — heart.

“To those we wish to fail, thrust upon them great expectations.”

DeAndre Jordan is constantly saddled with the burden of potential. He’s already weathered a lot as a young man — unreasonable expectations, a “bust” label, yo-yo type minutes, and now the dollar amount attached to his worth. But there’s a certain relentlessness Jordan has developed to counter it all. When Miami attacked him, DeAndre stood tall until the very end when his team needed him the most.

The Clippers nearly died a thousand deaths last night at the end of regulation. There was the offensive rebound off the missed free throw and the save out of bounds, the booted turnover that wasn’t, and a bunch of other plays that very well would have killed a lesser team. But against the league’s best team on the big stage, the Clippers proved they’re tough enough to withstand just about anything.

Typically I’m very curmudgeonly with my postgame grades, but after witnessing one of the best first quarters the Clippers have ever played (settle down, Mike Smith), I was tossing around A’s like nobody’s business in the Lob City Ledger over at ESPNLA.com.

The rest of the ClipperBlog crew was pretty bullish on the Clippers’ performance as well. Kevin Arnovitz, Breene Murphy and Mark Shore broke down the beatdown, talked about the future a bit, and discussed the sillyness of Chandler Parsons barking at Blake in our usual postgame edition of ClipperBlogLive. Remember: We take calls (just Skype the username “ClipperBlogScreening”) and questions (hit up @ClipperBlogLive on Twitter or email ClipperBlogLive@gmail.com) during the show right after every single game, so feel free to jump in. Unless you’re a family member of Brian Cook. Then things could get awkward.

On the other side of the fence: The excellent Rahat Huq at TrueHoop Blog Red94.net dished out his grades and will probably be asking the Rockets frontcourt to see him after class.

Quote of the night: “I think they could be even more ambitious. They should shoot for number one.” — Kevin Arnovitz on the Clippers offensive efficiency ranking.

On deck: Nick Flynt and I will give you video evidence of the difference an aggressive Chris Paul makes.

The Clippers are the flavor of the month. They have one of best starting line-ups in basketball, arguably the best point guard and power forward in the NBA, and appear to be serious contenders out West. There’s a unique buzz about the team, with famous rappers even making songs about the “Lob City Clips.”

For all intents and purposes the team is 3-0, defeating the Lakers twice and the Warriors once (who did not look that good against L.A., but went off the next night and crushed the Bulls). But before people go anointing them the Pacific division crown, or possibly the eventual winners of the West, they need to realize there’s going to be a learning curve with this team. They’re probably going to struggle out of the gate a bit and lose some games they shouldn’t. Winning takes time. It’s a process.

This Clippers squad has been practicing together for less than two weeks. Under normal circumstances (say, an 82-game season starting in early November), the Paul and Billups transactions would’ve likely been made before training camp (or at the very beginning of it), and the team would’ve had around a month to gel before playing a regular season game. Instead, the Clippers had just 11 days before they faced the Warriors, cutting their practice time into one-third of the norm. This is not to say lower your expectations (I still expect them to have home-court and have a good shot at winning the West) — it’s to say don’t jump ship if they have early struggles.

Feeling the heat

The general fan will say but they have Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, isn’t that good enough to compete right away? Well yes, almost any team centered around those two players will have a good chance to win every basketball game. But the Clippers aren’t just about competing anymore … they’re about winning. Talent doesn’t always win games — just look at last year’s Miami Heat.

In fact, look a little closer and you’ll see an usual parallel between this year’s Clipper team and last year’s Heat team. Both teams have two top-10 players (depending on where you put Griffin, it may be top-15). While the Clippers don’t have another player as talented Chris Bosh, the duo of Billups and Butler more than compensates as the third leg of the tripod. Both teams have offensively-challenged centers that control the paint and block a lot of shots (although D.J. is much, much better than Anthony).

Neither has a loaded bench. There were glaring holes for the Heat (center and point guard positions, back-up wings) as there are for the Clippers (no back-up center or true shooting guard). They both have players with similar skill-sets (James-Wade and Paul-Billups-Williams) trying to log heavy minutes while figuring out a way to coexist with each other, maximize their own talents and minimize the negative impact they have on their teammate’s success.

Heck, both teams are facing intense media scrutiny. On the one hand, the Heat received negative attention while Lob City has become America’s darling (unless you support the Lakers). On the other hand, the expectations are still there. If the Clippers don’t advance far in the playoffs, their season will be labeled as a failure. Handling the pubic pressure is a daunting task to say the least, which is what made Miami’s initial struggles that much worse.

The Heat started off 5-4 and ended up dropping as low as 9-8, before adjusting to their opponents, tinkering with their game-plan and finalizing their rotation. The Clippers may experience similar growing pains in the beginning of their season. Their opening schedule doesn’t help their situation. However, like the Heat, they’ll have an opportunity to overcome their deficiencies and quickly become one of the league’s best teams.

The schedule

Every team is at a disadvantage because of the 66-game, compact schedule, but no team’s success may be more difficult to predict than the Clippers. Will limited practice time and a practically brand new rotation of players (with different roles than they’re accustomed to) negatively effect them? Will Paul and Billups’ maturity, experience and high basketball IQ benefit the Clippers against inferior (but possibly younger or more athletic) teams? How will Griffin and Mo Williams adjust to decreased roles offensively because of the newcomers? At this moment, the future cannot be more up-in-the-air for this team.

Their success will mainly depend on their health. The Clippers haven’t been the healthiest franchise over the years, and Griffin, Paul and Butler all have histories of major injuries. If there’s any season that they can’t afford to have the injury bug, it’s this one. Depth is their second key, and thus far, it appears the Clippers may be struggling in that aspect.

Williams seems to be disinterested with his new role as sixth man. Ryan Gomes and Randy Foye are better suited in limited 10-15 minute per game roles, but may have to log heavier minutes on back-to-backs, back-to-back-to-backs or long road trips. Brian Cook tries his hardest defensively, but is a major liability. We’ve yet to see Reggie Evans, and while he’s one of the best rebounders in the league, he’s around 6-foot-7 and can’t protect the rim (a dire need for the bench unit).

The Clips’ depth issues may come back to haunt them later on in the regular season when their legs aren’t as spry. They should be fine in the playoffs — when the starters will all be playing around 35+ minutes per game — but the key to the regular season, of course, is getting home-court advantage and proper seeding.

Verdict

Seven of the Clippers’ next nine games (putting them at 10 games total) are going to be extremely difficult, and will serve as a barometer of how ready the team is as currently constructed. They play in San Antonio tonight, travel home for a four-game home-stand starting Dec. 30th (Chicago, Portland, Houston and Milwaukee), travel to Portland on Jan. 10th, and then come home on the 11th to face the Heat and Lakers. The easiest two games are against the Bucks and Rockets, but even those two teams will be fringe playoff contenders that are capable of stealing a game on the road. The Clippers will likely win both games, but there’s no free handouts (Nets, Bobcats) for them during this stretch.

Don’t be shocked if the Clippers start off slow, going 4-6 or 5-5 to start things off (I’d lean towards 6-4). If that happens, though, it shouldn’t change the overall look of the Clippers’ season. This isn’t their toughest patch of schedule because of their opponents (although it’s up there) — it’s their toughest because of the circumstances. It’s difficult to just throw a team together and expect immediate success. This team has undeniable potential, it just might take one-third of the season (or longer) for them to fully reach it.

So sit back, crack a bottle and enjoy the ride. It may be bumpy, and there may be some twists and turns, but all good things take time. Just remember that it’s not how the Clippers start this season, it’s how they finish.

Twitter: @JovanBuha