Hours before the Clippers knocked off the Lakers on Wednesday, I asked Mike Dunleavy how a coach can tell the difference between real, permanent growth and the fleeting illusion of improvement.

“You ask yourself, ‘Is the team able to do what it wants to do?’”

Wednesday night, the Clippers got most of what they wanted offensively courtesy of Baron Davis, who is playing his most prolific stretch of basketball since he arrived in Los Angeles.

What accounts for that uptick? It’s probably a combination of factors.

Stops Matter & Transition
The Clippers, above all else, want stops.

With Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman on the back line, Rasual Butler and Eric Gordon on the wings and a motivated Baron Davis providing pressure on the ball, they have enough size, strength, shot-blocking and guile to be a good defensive unit. When that defense clicks, the Clippers notch big wins — Denver, Boston, Lakers, at Oklahoma City.

The to-run-or-not-to-run discussion surrounding the Clippers always struck me as a theoretical debate. While there are teams who are gifted at pushing the ball after made baskets (Houston/Aaron Brooks, Phoenix /Steve Nash, etc), transition opportunities come off defensive stands and rebounds. After residing in the bottom five of the league in defensive rebounding rate for a good part of the season, the Clippers have been doing much better work on the defensive glass. Last night, they created 21 transition opportunities for themselves, and generated points on 14 of those 21 chances.

The Clippers’ defensive schemes looked not unlike what they unleashed on Portland and Brandon Roy on Monday night. The Clippers’ traps were smart, strategic, and generally came from the place on the floor least likely to produce a high-percentage shot.

“We were trying to go quick at [Kobe Bryant],” Dunleavy said. “He’s so great. He knows the double-teams are coming, so he just makes his move faster. We were trying not to come off Bynum, because Kobe does a great job of finding him. We were willing to give outside shots to other guys. We want to get our rotations out there and wanted to contest shots, but if it comes down to Kobe in the post or somebody else taking a shot from the outside, we’ll take the other guy.”

Watch the latter half of the fourth quarter and you can see the level of alertness in the Clippers’ defense behind the Bryant traps. The Clippers defenders are communicating, pointing to one another, shifting their weight with purpose, but rarely cheating absently.

When you pair that defensive commitment with guys running hard toward the rim on the outlet, you get possessions like that nice break at [4th, 4:59] where Craig Smith gets to the basket underneath the Lakers’ slow transition defense. Rasual Butler feeds him from the perimeter for an easy layup, and the Clippers extend their lead to six — a margin that never narrows.

The Pick-and-Roll
Baron Davis, Chris Kaman and Mike Dunleavy each made independent comments lauding the chemistry — all three used that phrase — between Baron and Chris on the pick-and-roll. Remember how fluid Sam Cassell and Elton Brand were with that side screen-roll?  How Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins operate the Boston S/R to perfection? How Nash makes every big he’s ever worked with a master?

It seems like the most basic action you can run. It’s not a skill like shooting the ball and it doesn’t require too much body control — just patience and precision.

But in some respects those qualities are harder to perfect than a shooting stroke. Over the past week or so, Baron and Chris seemed to have established the symbiosis a point guard and his big man needs to make plays in the halfcourt.

“If [the Lakers] wanted to play soft, Baron made shots over the top,” Dunleavy said. “And if they stepped up, he hit [Chris] Kaman on the roll or swung the ball and found open guys.”

Baron and Chris picked apart the Lakers on those pick-and-rolls — from every spot on the floor and, as Dunleavy elaborated, with flawless reactions. On the second possession of the third quarter, they run it on the side. The Lakers anticipate it quickly and blitz Baron against the sideline. So how does our dynamic duo counter? By having Kaman slip toward the hole. Baron bounces the pass between Bryant and Bynum to Kaman on the move, and Chris finishes against the Lakers’ collapsing weak side defenders with an off-balance fling at the basket while falling to the floor. He draws the foul and the Clips go up 12.

The permutations of this pick-and-roll are numerous. Sometimes Baron and Chris take advantage of a slow recovery as Chris rolls, and sometimes Chris realizes he has the space he needs for his jumper (which doesn’t fall at a proficient rate Wednesday night, though these are shots you want him taking).  And sometimes Baron creates the space to launch a 17-footer over a much shorter Derek Fisher. Notice 17… not 21 and, therefore, a much higher-percentage shot.

Getting the Wings Going
Eric Gordon didn’t light it up, but he and his counterpart on the wing, Rasual Butler, provided the spacing that Baron and Chris needed to execute many of those sets. Gordon played a particularly intelligent game. Check out the possession at [2nd, 9:07]. When Shannon Brown crowds him on the left side of the perimeter, Gordon collects the pass from Telfair and drives hard to his right. Odom, who’s on Craig Smith (strategically placed high to give Eric an open lane to the hoop), doesn’t have time to get in Eric’s path. Eric seals himself off from Odom, elevates strongly and converts the layup.

Butler had one of his more complete games of the season: A couple of well-timed 3s, though his overall shot percentage was nothing dazzling. What I liked about his overall performance was that he played in that Tayshaun Prince mold — gathering rebounds, making sharp entry passes for assists, and playing both strong man defense and using his length to cordon off the Lakers’ weak side options.

Nobody will ever have cause to complain on the nights Butler is an accurate sniper from the arc, but really productive small forwards don’t just 3-and-D. They facilitate the offense as alternate perimeter playmakers. Butler did that Wednesday night.

Maximizing Your Assets
Craig Smith will be more useful some night than others. Against the Lakers’ bigs, he’s a handful. That’s especially true when the Clippers are in an up-tempo mode. Smith runs the floor extremely well and beelines to the rim in transition as well as anyone in the league — which explains his 59.2 field goal percentage. Once Smith has position in the post, that thick body of his has an uncanny way of getting to the rack. I have no idea how he does it apart from being very good at preserving his direct route to the rim by sealing off his defender. Everyone loves easy baskets, but you need the personnel to get them.

Then there’s Marcus Camby. The 13 rebounds come as no surprise, and I suppose the five dimes in 28 minutes don’t either. Having a big man who can makes plays in a high-low scheme from the elbow is indispensable. On a night when Baron is the best playmaker in basketball, Butler is creating opportunities and Camby is making pinpoint interior passes and zippy feeds from the perimeter, the Clippers’ ball movement is like a pinball game.

That’s how you beat one of the top defenses in the league.

The devastating combination of length, agility, and passing ability among the Lakers’ bigs makes it difficult to be too frustrated by their dominance over the Clippers up front.   The Lakers score 70 points in the paint tonight, the majority of which belong to Andrew Bynum, who finishes with 42.  It’s not as if Bynum pushes his Clipper defenders around on the block.  Instead, he works himself easy shots through motion, mismatches, second chances, and active work around the rim.

Bynum gets his first bucket of the night exploiting a mismatch down low against Thornton courtesy of a high S/R with Luke Walton; the second basket comes on a putback; the third on a pass from Kobe Bryant out of a triple-team when DeAndre Jordan leaves Bynum to help; the fourth on a back door cut from the left wing. The fifth when Pau Gasol hits the diving Bynum between two defenders [Brian Skinner leaves Bynum to help] ; the sixth on another back door cut.

The Clippers leave Bynum unattended far too frequently — and should be faulted for doing so.  But the spaces on the floor change so fluidly in the Lakers’ offense — to say nothing of the ball movement — that it’s unreasonable to believe the likes of Skinner, Jordan, and Thornton can execute a defensive scheme that could contain Bynum. If it weren’t Bynum, it would’ve been Gasol.

On the other end, DeAndre Jordan has a breakout game: 23 points, 12 rebounds [six offensive], four blocks, and only one turnover on 89% TS.  Jordan is on the receiving end of a bunch of alley-oops.  He also collects a fair amount of garbage.  But he shows some skills:

• [2nd, 6:34]  Freddie Jones and Jordan execute a pretty drag screen.  Jones dribbles left, and Bynum tracks him.  But this leaves a clear path for Jordan to dive to the hoop.  Jones deftly threads the needle to Jordan at about 10 feet.  Jordan is in high gear as he catches the ball, but is met by two Laker defenders [Lamar Odom & Trevor Ariza].  What does Jordan do?  Dance his way between both defenders with a pretty stutter step, then lays it up and in.

Jordan displays a freakish level of athleticism, soft hands, a good handle, and a nose for the ball.  Can you imagine if he cultivates a face-up game from 12 feet?

Steve Novak continues his torrid January.  This month, he’s now 21-40 from beyond the arc after tonight’s 4-5 3PA performance.  Unfortunately, his liabilities are apparent tonight.  Despite his 14 points in 24 minutes, Novak finishes a -11.  He simply can’t match up defensively against the Lakers’ long 4s — specifically, Lamar Odom.

Kobe Bryant was in a deferential mood all night, but Eric Gordon doesn’t get off easy, but does solid work defensively.  Two sets to examine in the second half:

• [3rd, 2:42] On the left wing, Bynum comes high to set a screen for Bryant that doesn’t bother Gordon much.  EJ manages to stay close to Bryant along the left sideline, walling off the lane.  At the baseline, Bryant turns the corner, but he’s far underneath the basket.  For 99% of the league, this would be an impossible angle.  But Kobe switches hands and flings a carnival reverse layup off the window.  What to do?
• [4th, 2:20] Same set.  Bynum’s screen is marginally more effective this time.  Again, Bryant dribbles along the sideline, with Eric managing to stay in front of him.  Rather than turn the corner at the baseline, Bryant backs Gordon in at the low post, then launches a quick turnaround jumper over EJ.  It’s no good.

Bryant finishes 5-15 from the field, with three pairs of FTAs. Tonight he’s a facilitator, not a scorer [12 assists, one shy of his season high], and it serves his bigs well.

Ultimately, the Clippers lose the game on the glass.  There are 35 rebounding opportunities beneath their basket.  The Clippers grab 18 of them…but the Lakers take 17.  That’s a 54% defensive rebound rate.  Anything in the low 70% range is pretty awful.  Below 70% demonstrates a Golden State-level of rebounding incompetence.

There’s something a little unseemly about rationalizing the team’s sorry state, but it’s indisputable that if the Clippers’ principal frontcourt were healthy, DeAndre Jordan might be playing down in Anaheim.  Instead, we’re seeing a raw talent gradually refine his skills against the league’s best players, and the upward trajectory of his confidence offers real promise.

Anyone with a rooting interest in the Clippers would do much better to ignore wins and losses and segment the remainder of the season into a series of smaller goals. The Clippers are unlikely to win many basketball games between now and some point in the future when a combination of Baron Davis, Zach Randolph, Marcus Camby, and Chris Kaman returns.  Whether you arrive at this conclusion with the requisite blame for whoever is at fault, or whether you’re just a Clipper fatalist, it’s important to get to that mental place as soon as possible.

The Clippers face the Lakers and the regenerative ring finger on Wednesday night.  It’s entirely possible there won’t be more than 20 minutes of meaningful basketball, but that doesn’t mean the Clippers shouldn’t go into the game with a few items on their to-do lists:

• Eric Gordon:  EJ’s Tour of Perimeter Killers continues against the league’s best scoring guard. Kobe Bryant has some height on Gordon, and will seek to exploit that advantage with his turnaround jumper.   Gordon faces the same problem every smaller guard must contend with against Bryant.  If EJ crowds him, Bryant will explode past Gordon en route to the rim.  However much that dislocated finger is killing Bryant, he’s playing through the pain.
• Al Thornton: Thaddeus Young and Al Thornton both shoot about 36% on two-point jump shots.  Here’s the difference: 54% of Thornton’s shots are of the two-point jumper variety, but Young makes the low-percentage shot only 35% of his overall selection.  Instead, Young opts for more attempts inside, where both he and Thornton shoot greater than 60%.  Thornton must resist the temptation to settle for stuff outside.  He’ll start the game against Vladimir Radmanovic, a defender he should be able to take off the dribble.  Al will still have to confront the Lakers’ stellar help defense, but penetration gives him a fighting chance.  Firing jumpers over the Lakers’ lanky defenders doesn’t.
• DeAndre Jordan: The Clippers’ rookie center did an effective job staying out of foul trouble on Monday while defending the post adequately against Al Jefferson.  The Lakers’ Andrew Bynum is a more athletic cover.  In addition, the Lakers’ bigs move around the halfcourt a lot more than Minnesota’s, which means Jordan’s most challenging task won’t necessarily be bodying up, but staying alert.
• Rebounding:  There’s one unintended benefit to the absence of Marcus Camby — it forces the Clippers’ wings to do some work on the glass.  They did so admirably against Minnesota, a decent rebounding squad.  The Lakers are the league’s 5th best team on the glass.   The Clippers likely won’t outrebound the Lakers overall, but they should aim to do so at two positions.

UPDATE: Upon further consideration, it’s likely Gordon will draw Fisher, with Mardy Collins, at 6′ 6″, the natural size matchup for Bryant.  For Gordon’s sake, a stint on Bryant would be instructive.