(Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
The good news: Blake Griffin is back!
The bad news: The defense didn’t make the trip to South Philly.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers missed this game due to an illness, leaving assistant Mike Woodson to man the sidelines for LA. The 76ers had lost 9 games in a row to the Clippers, with 5 of those games decided by at least 19 points. LA had a 19-point 2nd-half lead in this game, but Philadelphia came all the way back for a double-digit victory despite missing 2016 1st round pick Ben Simmons, 2015 1st round pick Jahlil Okafor, and 2014 1st round pick Joel Embiid. The Clippers have now lost to each of the three teams that lost at least 60 games last season, having lost earlier in the season to Los Angeles and Brooklyn. It’s the first time since 2013-2014 that the Clippers lost a game to each of the worst three teams from the previous season.
Top Performer: Starting Philadelphia PG T.J. McConnell had a game-high 10 assists with only 1 turnover, but the team was at its best when McConnell’s backup Sergio Rodriguez was in the game. Rodriguez finished with 7 assists and only 1 turnover in only 20:27 off the bench. Rodriguez also finished the game with a game-high +22, while Philadelphia’s offensive rating when Rodriguez was on the floor was a team-high 135.6.
X-Factor: Trust the Process. In this game sans Embiid, the 76ers trusted each other at an extremely high level, passing for a season-high 35 assists on 45 made baskets. All 10 76ers that appeared in this game had multiple assists except for backup C Richaun Holmes, and all of Holmes’ 8 FGs were assisted. Philadelphia also had only 6 turnovers, which was the only time this season that the 76ers had fewer than 10 turnovers in a game.
Major Moment: The Clippers took their largest lead of the game after PG Austin Rivers made a layup to put LA up 78-59 with 9:51 left in the 3rd quarter. Philadelphia was at home with two days off, while the Clippers played the night before in Atlanta, and that logistical advantage was exploited in an incredible 54-22 run by the 76ers from about 9:51 left in the 3rd until about 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Philadelphia C Nerlens Noel made all 5 of his FGAs during this stretch for 10 points. The Clippers as a team made only 5-of-21 FGs (23.8 percent) during Philadelphia’s game-flipping run. Philadelphia took it right to the Clippers, outscoring them 36-2 in the paint during this run. 36 … to … 2 … !!!
Oh, and DeAndre Jordan airmailed multiple free throws:
nooooooooo DeAndre Jordan with ANOTHER airball free throw…. pic.twitter.com/sxHLg73N5Z
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) January 25, 2017
Key Lineups: We asked you all what lineup the Clippers should start with now that Griffin was back. Seems like Point Blake was quite popular:
The Clippers are back in action tonight in Philadelphia, and Blake Griffin is expected to return after 5 weeks away. Who should start where?
— ClipperBlog (@clipperblog) January 24, 2017
Well, Griffin and Rivers started together along with J.J. Redick, Luc Mbah a Moute, and Jordan. Griffin matched the 76ers team with 6 turnovers, but the worst lineup that the Clippers put on the floor had Jamal Crawford in with the starters in place of Jordan. It was a defensive disaster, as the 76ers made 4-of-5 from the field in 4 minutes, outscoring LA 9-6. The Crawford/starters lineup had a net rating of -71.5 and a defensive rating of 150.0, the worst of 5 Clippers lineups that saw at least 4 minutes Tuesday night.
The 76ers were consistently scoring on LA with a lineup of starters McConnell and SF Robert Covington along with reserve SG Gerald Henderson, PF Dario Saric, and Holmes. That unit made 7-of-11 FGs (63.6 percent) while compiling a net rating of 34.7, the best of Philadelphia’s 3 lineups that played more than 4 minutes.
The Definition: Besides the fact that Griffin returned tonight, the Clippers wasted Crawford’s season-high 27-point effort, along with Redick (22 points) and Rivers (20 points) going over 20 as well. Those three combined to make 15 of the team’s 18 threes, marking the 2nd time in franchise history that the team lost a game in which it made 18 threes (LA also lost a November 2012 game vs the Hornets after making 18 threes). The defense was nonexistent in Philadelphia, and Woodson lamented his inability to fix it.
“I don’t think we were a defensive presence at all and it carried into the third quarter and then all hell broke loose,” Woodson said. “We couldn’t get stops and the ball stopped moving and they got hot and started feeling good about themselves.”
Austin Rivers ranted after the game about the 76ers being able to come back despite not having the strongest roster available:
“We were up 19, man, we were supposed to squash them,” Rivers said after the game. “They kept fighting and doing what they were supposed to do. Everybody knows that’s their M.O. They don’t have the talent that we have and that other teams have. They bank everything on playing hard. They outwork teams and that’s what they do. They’ve got a lot of guys that go out there and play as hard as possible. Credit to them, it’s working for them. I’m not saying they don’t have talent obviously, they are all NBA players. I don’t know what it was, we were up 19. Maybe we just thought we were going to cruise. They kept fighting and again I give all the credit to them. We did everything possibly wrong that you could possibly do in that second half.”
In a weird scheduling quirk, the Clippers will have only one game the rest of the month of January. It will be at Golden State after three days off. In the meantime, the Clippers have now lost games to 8 of the 15 teams under .500 at this point of the NBA season.
Blake looked like he did 5 weeks ago. He wasn’t bouncy. He was +3 though.
They ran Blake + DJ pick and roll about 4 or 5 times in the 1st half. They got good results every time. They stopped doing it in the 2nd half.
Austin had another 20 point game. I guess the Clippers won the Austin Rivers for Reggie Bullock trade. Nepotism, right?
People seemed excited that Blake had a putback dunk.
These are highlights from Blake’s last game. He had a couple dunks in that game too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btnWHxM61yQ
Yep, I’ll admin I’m wrong about that trade. A. Rivers is playing great, but he’s not the player the Clippers need to get them to the finals. I’ll even say he’s a good 7-8th man now.
Who the f**k said he was the player to get them to the Finals?
Austin helps them on the court and he could help them as a trade asset. He’s worth his contract. Arron Afflalo is 31 and making $12.5M this year.
Austin grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant. To think Austin’s a PG is nonsense.
There’s a TrueHoop article on ESPN about the Clippers injuries. Doc’s quoted extensively.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about people living in their own bubble. Doc talks like a man living inside a bubble.
The Clippers are making changes. But those changes are on the margins. Those changes aren’t the changes that need to be made.
Uh oh, the Knicks are starting to put feelers out there for a Melo trade.
They called Cleveland about Love but were obviously turned down. The Knicks leaked this to the press to show Melo’s trade value isn’t what it used to be.
This feels like step 1 in the process of trading Melo and getting Knicks fans to deal with getting lowballed.
The Knicks would do well for themselves getting a 24 year old averaging almost 20 points per game in January while shooting over 40% from 3.
I just looked at the schedule for the next month. There are 12 games. I’m including this Saturday’s game in that even though it’s not in February because it is in the next 30 days.
It’s a tough schedule. 8 of the 12 are on the road, 3 games are against Golden State, 1 at home is against San Antonio.
It’ll be interesting to see where they’re sitting when March gets here.
The 8 spot is wide open. Five teams have a reasonable shot at it.
In general, the West playoff picture is interesting this year.
Melo is a questionable fit on offense. Melo is a disaster on defense.
And the Clippers would have to give up either Austin or J.J. to get him.
But Melo is a Hall of Famer and would be replacing the minutes of Crawford and Mbah a Moute.
Teams near the end of their Championship window tend to trade for big names on the downside of their careers. The sad thing for the Clippers is their Championship window never opened.
With all the Melo, Love, and Griffin rumors out there I’m surprised nobody put this scenario together:
Griffin to the Knicks
Melo, Felton, and Bass to the Cavs
Love, Felder, and draft picks to the Clippers
LeBron and Melo get to play together. The Cavs would have to dump Channing Frye or waive him. Wade would join the Cavs this year or next.
The Knicks get a Superstar to pair with Porzingis. Blake would almost certainly re-sign with the Knicks.
The Clippers get a stretch 4 who can rebound. And Love is on a long term contract. Let’s not pretend that Blake is that much better of a defender than Love.
This trade is rearranging deck chairs. But all 3 teams are desperate for some kind of change. None of them are beating the Warriors right now.
The Knicks would have to trade or waive Derrick Rose before the trade.
Rose and Griffin aren’t allowed to play on the same team because of contract designations.
I don’t think the Knicks would have a problem doing that. They want to tank the rest of this year and get a lottery pick.
For the dummies that comment on this site, no, I’m not calling for this trade to happen. And I’m not saying this trade is the missing piece.
I’m just putting trade scenarios together. This is trade season in the NBA.
I’d trade Raymond Felton for Kay Felder right this second. I thought the Clippers should have drafted Felder instead of Michineau.
LeBron mentioned Felton by name the other day. And there’s no way Felton’s coming back to the Clippers next year. He’s gonna get a raise.
The Clippers stupidly lost Collison for nothing. They shouldn’t lose Felton for nothing.
The Clippers keep failing to make moves that build assets and add young players to the roster. And those failures lead to the oldest team in the NBA losing in the 1st or 2nd round every year.
Raymond Felton isn’t helping you win 16 playoff games just like Darren Collison wasn’t helping you win 16 playoff games.
The Clippers have issues far bigger than backup PG.
So, why not trade Felton for an asset or a young player? The same goes for Mo Speights and Brandon Bass. The 1 year rent-a-player strategy isn’t working.
https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/824703933444616192
https://twitter.com/FisolaNYDN/status/824697192837513216
I guess Dan Woike is lying about Austin, right? I guess Frank Isola is lying about a possible Melo trade not including any of the big 3, right?
I thought only the Clippers wanted to sign Austin in Free Agency? I thought there was no way the Knicks would get lowballed by the Clippers?
That’s what the clowns on ClipperBlog told me. And they’re the biggest NBA experts around.
Unless LeBron gives the Cavs an ultimatum the Cavs aren’t trading for Melo.
The Celtics aren’t dumb enough to trade good assets for this version of Melo.
The Clippers make the most sense for Melo simply because it’s a deal Doc and Phil would do.
You’re telling me Doc Rivers wouldn’t trade for a player with a big name and a penchant for chucking jumpers?
Doc would immediately start talking about Melo needing to lose 20 pounds if he wants to play SF and get over 30 mpg.
Melo would lose the weight but still wouldn’t be quick enough to defend most SF’s.
The Clippers would become a top 3 offense and a middle of the pack defense.
Derrick Rose, a 28 year old former MVP and hometown hero, was for Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant and a 2nd Round pick.
And some people are dumb enough to say the Clippers don’t have enough to trade for Melo?
Are you f**king kidding me?
It’s cute that Knicks fans think Melo would accept a trade to Boston.
Melo has a house and his best friend in the NBA in LA.
Melo has a legit shot at a ring and a good friend in Cleveland.
Melo has what in Boston? Does he want to fight with Isaiah Thomas for the ball?
I guess Rajon Rondo wants to get waived.
The Clippers trade for Melo. The Clippers trade for P.J. Tucker. The Clippers sign Rondo once he gets cut and clears waivers.
Paul, Tucker, Anthony, Griffin, Jordan
Rondo, Felton, Redick, Mbah a Moute, Speights
Hahahaha.
The Clippers wouldn’t be able to play J.J., Melo, and Blake too many minutes together. The defense would suffer.
I think if the Clips trade for Melo either J.J. or Melo will end up being the 6th man. In that absurd scenario I listed above they could start Felton at SG to pressure the ball.
This Clipper team needs 3 defensive players in the starting lineup. They can’t get away with just Chris and DJ.
Well, the Carmelo Anthony to the Clippers talk is picking up steam. ESPN says: “The Knicks have let the Clippers know they are open to trading Carmelo Anthony to Los Angeles without getting back either Chris Paul, Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.”
Apparently, the Knicks want to get rid of him for pretty much anything to anybody that will take him so they can basically use his cap space and eventually use that to get somebody that’s good for them. That’s understandable from Jackson’s point of view. Anthony would accept a trade to the Clippers. So it may happen.
The big question is will the Clippers do it? My guess is they will.
I’m guessing Ballmer will want to do it, because Anthony is a big name. I’m guessing Chris Paul will want to do it and will put pressure on the Clippers to do it. So it probably will happen.
The best thing the Clippers could have done at small forward is to have signed Harrison Barnes this summer. Barnes obviously would have rather signed with the Clippers and then had a good shot at a ring while playing in LA than with the lowly Mavericks. The Clippers almost certainly would have been able to sign him, but they didn’t even try.
It would have been better to sign the sure thing Barnes instead of pursuing Durant. It’s the bird in the hand thing. They made a huge mistake.
It is incorrect that Cap considerations kept the Clippers from going after Barnes. They were going to be able to sign Durant. That means they also would have been able to sign Barnes.
Hahaha.
How exactly were they going to sign Harrison Barnes?
You do know if the Clippers signed Durant they would have had 8 players on the roster making league minimum, right?
You blow up your team for Kevin Durant. You don’t blow up your team by giving Harrison f**king Barnes a max contract. The Mavericks are 16-30.
If Austin Rivers was taking as many shots as Harrison Barnes he’d be scoring more than Barnes and scoring more efficiently.
I’m torn on the Melo trade.
I’ve been saying for years the Clippers need to get younger and longer on the perimeter. The Warriors beat the Clippers because the Clippers are too small on the perimeter.
Melo is a PF now. On the other hand I don’t think people remember how awful Caron Butler was defensively. And that Clipper squad made the 2nd round.
Melo moves like Caron did back then. If Melo can just be as bad as Butler was defensively the Clippers might be able to get away with Melo at SF.
Surprisingly, looking at the advanced defensive stats, Carmelo Anthony and J.J. Redick are very similar.
Now, defensive metrics are debatable but it’s interesting.
Melo has a higher Defensive Win Share than Redick and Melo has a better Defensive Box Plus/Minus than Redick.
Maybe Doc should be looking into trading Redick and doing everything he can to keep Austin.
J.J. Redick has more trade value than Austin Rivers.
The Clippers need to use that value to get a team to also take Wes Johnson and/or Paul Pierce.
If the Clippers could get a 3rd team to take Redick and Johnson and send an asset or two to the Knicks that would be the best outcome.
The Clippers might be able to keep Austin out of the trade but will have to forfeit draft picks and cash considerations to make Jamal palatable.
Redick, Crawford, Johnson, Pierce, and Johnson combine to make $31M.
That would create enough room to trade for Melo and leave them space to do other things.
If the Clips want to keep Austin they’ll have to give up multiple draft picks for teams to take on Jamal, Wes, and Pierce.
Other things like sign 10 day contracts and sign buyout guys.
If the Clippers are able to keep Austin they’ll have less need for P.J. Tucker and almost no way of trading for him.
Or maybe the Clippers could include Phoenix and Tucker into the larger Melo trade.
The big problem with Crawford is that I don’t see how any GMs in their right mind would take on his terrible three year contract, in which he will be 39 when the playoffs start in the third year. So unless Jackson can find some total fool of a GM to take Crawford, I don’t see how Crawford can be in the deal.
I expect Jackson wants to get back contracts that don’t last past this season so he can use the cap space from Anthony’s salary to bring in people he wants.
Obviously, a team would like Redick to be in the deal. His contract is $7.4 million and is up this year. Pierce is $3.5 and he says this is his last year. So that’s $11 million is contract that are up after this season.
Anthony is at $24.5. I think they only have to get within 75%, which would be $18.4. so they’d need another $7.4 But then on top of that Anthony may ask for his trade kicker, so it would go back up.
So Austin Rivers and his $11 million likely would have to go into the deal.
Holy shit, man.
How many times do I have to tell you that Jamal’s contract is only guaranteed for $3M in the 3rd year?
Whatever team he’s playing for is going to cut him and save $11M.
Wesley Johnson is $5.6 million, but he has a three year deal that Jackson likely doesn’t want. Maybe he could find a third GM to take that one.
After that, it’s mostly a bunch of players on minimums. Basically they’d need 6 of them to reach $11 million. That’s basically every other player on the roster, outside of the big guys.
So for the deal to work, Austin Rivers probably has to be in it.
He doesn’t and I explained it below.
The money works. The Clippers would have to attach multiple drafts picks and $3M in cash to make a team bite.
Let’s throw some gas on this Melo fire.
If, if, if Wade asks to be bought out by Chicago and he clears waivers does he choose to go to Cleveland to play with LeBron or does he choose to go to LA to play with CP and Melo?
Wade would start in Cleveland but he could also start in LA with Redick coming off the bench. He’d have two of his best friends in LA and the LA weather. I think Wade would probably choose LeBron but that’d be an interesting decision.
Wade is much more likely to finish the year in Chicago than Melo is to finish the year in New York.
I saw a few Suns fans bitching about the Clippers offering a 2nd round pick for P.J. Tucker.
The Clippers traded them Eric f**king Bledsoe for Jared f**king Dudley.
They’ve lost the right to bitch about the Clippers for at least 10 years.