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LOS ANGELES -- Remember three weeks ago, when the Los Angeles Clippers lost their last two games of the regular season and effectively handed over home-court advantage in the first round to the Memphis Grizzlies?

They admitted then that they shot themselves in the collective foot, but that was mostly forgotten a few days ago, when the Clippers held a 3-1 lead in this series and looked to be probable candidates to face the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

Now, suddenly, it looms very large, with the Clippers having dropped back-to-back contests, including one at home Friday night in a game they led by eight with eight minutes to play. Now, Sunday's 10 a.m. PT matchup in Memphis is an absolute must-win in a situation where the Clippers will be serious underdogs.

As he did when asked about losing home court at the end of the regular season, Chris Paul downplayed that part of Sunday's game when told of the ugly statistics for road teams in Game 7s.

"We've got to win," he said Friday. "This it. We could lose Game 5 and Game 6 and be OK, but Game 7 is going to be exciting. It's in Memphis, and we showed the ability to win there.

"I can't wait. You just leave it all out there. It is what it is."

The Clippers hand out printouts of selected quotes from their players and opponents after each game. They often skip over parts of the players' comments that could put the teams or the league in a bad light.

Their transcription of that Paul quote included two exclamation points, supposedly after he said "We've got to win!" and, "I can't wait!"

Watch the video here, beginning at the 0:47 mark. Does he seem happy or particularly enthusiastic when he says those phrases?

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1. This simply hasn't happened very often. It is the Clippers' fifth playoff appearance since 1976 and first since 2006. When things that don't happen do happen, celebration and excitement typically are in order. This is one of those situations.

2. Chris Paul. The Clippers' new point guard and fearless leader has proved time and again -- with this team and in previous years -- to be an ideal closer, perfect for playoff situations. He's arguably been the best closer of any star in the league this season, and fans in L.A. are well aware of it.

3. The Clippers beat Memphis, their first-round opponent, in two of three meetings this season, including a 16-point smashing in L.A. in March that was one of the team's best performances. The Clippers may not have home-court advantage, but they might at least have the matchup advantage -- albeit by a small amount.

4. Plus, San Antonio -- the Clips’ likely opponent if they get by Memphis –- isn’t a terrible team for them to face either. The squads have met three times this season: The Spurs won the first game, way back in December, by 25. But the Clippers won the third (with Tony Parker hurt) and they took San Antonio to overtime in the in-between game. It'd be unlikely that L.A. could pull off the upset, but not impossible.

5. Three key supporting-cast Clippers have 25 or more playoff starts under their belts in Kenyon Martin, Mo Williams and Caron Butler. Sure, that is in contrast to the lack of postseason experience of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Randy Foye. But the 25-plus starts are also more than any single Memphis player can boast, so the Clippers will not be out-experienced in the first round.

6. Memphis gets its points from a variety of sources – Rudy Gay was the only Grizzlies player to average 15 or more points this season. You can’t really say that about the two-headed tandem of the Clippers, especially of late, but, in looking back at the three L.A.-Memphis matchups this year, the Clippers did a good job of spreading around the scoring. Seven current Clippers have averaged at least eight points against the Grizz this year.

7. Expectations are not all that high. If the Clippers make the second round and lose, there probably won’t be too many cries of disappointment. The refrain would be that they needed some time to get used to each other and were hurt by their new additions and injuries. They may just play loose, with a sense of nothing to lose.

8. The fact that the Clippers have to start out on the road is going to give many fans serious misgivings, and rightfully so. But at least realize this about the team's away-from-home struggles this season: They were a little bit alleviated as the year went on. It took the Clips more than a month to record a road win over a playoff-caliber team, but they started to do it more and more in March and April. You could argue that the Clippers' biggest problem won't be stealing one on the road but actually sealing down all three at home.

9. Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies forward serves as a reminder of how far this franchise has come in the last three years. Since the Clippers won the lottery 35 months ago and earned the right to select Griffin, so many things have changed. Among those changes was the status of Randolph, whom the Clippers dealt to Memphis a week after the draft. He went from being acquired by the team to being the team's leading scorer to being traded away in a matter of a half-year.

10. Remember the last time the Clippers made the playoffs, after the 2005-2006 season? It was actually a pretty good run back then. They beat the Nuggets in five games despite being on the short end of a 3-6 matchup, then gave the 2-seed Phoenix Suns a great run for their money in the Western Conference semifinals. A thing or two done differently in Game 5 that year and the Clippers might have been going against the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals for the right to face the Miami Heat. So, strange as it seems, history might actually be something the Clippers can lean on this time around.

So you want to trade for a superstar? Sounds easy enough, right? Cultivate some young talent, acquire a few draft picks, hang on to valuable expiring contracts and wait for a small-market team to get realistic about their chances of keeping a superstar like Chris Paul, then pounce at the right moment.

After the impact Paul has had on the team It feels kind of like a million years ago that Clippers GM Neil Olshey choreographed the team's blockbuster trade back in December. Actually, it feels long enough ago that many have forgotten just how hard it was to pull that trade off.

But as we approach awards season in the NBA, it's time to revisit that trade and the other moves Olshey made this year that have completely revamped the team's roster and culture.

"Most people don't realize just how difficult it is to acquire a franchise player through a trade," Clippers president Andy Roeser told ESPNLosAngeles.com. "Neil was able to do that and set us on our way to where we are now.

"There's several guys who stand out this year. David Morway in Indiana has done a nice job putting that team together. But I think we did a nice job upgrading our team. And it goes beyond just the Chris Paul trade. Neil put together an entire roster virtually overnight. I can't think of anyone more deserving."

Whether Olshey's body of work will beat out Morway in Indiana, Spurs president RC Buford, Memphis GM Chris Wallace, Knicks GM Glen Grunwald or any of the other leading contenders for the award is debatable. There are some voters who will probably dismiss Olshey because the Clippers virtually became the Hornets only trading partner after NBA commissioner David Stern, acting as owner of the Hornets, vetoed a trade with the Lakers.

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Entering Wednesday's game against the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Clippers had -- count 'em! -- nine road wins over .500-or-better teams this season, and there had been a common theme to every one.

The team would keep things close for the first 45 or so minutes, and then point guard Chris Paul would take things over down the stretch and lead his teammates to a triumphant victory.

Wednesday's 104-98 win was the exact opposite.

Paul had a fine game, with 21 points and eight assists in 35 minutes, but he was at his best in the third quarter -- not in the fourth. He actually struggled mightily in the final minutes, shooting 0-for-5 in meaningful situations and appearing downright exhausted at various key moments.

But his teammates, including veteran reserves Kenyon Martin and Mo Williams, were at their best.

Williams made three 3-pointers in one three-minute stretch in the fourth, including a ridiculous 33-footer as the shot clock expired. In a key sequence in the final minute, Martin tipped in a missed jumper from Paul and then blocked a Ty Lawson layup on Denver's next possession to seal the game for the Clippers and give them a magic number of just two to secure home-court advantage in a likely first-round NBA playoff matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies.

"I don't know what it was," Paul said in a postgame interview on the TV broadcast, in explaining his poor play in the fourth period. "But that's why you're a team."

Funny: The Clippers haven't always looked like a team down the stretch this season. They've looked like Chris Paul and four other guys on the court for moral support. How many times has Paul seemingly free-styled and come up with a key shot attempt almost on his own? Too many to count.

And, sure, he's proven to be a potent playoff performer. But it's unreasonable to expect those kind of heroics four different times in a seven-game stretch. That's why it's so important that the Clippers' alternative late-game sources start to come through, with the playoffs now literally just 10 days away.

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LOS ANGELES -- DeAndre Jordan left the Clippers' locker room before reporters were allowed in on Wednesday night following the 113-108 loss to the Lakers, but his teammates stood up for him.

There wasn't anything he could do against Lakers center Andrew Bynum, they said, even though Bynum put up 36 points against Jordan and repeatedly outmuscled and outsmarted him in the post.

In fact, Kenyon Martin and Chris Paul both said Jordan did an "excellent" job defending Bynum.

"The kid (Bynum) is a good post player," Martin said. "DeAndre guarded him and made everything tough on him.

"That's all you can do."

Bynum hit 65 percent of his shots in Wednesday's game -- most of which came one-on-one against Jordan -- and didn't turn the ball over. And that was with a sprained ankle that had him listed as questionable before the game.

That was all Jordan, who's making roughly $10 million this season in the first year of a monstrous four-year deal, could do?

No, said Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro. Of course Jordan could have done more against Bynum and the Lakers, Del Negro said.

"But it's not just D.J -- it's everybody," he said. "We've gotta do a better job spinning him baseline, getting help for him, fighting him early and getting him off his box, his sweet spot. Bynum's a load down there -- we all know that."

"It's not just one guy, it's several."

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Clippers (26-20) vs. New Orleans Hornets (11-35) at New Orleans Arena, 5 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Coming home: When Chris Paul was traded from the Hornets to the Clippers for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and a first-round draft pick more than three months ago, the first game Paul circled on the schedule was his first trip back to New Orleans. It will be an emotional night for Paul, who is hosting 150 kids and parents from his CP3 Afterschool Zone at the game, and will be seeing many of his old teammates and friends for the first time since being traded. At his introductory news conference in Los Angeles, he mentioned his former teammates and the children from the program before talking about his new team. “Going to New Orleans is going to be tough,” Paul said. “It will be cool because I have a lot of family and friends there but it will be a little odd. I had to do it at some point.”

2. Scoring slump: For the eighth straight game, the Clippers failed to score 100 points. For the second straight game, they allowed a team to score more than 100 points. In other words, this is a team that can’t score and can’t defend right now, which is never a good combination. The Clippers have hit the century mark twice in their last 13 games, and their record in their last 18 games is 7-11. This season, the Clippers are 16-3 when scoring more than 100 points and 10-16 when scoring less than 100. Reaching the century mark on the road is even more critical for the Clippers, as they are 9-1 when they score at least 100 and 2-10 when they don’t.

3. Know your role: The Clippers’ inability to develop a consistent rotation was again on display against the Thunder. Randy Foye, who had been the Clippers' starting shooting guard for 28 games after Chauncey Billups was lost for the season last month, was benched in favor of newly acquired swingman Nick Young against Indiana. Foye was the only player on the Clippers' active roster who did not play in the game. Well, 24 hours later, he was back in the starting lineup and scored 23 points in 35 minutes. Judging by the Clippers’ recent rotation inconsistencies, it’s entirely possible he might not see the floor against New Orleans on Thursday night.

4. Butler out: Foye started against Oklahoma City because Caron Butler was a healthy scratch for the game, but he'll likely be back in the starting lineup against the Hornets. Sitting Butler might not just have been for his health during the team's last back-to-back-to-back of the season. He has been in a slump after being one of the key players for the Clippers at the start of the season. Through the first 25 games of the season, the Clippers were 17-8 and Butler was averaging 15.3 points while shooting 44 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from three-point range. In his last 18 games, however, the Clippers are 8-10 and Butler is averaging 8.1 points, and shooting 31.1 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from behind the arc.

5. Bench problems: One of the biggest weaknesses for the Clippers this season, despite their acquisitions of Young and Kenyon Martin, has been their bench. After being outscored 50-23 in Indiana, they were outscored 37-24 in Oklahoma City. The only player on the bench who scored more than four points in either game was Mo Williams, who averaged 11.5 points in both. Williams is averaging 13.8 points and 2.0 assists this season and has accounted for more than 51 percent of the Clippers’ bench production. Martin and Reggie Evans are usually good for a couple of put-backs and Eric Bledsoe usually provides one fast-break layup, but there has been no consistent production from the Clippers’ bench outside of Williams this season.

There have been six mainstays in the Los Angeles Clippers rotation since the 2011-2012 season started on Christmas Day: Chris Paul, Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Caron Butler, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan.

Those six started the season with the team and continue playing in most every game. Then there are the five players the team has added into the mix since then, either by trade, free-agent signing or return from injury. In order, those are Reggie Evans, Kenyon Martin, Eric Bledsoe, Bobby Simmons and, after making his debut in Sunday's win over the Detroit Pistons, now Nick Young.

And that doesn't count mid-year additions Solomon Jones and Courtney Fortson, who both played significant minutes with the Clips before getting released and landing elsewhere.

That's a lot of new pieces to add to a puzzle, especially considering they've all joined the team over an 84-day period in which the Clippers have played 44 games. And, to make matters worse, they've all been separate additions, joining the team weeks apart from each other.

How have the Clippers done it?

"It's not easy," coach Vinny Del Negro said before Sunday's game when asked that question. "We have to do a better job incorporating and getting a feel for guys, and that's tough. But that's the situation we're in.

"You've just gotta work together a little bit better and connect a little bit more as a team, because we're incorporating all types of players and personalities and you have to manage all that."

Blake Griffin put it a little more simply.

"It feels like we add a new piece every month or so," Griffin said after Sunday's game. "It's like every month you're forced to add someone new. I don't want to say it disrupts things, but it changes things.

"We're not used to playing with a guy like Nick. He's been in L.A. for two days now, I think."

Young definitely changed the shape of Sunday's game. Because he logged 29 minutes in the victory, Williams played only 24 -- the shortest time he's been on the court in almost a month. And Bledsoe, who had played in each of the Clippers' last 15 games, didn't play at all.

That was similar to what happened when the Clippers added Simmons at the end of February. Ryan Gomes has only played three minutes since Simmons was signed.

Evans also experienced a slight downturn in minutes right after Martin made his debut in early February.

Del Negro said Sunday he tries to focus on the "rhythm of certain lineups," and that makes sense. But there obviously wasn't going to be much rhythm with Young and the rest of the players on the floor during his 29 minutes against the Pistons.

But, as Griffin said, the Clippers can help ease the transitioning process if they turn up the energy, like they did in the fourth quarter and overtime period Sunday, when they outscored Detroit 30-18. Young was on the floor for 16 of 17 possible minutes in that stretch.

Said Griffin: "The thing is, if we play hard, we can kind of erase or make up for those mistakes that we make because we're new."

Clippers (22-14) vs. New Jersey Nets (12-27) at Prudential Center, 5 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. CP3 vs. D-Will: Clippers guard Chris Paul and Nets guard Deron Williams, two of the best point guards in the NBA, have faced each other 16 times in their careers, with Williams winning 12 times. The last time these two teams met, on Jan. 16, Paul sat out during a 101-91 Clippers win as Chauncey Billups scored nine of his 20 points in the final five minutes. Coming into this game, much of the focus will be on Williams since this will be his first game since scoring a franchise-record 57 points in the Nets’ 104-101 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday.

2. Close calls: The Clippers have been one of the more exciting teams this season, but they have not been able to pull out close games as of late. The Clippers have played 14 games this season decided by five points or fewer and have an 8-6 record in those games. The Clippers, however, have suffered six losses by five or fewer points since Feb. 13 and lost two games on their current road trip by a combined four points. Earlier this season, a Clippers win was all but guaranteed with a close game in Paul's hands, but that has not been the case lately, as highlighted by Paul’s missed attempt at a game-tying free throw in the Clippers’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

3. Bench rising: There is plenty of blame to go around for the Clippers’ recent struggles, but the bench can no longer be looked at as the main culprit. The Clippers' bench has outscored the opposition in the last four games by a combined total of 140-86. The bench is averaging 35.0 points during the stretch, an 11-point increase from its season average of 24.1 points per game. The Clippers’ bench has been outscored 1,067-846 this season, but the tide may be shifting with the improved play of Clippers forward Kenyon Martin in addition to the steady contributions of Clippers guard Mo Williams. Martin is shooting 52.7 percent from the field and averaging 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks over the last four games, while Williams is averaging 16.0 points on 46.2 percent shooting from the field and 47.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

4. Butler’s battles: Clippers forward Caron Butler has been streaky, to say the least, for the Clippers after Billups was lost for the season last month. Butler failed to score in the Clippers’ game against Minnesota, going 0-for-6 from the field. It was only the fourth time in his career that he did not register a point or a field goal and the first time since Feb. 27, 2006, when he went 0-for-5 as a member of the Washington Wizards in a loss to Memphis.

5. Dimes down: In the Clippers’ last three games, their assist totals are down from their season averages. In the Clippers’ first 33 games of the season, they averaged 21.5 assists, tallying assists on 58.6 percent of their field goals. In the Clippers’ last three games, they have averaged only 15.0 assists, tallying assists on 44.0 percent of their field goals. Paul has tallied only five assists in each of two of the Clippers' last three games.

Dave Miller talks to Clippers forward Kenyon Martin about his time playing overseas and the chemistry of his current team.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves appear to have the Clippers number. But what exactly is that number?

In January, even without Chris Paul, Los Angeles outperformed Minnesota in practically every statistical category, yet 18 turnovers were their undoing. Their second matchup two weeks ago was another the Clippers seemed to have in hand until Derrick Williams and Michael Beasley put on an unprecedented shooting display, combining for 54 points and just five misses. On Monday night, the Wolves escaped with a 95-94 victory after Paul missed the third of three free throws that would've tied the score in the final seconds.

Despite the loss, the Clippers are still clinging to the West's third-best record. However they're perplexed by their struggles with a Minnesota team that wouldn't even make the playoffs if they began tomorrow.

Kenyon Martin did his best to explain postgame.

"It's a team thing," Martin said. "I've been around this league for a long time and I've seen it. Sometimes a team gets hot and sometimes they just have your number. Seems like it's that kind of situation."

Known for their fast pace and quick triggers from deep, the Wolves earned themselves a reputation as marksmen last season, converting 37 percent of their 3-point attempts, the league’s fifth-best percentage. This season however, Minnesota’s 3-point attempts per game has risen and their success rate has taken a nose dive. They’re currently making only 32 percent of their attempts, 21st in the league.

Regardless, 3-point shooting has certainly played a role in this lopsided series, as Minnesota has shot exceptionally well from deep in every game except the first, in which Kevin Love’s buzzer-beating three was still the difference. On Monday, the Wolves finished 11-for-28 from beyond the arc, led by Love who made 5-of-10 threes, en route to 39 points and 17 rebounds.

Paul definitely took notice.

"It always seems like they kill us from the 3-point line," he said. "They have shooting bigs and guarding the 3-point line has been tough for us all season long, but this team here, they get into the paint and they score on us. We've gotta figure out a way to manage it. Luckily this ain't the playoffs or we'd be in trouble right now."

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On a night when Blake Griffin looked noticeably winded, his teammates came through, providing the necessary fuel.

Midway through the fourth, Griffin stayed in the backcourt while his teammates ran a fastbreak, a rare site to observers of this team. A possession later, he turned it over.

In the end, Griffin finished with 14 points in 38 minutes, going 5-for-14 from the field. He didn’t take a single shot in the fourth quarter and only had two attempts in overtime. It was his third straight sub-par performance.

“He’s fine. He’s fine,” said head coach Vinny Del Negro, in response to the question of whether Blake had, like DeAndre Jordan, fallen ill.

“Yeah, it’s nice to win. This is a great team,” said Griffin, after the game. “This is a win we needed, especially coming off of a loss. You don’t want to lose two in a row, so it was relieving.”

When asked about his energy level at the end, said Griffin, “tired, very tired. But that’s crunch time and when all our guys stepped up and everybody else just kind of falls in line.”

Step up they did. Randy Foye scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Mo Williams added in 14 off the bench in 36 minutes. But it was Chris Paul who really led the charge with Blake not himself. The star guard took the game over down the stretch, putting the team’s fate in his own hands.

He stepped back on Kyle Lowry with 25 seconds remaining in the fourth, hitting a jumper and putting his team up 97-96. Yet on the final possession of regulation, the Rockets changed their strategy, assigning the 6-7 Courtney Lee to guard Paul. Lee hounded Paul into the corner, not biting on the same move that had shook Lowry seconds before, forcing him into a fallaway attempt after the buzzer. The shot went in, testament to Paul’s abilities, but it did not count.

In overtime, Paul was later again stopped by Lee, trying the same move, with the ball going off of Lee’s leg. He then changed strategies.

With 1:22 left in overtime, Paul dribbled between his legs and dribbled straight past the hounding Lee, finding Blake Griffin underneath the hoop for the slam, the latter’s only basket in both the fourth quarter and overtime. A possession later, Paul hit a jumper over Lee, giving the Clippers the lead for good, 104-103, with just 50 seconds remaining. A Paul free throw at the end, with five seconds left, iced it.

“I pulled back like twice on Courtney and it hit his foot and went out. I was taking a bad angle, so I figured, stop pulling back and go by him and score,” said Paul after the game, with regards to his final sequences against Lee.
To Griffin’s credit, he battled valiantly against Houston Rockets power forward Luis Scola, with things getting extremely physical at certain points.

“He’s a good player and teams play physical. I just try to match that, but at the same time, not overdo it because then, that’s when you get offensive foul calls and stuff like that,” said Griffin on his battle with Scola.

At two separate points in the last three minutes of the fourth, Griffin backed down Scola in the paint, only to have both players fall down.

In the end though, with help from his teammates, it was Griffin winning the war, as he provided the demoralizing dunk late in overtime off the feed from Paul. It seemed to take every last ounce of energy he had, but on this night, it was enough to get the victory.

Clippers (21-13) vs. Houston Rockets (21-16) at Toyota Center, 6 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Breaking bad: Before the Clippers left Los Angeles for their six-game road trip, they dismissed any notion that they had gotten into a rut when it came to closing out games late. After finding ways to pull out close games earlier in the season, the Clippers had seen late leads vanish against San Antonio, Golden State and Minnesota. “If this happens in Sacramento and the next game, then I have something to worry about,” Clippers guard Chris Paul said. “It's something that can be corrected. ... I'm not panicking.” Well, it didn’t happen against Sacramento, but it did happen against Phoenix and now the Clippers have lost four of their last six games and are 6-6 since losing Chauncey Billups for the season last month. If the Clippers don’t turn things around against Houston on Sunday, there will be plenty for Paul and his teammates to be worried about at the midway point of their 10-day road trip.

2. Bench rising: After getting outscored by the Timberwolves’ bench 72-11 on Thursday, the Clippers’ much-maligned bench has stepped up their production in the last two games. The Clippers bench, which is averaging 22.9 points this season, scored 32 points against Phoenix and 41 points against Sacramento. The biggest difference has been the increased output from Clippers forward Kenyon Martin, who is shooting 61.1 percent from the field and averaging 11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the last two games. Clippers guard Mo Williams, who is a candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award, is averaging 15.5 points and 4.0 assists over the last two games while shooting 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from beyond the arc and 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from the field.

3. Second-half switch: Although the Clippers have failed to close out games recently, the reason they have even been in most of their games has been the play of Paul in the second half. In the last seven games, Paul has scored 59.1 percent of his points in the second half. During that span he has scored 94 of his 159 points in the final 24 minutes of the game. Paul scored a season-high 36 points at the beginning of this stretch against Portland and scored 12 of his 16 points against Phoenix on Friday in the last two quarters. Paul says he likes to get his teammates involved in the first half, but he may have to spread his scoring out more evenly so the Clippers don’t have to rely on him so much late in games.

4. Butler’s not doing it: In the Clippers' last seven games Caron Butler's production has dropped off considerably from his form earlier in the season. He is averaging just 8.1 points per game during that stretch while shooting 32.3 percent (23-of-71 FG) from the field and 11.7 percent (2-of-17) from beyond the arc. Not coincidentally, the Clippers are 3-4 in their last seven games. Butler had averaged 15.3 points through his first 25 games with the Clippers while shooting 44 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from 3-point range and hit double-figures in 22 of those 25 games. Since Billups was lost for the season last month, however, Butler simply hasn’t been the same. He no longer gets the same open looks on the weakside he did when Billups was penetrating the gaps and causing defenses to respect him.

5. A thin line: One of the biggest reasons the Clippers have struggled to score in their last two games is they have struggled just to get to the free-throw line. Against Sacramento and Phoenix, the Clippers shot a combined 17 free throws. Just as surprising as that number, however, is that the Clippers, normally a poor free-throw shooting team, hit 16 of those free throws (94.1 percent). The bigger problem is that the Clippers’ opponents have shot 35 more free throws than them during this stretch. Since the 1985-86 season, the Clippers have attempted nine or fewer foul shots in a game just 15 times, and never before in back-to-back games. The Clippers are 1-14 when shooting under 10 free throws, with their lone win coming against Sacramento on Thursday.

Clippers (20-12) vs. Sacramento Kings (12-22) at Power Balance Pavilion, 7 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. “Winning time”: That’s what Chris Paul calls the fourth quarter. The Clippers’ leader and point guard prides himself on closing out games in the final period, which makes the team’s last three losses especially hard for him to swallow. The Clippers have lost three of their last four games and in each one they had the lead in the fourth quarter and failed to pull out a win. Paul deserves some blame -- costly turnover against the San Antonio Spurs and inability to score late against the Golden State Warriors hurt -- but against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, the blame fell on the entire team. Even before the loss to Minnesota the Clippers said the biggest area of concern for the team in the second half of the season was shoring up their defense and it's apparent that is still a work in progress after letting Minnesota score 36 points in the fourth quarter on 78.6% shooting.

2. Third wheel: If the Clippers are to be serious contenders in the Western Conference down the stretch and into the postseason they will need to find a dependable third scorer outside of Paul and Blake Griffin in the starting lineup. In the Clippers’ last two games, Griffin and Paul have scored 120 points on 61% shooting while the rest of the team has only scored 80 points on 35% shooting. They’re basically getting nothing but bad shots from every other player not named Chris or Blake. The biggest problem for the Clippers outside of the loss of Chauncey Billups for the season last month has been the steady decline of Caron Butler’s numbers recently. Butler scored 11 or more points in 22 of his first 25 games but has scored less than 11 in three of his last four games, including a 2-point performance on Tuesday, making only one of his 10 attempts.

3. No benchmark: One of the Clippers’ most glaring weaknesses this season has been their bench. That is largely why Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro refuses to put Mo Williams into the starting lineup even though he’s been the team’s third best scorer for much of the season. Williams is basically the only player on the Clippers’ bench that can score consistently. Williams is averaging 13.3 points and 3.4 assists this season, the next most productive player on the Clippers bench is recently signed forward Kenyon Martin who is averaging 4.5 points and 4.0 rebounds. This season, the Clippers bench has scored a total of 706 points, with Williams accounting for 52.9% of that production. No game better highlighted the Clippers' lack of depth more than the Minnesota loss when the Timberwolves’ bench outscored the Clippers’ reserves 72-11.

4. Road warriors: Thursday night begins a brutal month and brutal second half to the season the season for the Clippers. They will play 20 games in 31 days in March and open the month with six road games in nine days. The Clippers have played well on the road this season, winning 7 of their last 10 games away from home and winning five of those games by coming back from double-digit deficits. It’s an impressive run considering the Clippers have never finished above .500 on the road in franchise history but the team’s stretch of road games in March and in April where they play nine of 14 games on the road will likely make or break their season. “It is a tough schedule but we need everyone to be ready,” Del Negro said. “The games are going to come at us quick and we’re going to have to handle the schedule the best as possible.”

5. Homecoming: When the Sacramento Kings announced they would be staying in Sacramento after tentatively agreeing with the city to build a new arena, no one was happier than Del Negro. He was drafted by the Kings in 1988 and played in the first ever game at the old Arco Arena in Sacramento as a rookie. “Sacramento has always had great fans,” Del Negro said. “That was a new building years ago and now it’s an old building obviously but they’ve been trying to get the arena situation figured out over there for a while but Sacramento was a good city when I was there years ago.” As much as Del Negro might have fond memories of the building, it hasn’t been the easiest place to play for the Clippers, who have lost seven of eight and 23 of 26 in Sacramento heading into tonight's game.

What are the Los Angeles Clippers missing?

It's pretty clear after Tuesday's game, when Clippers stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul combined for 57 points -- 20 more than Minnesota's entire starting lineup -- and the team still lost by 12.

They're missing bench forwards who can score, guys like Derrick Williams and Michael Beasley, who were solely responsible for the Timberwolves' 109-97 win with their 54 points on 25 shots in Tuesday's game.

The Wolves have exactly what the Clippers need.

Minnesota coach Rick Adelman starts Wesley Johnson and Kevin Love in his forward slots but brings in Williams and Beasley off the bench for an average of 43 minutes a game.

Since Kenyon Martin debuted with the team earlier this month, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro has started Griffin and Caron Butler in his forward slots and brought in Martin, Reggie Evans and Ryan Gomes off the bench for an average of 45 minutes a game.

Martin and Evans are capable defenders and useful rebounders but leave a lot to be desired on the offensive end -- Evans especially. New 10-day signee Bobby Simmons took over Gomes' minutes in Tuesday's game, but the point stands.

The Clippers don't have anyone taller than 6-1 on their bench capable of going for 20 points in a given game. And when Mo Williams, the 6-1 player, and Butler don't shoot well in a given game, that will spell trouble.

Not so for Minnesota. Love had just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and Ricky Rubio only two on 1-of-8, but Williams, Beasley and reserve swingman Martell Webster picked up the scoring punch for them.

"They have a lot of scorers," Del Negro said. And a couple of them got hot."

Del Negro has said all season that Williams is the Clippers' key guy off the bench. But that's the problem: good teams need more than one key reserve, more than one capable scorer.

But changes might be coming. The Clippers leave Wednesday for a six-game road trip that takes them to Minnesota and San Antonio, among other places.

By the time they get back early on the morning of March 10, the trade deadline will be only five days away.

Beasley might be available for trade. Other forwards who fit the need probably will, too.

The Los Angeles Clippers players who had played with J.R. Smith were confident that the free agent guard would eventually sign with the Clippers.

In the end, those who didn’t know Smith as well but predicted he would sign with the team that offered him the most money proved to be right.

Smith signed with the New York Knicks Friday for a pro-rated share of their $2.5 million mini-midlevel exception and a player option for a second year. The Clippers were only able to offer Smith the veteran's minimum for the rest of this season.

Smith, who returned to the U.S. Thursday after playing in China, had spent the past two weeks hinting that he could sign with the Lakers, Clippers or Knicks on Twitter. He even tweeted Thursday night that he was watching the Clippers game at the airport and retweeted several tweets about the Clippers.

Chris Paul and Kenyon Martin said Wednesday night that they were confident Smith would sign with the Clippers and help replace Chauncey Billups, who was lost for the season last week with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Smith played with Martin and Billups in Denver and played with Paul in New Orleans. All three, along with Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro and general manager Neil Olshey, had been recruiting Smith to sign with the Clippers.

“I talk to J.R. all the time, whether he comes here or not,” Paul said Wednesday. “J.R. stays with me during the summer, he was at my wedding. He’s one of my really good friends and he knows we’d love him to be here.”

With Smith now in New York, the Clippers will turn their attention to possibly signing another shooting guard. Yahoo! Sports reported the team would hold workouts Friday for free agent guards Bobby Simmons and Jermaine Taylor. Simmons, who averaged a career-high 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds with the Clippers during the 2004-2005 season, has been averaging 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Reno Big Horns of the NBA Development League this season.