ESPN

Frank Reich didn’t watch the Los Angeles Clippers complete the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night. He was asleep as the Clippers came back from a 27-point deficit late in the third quarter and from 24 points down with 7:55 left in the game. But when Reich read the headlines online in the morning and saw the highlights on television, a big smile came over his face.

“Whenever I see a big comeback in any sport it make me think back to the comebacks I was apart of in college and in the NFL,” Reich said. “I always think back to the dynamics of those games and the good memories from being a part of those teams.”

Reich quarterbacked the Buffalo Bills to the greatest comeback in NFL history when he led the Bills back from a 35-3 third quarter deficit to a 41-38 overtime victory against the Houston Oilers in the 1992 AFC Wild Card playoffs. He also led the University of Maryland back from a 31-0 deficit against Miami in 1984 to a 42-40 victory, which was the biggest comeback in college football history at the time.

“The great thing about being a part of the greatest comeback is it’s such a team-oriented thing. It’s not like one guy just takes over,” said Reich, who was a quarterback in the NFL for 15 years and is now the receivers’ coach of the Arizona Cardinals. “You really do need everyone and everything to click in football and in basketball. Even if one guy scores 50 points, it’s the defensive play of the team that drives the comeback. It’s the same in football with your defense making stops and your special teams playing well. I do feel a connection when I see it happen. You take pride in the fact that you were on a team that did something special like that and when you see it happen in other sports it reminds me of that and it’s a great thing. I love that.”

(Read full post)

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Clippers forward Nick Young did not dress for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Hornets with flu-like symptoms and is listed as day-to-day.

Young is averaging 10.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in 20 games with the Clippers since being traded to Los Angeles last month.

The Clippers also recalled rookie guard Travis Leslie from the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League on Sunday but Leslie was not active for the game against New Orleans.

Leslie has been with the Jam since March 30, and appeared in four playoff games with Bakersfield. In two separate stints with the Jam this season, Leslie appeared in 10 regular season games and averaged 10.2 points, 1.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and shot 50.4 percent from the field in 20.4 minutes per game.

Leslie has averaged 1.4 points and 4.5 minutes in 10 games played for the Clippers this season.

Clippers (32-22) vs. Sacramento Kings (19-35) at Power Balance Pavilion, 7 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Starting over: The Clippers will attempt to start a new winning streak Thursday against the Kings after they had their six-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday against the Lakers. It was the team’s longest winning streak since March 18-31, 1992. The Clippers also had a seven-game home winning streak broken in the loss. The Clippers hadn’t won seven straight since 1991. Despite the loss, the Clippers are still 10 games over .500 (32-22). It is only the third time that the Clippers have been more than five games over .500 this many games into a season since moving to Los Angeles in 1984. They finished the season eight games over .500 in 1991-92 and 12 games over .500 in 2005-06. Those are the only two seasons in which the Clippers finished over .500 since moving to L.A. The Clippers’ 32-21 record this season after 53 games is also the second best in franchise history, trailing the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves who were 34-19 after 53 games.

2. Butler did it: If there is an X-factor on the Clippers this season, it’s Caron Butler. The Clippers are 18-9 when he scores 13 or more points and 12-7 when he had 5 or more rebounds. Against the Lakers, Butler scored a season-high 28 points, going 9-of-18 from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, while grabbing 4 rebounds in 34 minutes. It was the most points Butler has scored in a game since he had 30 on Dec. 30, 2010 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. It is the first time this season Butler has had over 25 points for the Clippers.

3. Clutch CP3: Clippers guard Chris Paul had 22 points and a season-high 16 assists against the Lakers on Wednesday. It was his 124th career game with at least 20 points and 10 assists and the most assists in a game for Paul since Jan. 26, 2011 when he had 17 for the New Orleans Hornets. It was the 17th time in Paul’s career that he has had 20 or more points and 16 or more assists and the first time since Dec. 18, 2009 when he had 30 points and 19 assists in a win over Denver. Paul is the only player in the NBA this season to average over 19.0 points and 9.0 assists per game and 2.0 steals.

4. Playoffs?: Perhaps the biggest fallout from the Clippers’ loss to the Lakers was where it put them in the race for the Pacific Division. Even if they beat the Kings in Sacramento on Thursday, they will be two full games behind the Lakers, who now hold the all-important tie-breaker if they finish with the same record. Suddenly their goal now with 12 games left in the season will be to secure the No. 4 seed and at least have home court advantage in the first round. If the Clippers beat the Kings they will be two games up on the Grizzlies and Mavericks and three games up on the Rockets and Nuggets.

5. Dunk City: After Blake Griffin’s two highlight reel dunks on Pau Gasol last night, he now has 154 dunks, the most in the NBA by 21. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is third in the league with 116 dunks. Jordan is the only player in the NBA to have at least 115 dunks and 115 blocks this season. As a team the Clippers have recorded 82 alley-oop dunks this season, most in the NBA, followed by the Lakers with 70 and the Knicks with 59. The Clippers also have recorded the most dunks this season with 318.

LOS ANGELES -- As Chris Paul put on the T-shirt hanging in his locker room, he looked down at it and smiled.

The shirt featured a picture of Muhammad Ali with “The Greatest” written in big, bold, black letters.

Moments earlier, Paul had scored a driving layup with five seconds left to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 98-97 comeback win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. It was the kind of proverbial knockout punch Paul has provided the Clippers time after time in clutch situations this season.

As Paul stood in the center of the Clippers' locker room, he laughed when he was asked about being the Clippers’ closer this season.

“This ain’t my first time,” said Paul, who finished with 20 points and 14 assists. “I’m used to it. I’ve been a starter every day since I’ve been in the NBA so I’ve been in this situation a number of times.”

When he was asked how many times he could continue putting his team on his back in the fourth quarter he simply said, “As many as it takes. It’s not just me. It’s a collective effort. We needed a defensive stop at the end. Caron [Butler] getting that big bucket. We just got to keep competing.”

There is no real secret to putting together a winning streak. There is often little difference between winning game one and winning game five but there has been something elusive to actually stringing wins together this season for the Clippers. For the first time since Feb. 1, the Clippers have now won four straight games and six straight at home.

The Clippers’ inability to win consistently obviously hasn’t been a problem confined to this season for the franchise. The last time the Clippers won five games in a row was November 2006. As far as winning streaks go, five is certainly not a big number. By comparison, the Utah Jazz, the Clippers’ opponent on Saturday, won six straight last week and won five straight earlier this season. If the season ended today the Jazz would not be in the playoffs.

“You obviously have to play well but this is such a strange season,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “The games jump on you so fast. The month of March has been very difficult trying to incorporate new guys and just the scheduling. It comes down to the execution of the gameplan and playing together. It’s always a work in progress.”

(Read full post)

Clippers (23-16) vs. Boston Celtics (21-19) at Staples Center, 7:30 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Always be closing: When Phil Jackson was coaching the Lakers, he would always play Alec Baldwin’s famous speech from the movie "Glengarry Glen Ross" where Baldwin broke down the meaning of the A-B-C of sales. “A -- always; B -- be; C -- closing. Always be closing!” Well, it would behoove Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro to dust off that old DVD and show it to his team before they play the Celtics on Monday night. The Clippers have been anything but closers recently. In fact, they’ve been more like Jonathan Broxton on the mound trying to protect a one-run lead. The Clippers are 4-7 in their last 11 games, losing their last three by a combined nine points. They are now 8-8 in games decided by five points or fewer and look lost in critical situations down the stretch. “It's something we’re trying to figure out,” Blake Griffin said. “If we knew, it would be easier. It’s one of those things where we talk about it and we’re just flat a lot.”

2. Starters disappear: The Clippers are at their best when everyone gets involved in the offense early and are at their absolute worst when one or more starters completely disappears. Against the Warriors on Sunday, both DeAndre Jordan and Caron Butler were practically invisible. They combined for five points and didn’t play at all after the midway point of the third quarter. For the second time in a week, Butler failed to record a single field goal, going 0-for-6. He hadn’t failed to score a field goal for six years before doing it against Minnesota on March 5.

3. Bench mob: Perhaps the only positive takeaway from the Clippers’ loss to Golden State on Sunday were the performances of Reggie Evans and Eric Bledsoe off the bench. The duo helped the Clippers erase a 21-point deficit in the third quarter and helped tie the game with 4:30 left. Evans finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds while Bledsoe had four steals, three assists and two points, and helped set up one big play after another during the Clippers’ run. Even Bobby Simmons stepped up and added six points and two rebounds during the stretch. All three players finished with a plus/minus of at least plus-12. The problem: Mo Williams, who is usually the only consistent scorer off the bench, was nowhere to be found. He started the game 0-for-7 and finished with just three points after hitting one 3-pointer.

4. Masked man: Chris Paul wore a protective mask against Golden State for the first time in his career and will likely have to wear it for the next two weeks after suffering a nasal fracture against San Antonio last week. It was clear the mask was bothersome for Paul at the beginning of the game as he continued to play with it in between plays and completely took it off during longer stoppages. "It's different,” Paul said. “But it doesn't inhibit anything.” The mask didn’t seem to slow down Paul after the first quarter as he had 23 points, five assists and three steals. Paul, however, was still kicking himself after the game for missing three free throws and all four of his 3-point attempts. “That's the real story of this,” Paul said after the loss. “We beat ourselves.”

5. Turning point: There’s never one reason why a team hits a wall; it’s usually a variety of factors that come together at once. But if the Clippers had to pick one turning point in their season, it has to be at Orlando Feb. 6, when the Clippers beat the Magic 107-102 in overtime. The day after that game, an MRI revealed Chauncey Billups was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, and Kenyon Martin, who Billups recruited to join the team, was signed and activated. Billups’ loss has been felt on and off the court, especially late in games, and his absence has correlated with Butler's dramatic drop in production. Butler no longer gets the same open looks on the wing that he got when Billups used to penetrate the paint. Meanwhile, Martin’s addition has stunted the growth of Jordan, who simply hasn’t been the same with Martin playing critical minutes down the stretch in Jordan's place. If the Clippers can’t find a way to get Butler and Jordan to return to their old form when the team started 19-9, the current free fall they are on will get worse before it gets better.

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.

The first half of the regular season went about as well as could be expected for the new-look Los Angeles Clippers. They lost some games they should have won, they won some games they should have lost and looked far better than any team in franchise history. Then again, we are talking about a franchise that has only made the postseason four times in the past 35 years. In fact they have already won more games so far this season than they have in eight previous complete seasons.

The real test, however, for the Clippers will come during the second half of the season, when they will be tested with the most grueling stretch of games that any player or coach on the team said they have ever been a part of. Here are eight storylines to track as the Clippers head into the stretch run of their season.

1. March on

The Clippers' season will be shaped, for better or for worse, during the month of March when the team will play 20 games in 31 days, including six road games in nine days to start the month. “Beast,” said Clippers guard Chris Paul when asked about the month. “But we knew that when the season started.”

No team played fewer games or traveled less to start the season than the Clippers. From Dec. 29 to Feb. 3, they only had to leave Staples Center four times. During that stretch players and coaches smiled and said the schedule would soon even up and catch up with them and it certainly will now as the Clippers start to make a push for playoff seeding.

“It’s important when you’re a young team to try to get home court, especially having so many guys on our team that have never played in the playoffs,” Paul said. “It would definitely be a huge advantage for us. I was telling all the guys in the locker room, all the games are over; teams are going to start jockeying for position. Guys are not going to be sitting out and resting anymore.”

(Read full post)

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – “Beat L.A.!”

Chris Paul had heard the chant several times last year when the New Orleans Hornets played the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. He grew up hearing the chant whenever he would watch the Lakers play on the road and he no doubt thought he might hear the chant during the two minutes or so he was supposedly on the Lakers.

Paul, however, has started to hear the chant every time the Clippers are on the road and it is one of the many signs he says he thinks the perception of the Clippers is beginning to change.

“I’m starting to hear that a lot,” Paul said. “It’s funny because our New Orleans fans used to chant that all the time against the Lakers. It makes the game that much more exciting. It's good.”

This season the Clippers are the biggest draw in the NBA on the road, averaging 19,441, putting them ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers (19,126), Miami Heat (18,973) and Boston Celtics (18,076).

“That’s how it’s going to be,” Clippers guard Randy Foye said. “Every game this season, and this is something new for me, is sold out and fans are there cheering an hour or so before the game. That’s great, that’s something this team hasn’t had and something this city has never seen from this team.”

Foye has even started seeing a change in the way opposing teams at home act when they play the Clippers; perhaps feeding off the energy of the sold our crowd.

(Read full post)