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PLAYA VISTA, Calif. -- Here are exit interviews from Monday's media session with three Los Angeles Clippers who filled supporting roles for the 2011-2012 squad behind Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.

Guard Mo Williams came into the season expecting to be the team's starting point guard, then quickly found himself third on the pecking order in a matter of days. He reflected on those days and how the season turned out for him, and reiterated his plans to opt in on the final year of his contract for next season.

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PLAYA VISTA -- The Los Angeles Clippers shot lights-out in Wednesday's Game 2 loss in Memphis.

Seriously, they did. Chris Paul hit 10 of his 17 shots. Blake Griffin hit 9-of-15. Mo Williams and Nick Young combined to make 8 of their 15 attempts as the team shot a combined 56.7 percent. Even Bobby Simmons made 4-of-5 for his best shooting performance since joining the Clippers in February.

Yet, they still lost -- for two primary reasons. For one, they were sizably outrebounded, 37-28 and 16-4 on the offensive glass. And, for another, they turned the ball over 20 times, nearly seven more than their regular-season average.

Memphis did force the most turnovers in the league during the regular season at just over 17, but the Clippers' second-best 13.3 average shows they were typically able to take care of the ball.

Guard Randy Foye said after Friday's practice the Clippers need to revert back to that if they are going to take Game 3 at home on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PT.

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PLAYA VISTA -- Here are video interviews with coach Vinny Del Negro and a number of the Los Angeles Clippers following their practice Friday in preparation for their first-round NBA playoffs matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Del Negro appeared as confident as ever and joked with reporters before and after his meeting with the media. He also indicated that rest and time between games isn't as important in the playoffs as it is in the regular season.



Guard Chris Paul provided an update on his status for Sunday's series opener, since he did not practice on Friday. He also talked about the process of preparing for a playoff series and what being in one means for the city of L.A.



Guard Mo Williams talked about the entirely different dynamic evident in playoff games as compared to the regular season, and he said most of it is based on attention to detail.



Forward Caron Butler emphasized how excited he was to take part in the 2012 NBA playoffs after sitting out throughout the Dallas Mavericks' playoff run a season ago. And he had interesting things to say about how NBA teams and players paid special attention to staying healthy this year.



Guard Randy Foye said film study is key this time of year. The Clippers, Foye said, have to know everything there is to know about Memphis by the time Sunday's Game 1 comes around.

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.

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 -- As soon as Nick Young got into the game Monday night with two-plus minutes to go in the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder, OKC forward Kevin Durant made sure he was feeling a little anxious.

"You can't guard me," Durant told Young, which the Clippers' swingman relayed after the game. "You can't guard me."

Young took offense and put together arguably his best defensive effort since being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers a month ago at the trade deadline. It was also -- maybe not coincidentally -- by far his best offensive game since returning home to L.A.

He put together a solid effort against Durant and the Thunder in last week's win in Oklahoma City, but this was one better by all accounts.

In 21 minutes Monday, Young shot lights-out, scoring 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. From the time he entered into the game for Caron Butler until the final buzzer, Young actually outscored Durant in fewer minutes.

Speaking after the game, he said he could take two things away from his personal performance in Monday's 92-77 Clippers' win: For one, he plays better when he thinks less, and, for two, he plays better when people tell him he can't guard them.

"I guess he heard in the papers that I was locking him up," Young said of Durant. "So that kind of motivated me."

Durant, who was whistled for a double technical foul with the Clippers' Mo Williams, late in the second quarter, wasn't the only one talking abnormal amounts of trash. Young said he started talking back more and more as the game went on, and several Clippers players noted chippy exchanges at various points in the game.

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Timing is sometimes as important as results in the NBA during this truncated season. Take, for example, the season series between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies.

On Monday night, the Grizzlies beat the Clippers 94-85 in what could be a preview of a first round playoff series between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds. As important as Monday night’s result was, the Clippers are still a half game ahead of the Grizzlies in the standings and still hold the all-important tie-breaker with a 2-1 advantage in the season series.

The Grizzlies, however, could have blown up the Clippers’ season 16 days ago if they had beaten them at the Staples Center after the Clippers came limping into the game having lost three road games in three days. There were reports at the time that Clippers owner Donald Sterling was prepared to fire coach Vinny Del Negro after the game if the Clippers had lost. Instead, the Clippers responded with arguably their most complete game of the season, beating the Grizzlies 101-85. They would go on to win six straight, their longest winning streak in 20 years, and won 8 of 9 games to turn around their season.

Whereas a blowout loss two weeks ago could have cost the Clippers their coach and maybe their season, now it simply signals a moment for both teams to step back and reevaluate where they are with ten games left in the season.

Think of it like a boxing match. The Grizzlies could have delivered a knockout punch early; the Clippers withstood it and now it’s basically even on the judges’ cards with ten rounds left.

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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 (25-18) vs. Detroit Pistons (16-28) at Staples Center, 12:30 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Back-to-back: The Clippers play back-to-back afternoon games at Staples Center this weekend, and after beating the Houston Rockets on Saturday they will try to do something they haven’t done in a month: win consecutive games. The last time the Clippers won consecutive games was Feb. 15-16 against Washington and Portland. They haven’t won back-to-back games at home since January. This is the Clippers’ 11th set of back-to-back games this season; they own a 9-3 record in the first game and a 5-5 record in the second game. In the second game of back-to-backs, the Clippers have scored on average nearly 8 points fewer than in the first game.

2. Close call: After pulling out close games to start the season when they jumped out to a 19-9 record, the Clippers had fallen into a funk where they simply could not close out games. Since Chauncey Billups went down for the season, the Clippers were 9-11 and had lost nine of 14 games, and had an 8-8 record in games decided by five points or fewer. The Clippers were able to reverse that trend Saturday against the Rockets by coming back from six points down with less than three minutes left to win 95-91. “It was a grind out win for us,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We had to make plays down the stretch and we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well which put a lot of pressure on us but Chris [Paul] made some big plays down the stretch.”

3. Young debut: After sitting out Saturday’s game, Nick Young could make his debut for the Clippers on Sunday. Young was traded to the Clippers on Thursday for a future second round pick and Brian Cook and figures to be an integral part of the team as they make a push for the playoffs. Young, who was averaging 16.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 32 starts this season for the Washington Wizards, has tried to pick up on the offense since arriving at Staples Center and talking with Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups before Saturday's game. “I want to be somebody that can take the pressure off Chris and Blake [Griffin],” Young said. “With me knocking down shots, the lane will open up.”

4. Billups on the bench: Chauncey Billups made his return to the Clippers' bench on Saturday and his impact was felt quickly in the locker room and on the sidelines. While Billups will not be able to play again this season, he sat alongside the coaches and spent much of the game talking to Paul, Eric Bledsoe and Mo Williams. Paul even credited Billups with helping him take over the game in the final three minutes to lead the Clippers to the win. “He told me, ‘C, we need you to score, we need you to be more offensive-minded’ and I needed that,” Paul said. “I usually call him after every game and we talk about what he saw. It’s one thing to talk to him after the game when you can’t change what happens but now he’s here at the game and can help us.”

5. Stop complaining: A good portion of the Clippers’ hour long closed door meeting on Thursday had to do with the team’s incessant need to complain to officials after virtually every call. It has caused the Clippers to lose points, patience and games. Against the Rockets on Saturday, the Clippers were better than they have been in the past and it may have helped them get a call or two their way as they came back from six points down with less than three minutes left. “If you just play, you'll get more calls," Clippers guard Randy Foye said. “If you don't complain, you'll get more calls.”

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 (23-15) vs. Golden State Warriors (16-21) at Staples Center, 6:30 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Back-to-back: Perhaps no stat better indicates the Clippers' struggles and inconsistent play as of late than the fact they have not won back-to-back games since Feb. 16. After beating Washington and Portland, the Clippers lost six of their next nine games, including a 104-97 loss to Golden State. After their best offensive performance of the season in a 120-108 win over the San Antonio Spurs, the Clippers’ first win in San Antonio since 2002, the Clippers think they have turned the tide. The Clippers have also lost two of their last three at home. A win against Golden State would not only give them back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month but would help set the tone for their six games in eight days at home.

2. Waters of March: The Clippers’ best offensive performance and perhaps their biggest win of the season couldn’t have come at a better time. They salvaged a 3-3 road trip, stayed in first place in the Pacific Division by percentage points and will now try to navigate through the rest of the rough waters in March, where the Clippers play 20 games in 31 days. The Clippers are the first team in 45 years since the Cincinnati Royals in February 1967 to play at least 20 games in a month. The Clippers are 3-3 so far this month, with 11 of their next 14 games coming at home.

3. CP3 steps up: Chris Paul had his best game as a Clipper against the Spurs, posting 36 points and 11 assists in the win. Paul became only the third visiting NBA player to score more than 35 points and hand out more than 10 assists in a game at San Antonio. The only two other players to do so were Paul Westphal in March 1979 (43 points and 11 assists for the Suns) and Isiah Thomas in February 1983 (46 points and 11 assists in an overtime game for the Pistons). Paul is the only player in Clippers history to record a game with at least 35 points, 10 assists and 4 steals. Since the 2000-01 season, Paul is one of just seven players to have at least 36 points, 11 assists, 4 steals and 4 rebounds in a game. The last player to do it was Warriors guard Monta Ellis, who will play Paul on Sunday.

4. Butler’s in: Probably the biggest X-factor for the Clippers this season is Caron Butler. The 10-year forward has struggled over the last 10 games but may have finally worked his way out of his scoring slump in the Clippers’ win at San Antonio. Butler scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and added 3 assists. When Butler scores 13 or more points the Clippers are 15-7. Before the Spurs game, Butler failed to score a single point in the Clippers’ loss to Minnesota on March 5. It was the first time in six years that Butler had not scored in a game.

5. Mo-mentum off the bench: Clippers guard Mo Williams continues to make his case for Sixth Man of the Year honors. Against the Spurs, he exploded for a season-high 33 points, going 12-of-19 from the field, and equaling a career-high by going 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. It was the first time since April 8, 2010, that he had scored over 30 points in a game. It was just the 14th time in Clippers history that a player has come off the bench to score at least 30 points and only the ninth time this season that a player has come off the bench in an NBA game to score at least 33 points.

SAN ANTONIO -- As Mo Williams scarfed down chicken fingers after the Clippers' 120-108 win over the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center, he explained how the touch of the ball in his hands early in a game helps him shoot the ball late. There's an acclimation process for a shooter that enables him to hit 7-of-9 attempts from beyond the arc en route to a season-high 33 points, particularly in a half-court offense that favors improvisation.

“The most difficult thing to do in this game is to call things on the fly,” Williams said. “It was nothing that came from the sidelines. It was just basically, ‘I just hit a 3, okay, let's get you another 3. That's what we're going to do.’ It was kind of like an eye contact.”

In many respects, Williams is the Clippers' totem. There isn't so much a reason as a rhythm to his game. He doesn't offer the Clippers much on the defensive side of the ball, and his role on the team is more fuzzy than defined. But give him enough space on the offensive end of the floor and he'll occasionally win you a basketball game.

The victory was a milestone for the organization -- the Clippers' first in San Antonio since Jan. 31, 2002, when Michael Olowokandi went for 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots -- but like many others it was a triumph of anarchy over order. “Only two of the nine plays that ended in 3-pointers were set plays for us,” Williams said -- a fact Chris Paul independently confirmed on the other side of the locker room as the Clippers prepared to pack up and return home to Los Angeles after a 3-3 road trip.

Should the Clippers take comfort in their ability to manufacture points out of chaos? That apart from an occasional flare screen from Blake Griffin along the perimeter or a pick from Reggie Evans at the top of the floor, most of the combined 69 points from Williams and Paul on Friday were the product of bedlam?

“Identity” is one of those buzz words you hear repeatedly out of the mouths of NBA coaches and players, but you rarely hear it from Vinny Del Negro or any member of the Clippers' core. The Clippers battle, fight and work, but try to define who they are as a basketball team and you're at a loss for words.

That's not necessarily a problem, especially if you believe that a team's character and distinctiveness reveal themselves over time. There's a lot working in the Clippers' favor as they return home for a six-game homestand. They're currently ranked third in the Western Conference standings and have beaten each of the other seven teams who'd qualify for the playoffs if the postseason began today.

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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.

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.