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What is Pau Gasol worth?

Many believe this is the central question of the Lakers' offseason.

Gasol was integral to three straight Finals appearances. He out-fought and outplayed Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett in back-to-back Finals victories. But careers and perceptions change quickly in L.A. and, to many, it now appears imminent that Gasol and the remaining $38 million on his contract will be traded this offseason.

Three top Lakers writers break down Gasol's place in the Lakers' future:

• OC Register’s Kevin Ding (who noted Gasol had a plus/minus of minus-53 for the second round): "It's abundantly clear now that the triangle offense is long gone that Lakers can use some perimeter pizzazz and tenacity a lot more than they can use Gasol's versatility-turned-uncertainty. But even if Gasol averages 50 points and 30 rebounds in the Olympics, the Lakers have a further complication in that they are trying to reduce their payroll in the wake of the post-lockout luxury-tax penalties and revenue sharing that have changed their landscape. Because of that, trading Gasol for a great player who has another massive contract isn't what they really want, either. The Lakers might have to go that route and figure out some money things later, as they were willing to do with their aborted deal for Chris Paul before the season."
• ESPN LA’s Dave McMenamin: "Bryant publicly demoted Gasol to the third scoring option during the regular season and then called him out in the playoffs for not being the aggressive scorer he once was. That makes Gasol the first to go. Call up Houston. Call up Chicago. Call up Minnesota. Call up Orlando. See whether interest is still out there. Better yet, call up all 29 other teams and maybe even go the draft pick route. This year's draft is widely considered to be the deepest in nearly a decade. Gasol turns 32 in July. He's played 11 years in the league plus put in a ton of time overseas playing for the Spanish national team. He averaged 12.5 points per game during the playoffs. History will show he was a vital piece of the Lakers' championship lore, but now is not the time for nostalgia. He's the first domino."
• ESPN LA’s Brian Kamenetzky: "He's supremely talented, versatile and a true team player capable of elevating any good team to elite status, and perhaps of pushing a near-elite team over the top. On the other hand, he won't transform a Brooklyn-esque loser, is very expensive, on the downside of his career, and short of being sent to a team in Spain, won't energize a season-ticket base. Finding a new home for Gasol isn't a simple proposition. The same contract prompting the Lakers to move him will make many teams hesitant to take him on."

The analysis above agrees that Pau is: expensive, talented, seven years older than Andrew Bynum and perhaps not the best fit, emotionally, with Kobe Bryant (though that seemed to be working just fine a few years ago).

The Lakers need more depth and fewer gargantuan contracts, so all signals point to Gasol's departure. Indeed, the Lakers have signaled that they are ready to part with him and, though the transaction was canceled by the NBA, the thwarted three-way deal that would have brought Chris Paul to the Lakers still provides the most accurate measure of Gasol's value.

Back in December 2011, the Rockets were willing to give up Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic in exchange for Gasol.

That’s quite a haul, and a similar trade this summer would supply the Lakers, who counted on Steve Blake and Devin Ebanks for important rotation minutes in the playoffs, with real punch off the pine.

But after a disappointing postseason, does Gasol net the same goodies?

It’s true 2012 was Gasol’s worst scoring season of his NBA career by a point, though his rebounding and assist numbers remained constant. And it’s true that Gasol played farther from the basket on offense than at any time in his career.

It’s also true -- and this is important -- that Pau Gasol is a center. The Lakers managed to end up with two excellent 7-foot players, so Gasol, the more versatile one, plays power forward, but he’s a center. And it’s hard to overvalue a center who rebounds, defends, scores and passes like Gasol. The fact that the Lakers have surplus of this kind of player is borderline obscene and the reason many thought they could contend this season despite their obvious flaws.

They have options.

Perhaps Bynum would draw a better return.

Or maybe instead of ditching Gasol or Bynum, the Lakers could, like the San Antonio Spurs, simply extract more value from their cheaper pieces. After all, the combined salary of Kawhi Leonard, Gary Neal and Danny Green is less than the Lakers pay Steve Blake.

But it won’t be possible for them to get anywhere near the salary cap with their big three -- or even their two bigs -- on the books.

See, here’s the real issue for the Lakers, the one that makes moving Gasol or Bynum seem inevitable: Kobe Bryant’s spectacularly huge contract.

Last offseason, Henry Abbott first noted what an albatross this contract would become:

"Bryant is due to draw a salary of $25,244,493 in 2011-2012, $27,849,149 the following year and $30,453,805 in 2013-2014, when he will be 35. The cold hard question for general manager Mitch Kupchak would become: Which Laker team is better, Bryant and $32 million or so in supporting cast, or $60 million in the best players money can buy without Bryant?

...it may be time to find out if Bryant might consider waiving his no-trade clause. He is such a big name that he may, even under a new CBA, fetch the Lakers a player or two in addition to salary cap relief.

Then there's the final, unthinkable option: It has been discussed that the new CBA may have an amnesty clause, that lets teams buy out players and send them on their way. Depending how it's negotiated, this could include salary cap relief. And if so, would the Lakers use it on Bryant?”

Whether or not they knew league-wide austerity measures were in the offing in 2010, when they gave Bryant his last big extension, there’s no debate that, in basketball terms, the Lakers drastically overvalued their star wing. He is now a volume scorer who is still an excellent player, but the fact is that players better than him -- like Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul -- are paid way less. Even supposing that, despite his age, Bryant's game somehow remains at its current level, the market price for a superstar has fallen precipitously since his last contract.

By the time Kobe's current contract nears expiration, it will be one of the worst in the NBA -- not because he will have deteriorated beyond recognition, but because the outrageous sum will have such a limiting effect on the Lakers' options.

So perhaps instead of wondering what Pau is worth, we should be asking different questions:

Is it worth $30 million in 2014-15 to see Bryant retire a Laker?

To many, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!”

But what about on the court -- is he worth more than Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined?

Because that’s how much he makes.

Is he worth destroying the most formidable frontline in the NBA?

Because, as everyone seems to tacitly acknowledge, that’s how much Kobe Bryant costs.

LOS ANGELES -- The dais here in the bowels of Staples Center has lately served more as a stage for a budding stand-up routine than a postgame news conference.

In each of the Clippers’ two home wins in their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul dolled themselves up, sometimes in suits with more pieces than a Lego pack, and with Paul’s adorable son on his dad’s lap, they would begin rolling out yucks like they were auditioning for a buddy comedy.

But the vibe for Saturday’s postgame greeting with the media was about as funny as a funeral. A banged-up Griffin, who didn’t rise from his seat afterward so much as he slowly detached himself from it, even came dressed in a black jacket.

Paul, however, was nowhere to be found this time.

Just another time that CP3 has gone MIA in the Clippers’ second-round series with the Spurs.

“I don’t know what Chris will say, but I don’t know if he’s 100 percent Chris Paul,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the Spurs took a commanding 3-0 series lead with a 96-86 victory.

Paul -- who skipped the bright lights and cameras for a good, old-fashioned media scrum in the Clippers’ locker room after another very non-#podiumgame (12 points on 5-for-17 shooting and 11 assists) in Game 3 -- swatted any concerns that the strained right hip flexor suffered over a week ago in Memphis, on top of other dings and dents he might have collected along the way, limiting his game.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Paul said. “I’m all good and well.”

But in general, he doesn’t disagree with Pop -- something’s not quite right.

“I’m just missing, I’m just missing,” he said. “It’s the toughest thing right now, but I’m fine [physically].”

While Griffin has gotten better offensively by the game, scoring 26 points on 62 percent shooting this time around after a 20-point performance in Game 2, Paul is averaging a very mortal-looking 9.3 points and 8.3 assists in 37 minutes per game. But Paul, who averaged 19.8 points and 9.1 assists a game in the regular season, isn’t one to always wow with his raw numbers. The proof that the league’s pre-eminent game manager is struggling can be found in his middling efficiency.

While he shot only 46 percent from the field in Round 1, Paul’s shooting percentage has dipped to 31 percent after a second game in the 20s. And while his showed more care of the ball after coughing it up eight times in Game 2, Paul already has totaled 16 turnovers.

Even in the fourth quarter, when he is supposed to be at his best, Paul hasn’t had much go right, as he’s shot just 2-for-8, with both makes coming in Game 3.

(Then again, there hasn’t been much to play for that late in the game these days.)

“Trying to, trying to,” Paul said when asked why he hasn’t made a Paul-like impact on the series. “But a lot of those shots in the lane and stuff like that, they're just coming up short, and missing.”

San Antonio was particularly effective limiting Paul’s impact on the pick-and-roll, the bread and butter of the point guard’s game. Paul was the ball handler on the pick-and-roll nine times in Game 3, according to data logged by Syngery Sports, and the Clippers came away with points on only three of those possessions.

The Spurs easily collapsed on Paul when he ran it early on with DeAndre Jordan, one of the team’s biggest offensive black holes among a patchwork post rotation. And while he had more success with Griffin as his partner, it often came off Paul pull-up jumpers from midrange, a shot the Spurs are likely OK with conceding.

Paul also struggled in isolation, missing all four attempts, perhaps a telling sign that the burst and quick-cutting ability that his game thrives on aren't where they should be.

“Chris is battling,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “Chris is giving us everything he has. … We’re not in this position without Chris, in terms of being in the playoffs and everything he means to the team and this organization. He gives you everything he has.

“I’ll go to battle with him every day of the week.”

He’s still battling. Soon, though, there may not be much left to fight for.

“Devastating,” Paul said. “We had an opportunity to put this thing [to] 2-1. We let it get away. I’ve gotta play better. At the end of the day, I’ve got to play better. If not, we’re gonna be in trouble.”

HoopIdea wants to #StopTheFlop. To spotlight the biggest fakers, we present Flop of the Night. You can help us separate the pretenders from the defenders -- details below:

Today we bring you not one, not two, but three egregious flops from two of the game's finest players.

LeBron James is the most dominant athlete in the NBA, capable of leveling an entire team with an inspired run of unstoppable drives to the rim. So his willingness to exaggerate contact tends to drive fans nuts. Last night James found himself trapped against the sideline with David West and Danny Granger closing in on him. Out of any other options, and unprompted by contact, he essentially fell out of bounds (video) to preserve possession.

It happened right in front of ESPN's Mike Tirico, who called LeBron's performance "an extraordinary swan dive."

Not to be outdone, Tony Parker proved to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin that when it comes to flopping they still have much to learn. Parker's first flop came when a nudge from Chris Paul sent him careening to the floor (video).

The call was a big one -- it put Paul on the bench with three first half fouls.

But his best flopping work (Video) of the night came just 20 seconds later, and at the expense of Blake Griffin.

After chasing down a loose ball in the back court, Parker had only a handful of seconds to recover possession and get off a shot before the shotclock expired. Wary of this fact, Griffin chased him along the sideline to force Parker to use up the clock.

Instead, Parker used Blake's effort to draw a foul and rescue the possession.

With the benefit of replay, ABC play-by-play man Dan Shulman explained that instead of being fouled, "Tony Parker initiated that contact. He grabbed the arm of Blake Griffin, and made it look like he was being grabbed."

But the official who made the call was trailing the play, and only saw Parker's "reaction," not the shenanigans that prompted his wild flailing.

When you see an egregious flop that deserves proper recognition, send us a link to the video so we can consider it for Flop of the Night. Here's how to make your submission:

• Alert HoopIdea to super flops with the Twitter hashtag #FlopOfTheNight (follow us on Twitter here).
• Use the #FlopOfTheNight hashtag in Daily Dime Live.
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

Coming off a pair of 1st-Round sweeps, the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are each on the front end of series against teams coming off a seven-game series.

The Thunder had eight days off prior to their 29-point demolition of the Los Angeles Lakers (one day of rest) on Monday. The Spurs, who will have had seven days off, open their series Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers (one day of rest).

Is it possible for a team to have too much time off between series? At what point does "rest" lend itself to "rust"? If recent history is any indication, "rust" is overrated.

Over the last 15 seasons, teams with at least seven days off are now a perfect 6-0 against teams with just a single day to recover. What's shocking might not be the perfect 6-0 record, but the fact that the games haven't even been close.

The average margin of victory in those six games is nearly 25 points per game. The only one of those six games to be decided by single digits was Game 1 of last year's Western Conference Finals in which the Dallas Mavericks beat the Thunder by nine after leading by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter.

Just how important is that extra day of rest for the team with the quick turnaround? Whereas teams with a week off are perfect when their opponents have just a single day to recover, they are just 5-7 when their opponents have two or more days of rest while averaging 23.5 fewer points per game.

The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that over the last 10 years, there were six series played between one team coming off a sweep and the other off a seven-game series. Five of those six series were won by the team coming off the sweep, with the lone exception being the Orlando Magic's elimination of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.

Clippers-Spurs Key Notes

- The team that wins Game 1 of a seven-game series goes on to win 78.2 percent of the time (337-94, including the 1st Round this year).

- This is their first-ever meeting in the postseason.

- The Spurs are 26-2 at home against the Clippers since drafting Tim Duncan. The .929 win percentage is tied for their third-best at home against any team over that span (27-0 vs Golden State Warriors; 14-0 vs Atlanta Hawks).

- To say these teams have differing levels of success in the postseason would be a drastic understatement. Despite being in the NBA for six fewer seasons, the Spurs have more NBA titles (four) than the Clippers have series wins (three). The Spurs have more than four times as many series wins (34) as the Clippers have playoff appearances (eight).

- Much of the focus will be on the matchup between Chris Paul (third in MVP voting) and Tony Parker (fifth in MVP voting). The two have faced off seven times in the postseason, with Parker winning four times. Paul has enjoyed the statistical advantage, averaging 23.7 points per game and 10.7 assists per game (19.4 PPG, 5.7 APG for Parker).

Statistical support for this story given by NBA.com.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- What was once indifference between the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies has descended into hostility over six games. These teams actively dislike each other. The Clippers have made light of Memphis' "Grit 'n' Grind" handle and generally annoyed the Grizzlies with their posturing. Memphis has countered that the Clippers are a bunch of floppers -- its head coach going so far as to accuse Chris Paul in a live interview during Game 4. When the topic of Paul's injury came up after Game 6, Zach Randolph fired back that he didn't even know Paul was hurt, implying that the Clippers' injuries were merely incidental, a sideshow.

All of it will come to a head on Sunday afternoon in Game 7.

The health of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin
Whatever Randolph says at the podium, the Clippers simply aren't the same team with Paul and Blake Griffin hobbled. On Friday night after the Grizzlies' Game 6 win in Los Angeles, Paul, Marc Gasol and Randolph pointed out that nobody is 100 percent this time of year. True, but the Clippers can't function as an offensive team without Paul and Griffin. When the Clippers had their offense rolling late in Games 1 and 3 and most of Games 2 and 4, the formula was simple: Make the Grizzlies choose between bringing bodies to the paint to stifle Paul's penetration, which presents problems on the perimeter and with balance, or yield seams to Paul and pray that the help will come from the right place at the right time.

Paul clearly doesn't have the same burst off the bounce or the ability to change speeds, probe, beat his guy and get to his spot for an elbow jumper before the defense can recover. Without that, the Clippers' offense suffers from rigor mortis. Paul can't split a trap, and ultimately, the Grizzlies can play him straight up, while the help can stay home on the Clippers' perimeter shooters. With Paul on the court in Game 6, the Clippers shot only 39 percent.

Meanwhile, Griffin pummeled Memphis in his breakout Game 4 as the roll man with Paul, posting up and going decisively into his move. That's the key: Griffin's knee won't prevent him from being on the floor, but without a confident face-up game, he must rely entirely on those up-and-unders, spins and step-throughs. With the bum knee, he's a step slow -- and you can slice a few inches off the vertical. That's the difference between wreaking destruction at the rim and having to finesse his way to the basket.

The Grizzlies' inside job
Gasol got what he wanted after a frustrating long weekend in Los Angeles during Games 3 and 4: He's again the centerpiece of the Memphis offense. On Friday night, there was a lovely balance to Gasol's game, an exhibition of his versatility. Memphis used him to run a pick-and-roll in the left slot, from where he was able to beat the Clippers' rotation on the dive. They posted him up on the left block, where he launched that pretty hook over the Clippers' defense. And when the Clippers came hard at Gasol in the high post, he dumped it off to Randolph (the recipient of all three of Gasol's assists) in Memphis' savvy high-low game.

The pinpoint bounce pass that Gasol delivered to Randolph at the three-minute mark in Game 6 was a thing of beauty. Mike Conley and Gasol ran that angle pick-and-roll on the left side. Gasol stopped at the edge of the paint and received the pass as the Clippers trapped Conley, forcing Kenyon Martin to rotate up from the baseline. As Martin approached, Gasol hit Randolph wide open beneath the hoop on the right side. A perfectly executed play by Memphis at the biggest moment of the series, which is how you advance in the postseason.

Randolph has found his legs and looks more like the bully from last season's playoffs than the player who was struggling to carve out space for himself down low. For Randolph to be successful, he needs to rip through and keep his defender moving. That's how he creates that space, and that's what he's been doing the past few games.

Having two big men with diverse but overlapping skill sets allows Memphis to do some interesting stuff in the half court. Sometimes the offense just needs a nudge.

Who else for the Clippers?
With Paul and Griffin banged-up, the Clippers must get something exceptional from one of the supporting actors. Randy Foye, Caron Butler, Mo Williams and Nick Young have each had their moments over this season and, to a lesser extent, in the playoffs. In Game 5, that performance came from second-year dragonfly Eric Bledsoe.

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro isn't predisposed to trust young players. Whether it's because he's risk-averse, conflict-averse or just more comfortable with guys who've "been there," Del Negro favors vets. With Paul hurting and Williams suffering a hand injury in Game 6, Del Negro had to lean on Bledsoe for significant minutes -- and it's about time.

Bledsoe doesn't stretch the floor for the Clippers, but he's their best perimeter defender on and off the ball. He has an uncanny synergy with Paul in the backcourt. For aforementioned reasons, the two played together for only 76 minutes in the regular season. The Clippers scored 111.4 points per 100 possessions during that time and gave up only 93.5. In this series, Bledsoe is a plus-35. When Bledsoe on the floor, Conley is minus-34 (and plus-47 when Bledsoe is off).

Both Bledsoe and Foye, who has struggled in the series, will have to make major contributions on Sunday for the Clippers to escape Memphis with a W. The Clippers also will have to be more resourceful because their two best creators are limited. When Reggie Evans is your roll man off the high ball screen, life doesn't become any easier, because now two defenders are blitzing Paul. As it is, Tony Allen and Conley make things difficult enough because they can play the Clippers' perimeter straight up. Getting the shooters clean looks at the basket will have to come via flare screens and a ton of movement in the half court.

So who's it going to be?

The battle on the margins
In many ways, this series has been fought in the periphery -- on the offensive glass, in passing lanes, at the foul stripe. Neither team has gotten much of what it wants offensively, but there have been ample opportunities to supplement that cruddy output with extras. For instance, the Grizzlies have annihilated the Clippers on the offensive glass, where Memphis has collected more than one out of every three available rebounds -- its 33.7 offensive rebounding rate is tops among postseason teams. (As a frame of reference, the Bulls ranked first in the regular season with a 32.6 offensive rebounding rate.)

For the Grizzlies, this is vital because they're a terrible shooting team. They've been outshot by the Clippers in the series but have been able to make up ground by getting additional looks at the basket -- at short range, no less. Memphis' prowess on the offensive glass is especially impressive when you consider that the Clippers were a pretty decent defensive rebounding team during the regular season. Overall, the Grizzlies have racked up 15.4 second-chance points per 48 minutes, with only 10.2 for the Clippers.

In the turnover event, the Clippers protected the ball better than any team other than Philadelphia during the regular season, and Memphis led the league in opponent turnover rate. Something had to give, and true to form, the Clippers and Grizzlies have played to a draw with identical 12.69 turnover rates. The Grizzlies had been winning the turnover battle but coughed the ball up 22 times in Game 6 -- the only reason the Clippers were in a game in which the Grizzlies shot better and controlled the glass decisively.

Then there's the foul game. Both teams hack with impunity, and both are spending plenty of time at the stripe in this series. But the team that has gotten to the line with greater frequency has won five of the six games -- the Clippers' Game 3 rally the only exception.

Here, the Clippers have to be careful on Sunday. When players are gimpy, they have a tougher time staying in front of their guy. They're more desperate defenders and, in turn, tend to be more likely to foul. Paul didn't foul out of a game all season but was whistled for six fouls in Game 6. Evans, who likely will pick up some of Griffin's minutes, is a foul machine. With the Grizzlies re-establishing their inside game, there will be more pressure than ever on the Clippers' defense to body up on the block. They'll have to do so carefully.

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Information in this post was provided by NBA.com.

LeBron James became the eighth player in NBA history to win three MVP awards Saturday, earning the honor after leading the Miami Heat in points, rebounds and assists this season.

James also led his team in total points, rebounds and assists when he won his first MVP award with the Cavaliers in 2008-09. He joins Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in league history to lead their teams in each of those categories in at least two MVP seasons. (Chamberlain did it three times).

For the sixth time in his nine NBA seasons, James averaged at least 27 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game. The only other player with six such seasons is Oscar Robertson, who did it six times in his 14 seasons.

As James made clear when he accepted the award, he has a "bigger goal" remaining this season: winning his first NBA title. At the moment, James is the only member of the three-MVP club without an NBA championship ring. The other seven players with three or more MVP trophies have combined to win 34 NBA titles, an average of nearly five per player.

James, Karl Malone and Steve Nash are the only players to win multiple MVP awards but not a league title (Malone and Nash have each won the award twice).

James earned 85 first-place votes and 1,074 total points, finishing 185 points ahead of runner-up Kevin Durant in voting. According to multiple metrics, James was the clear choice.

With James on the court, the Heat outscored opponents by 474 points during the regular season, giving James the highest plus-minus rating in the league. James has led the NBA in plus-minus each of the last four seasons since Paul Pierce had an NBA-best +784 rating in 2007-08.

James also led all players in estimated wins added, a metric that estimates the number of wins a player adds to a team over the course of a season above what would be expected from a "replacement" player. The concept is similar to wins above replacement (WAR) in baseball.

James is estimated to have added 23.5 wins to the Heat's season total this season. The top three in estimated wins added mirrored the top three finishers in MVP voting, with Durant (20.0) ranking second and Chris Paul (17.5) coming in third.

This report from Kevin Arnovitz has some interesting thoughts from Clippers and Grizzlies players on the rampant flopping in their first-round series.

While Chris Paul dismissed the notion entirely (he plays the head game at another level), Reggie Evans and Blake Griffin were more open to discussing, and defending, their flopping philosophies.

• Griffin: "It's one of those things where every play means a lot. You never know what one play can do, so you're making sure you're getting every possession you can."
• Evans: "If you can sell a call and get away with it, why not do it? It's all a part of the game. It's always the one who it doesn't work out in their favor -- that's the one that's always complaining about it."
• Evans: "People say I flop a lot. I pick my moments. One thing about these referees, they do a good job of knowing who's high on the radar when it comes to flops."

The quotes reveal why players flop in the first place and why they are more motivated to do so in the postseason, when winning is all that matters.

Evans also addressed specific questions about Paul's reputation for flopping: "I don't think he's flopping. He's not the flopping type of guy, in my opinion. I think he really gets fouls. You think of a flop, you think of something like what (Pau) Gasol or (Danilo) Gallinari do. That's a flop. But Chris is getting fouled."

I wonder if Evans has seen this video.

We had the feeling there would be plenty of Flop of the Night fodder in the playoffs. But we never dreamed that anyone would approach Chris Paul's performance in Game 4.

In what must surely be the most impressive and ambitious flop in the history of the NBA, during a dead ball situation, Chris Paul flopped on a ref!

After Memphis called timeout, official Mike Callahan moved to get between Paul and Memphis forward Dante Cunningham, who were having a little passive-aggressive dispute over who got to hand the ball to the official. Paul knocked the ball out of Cunningham’s hands, and as Paul went to secure it, Cunningham flicked the ball away with his foot.

Callahan swiftly went to separate the two, creating contact that somehow triggered Chris Paul’s flop instinct.

Paul’s head whip was enough to convince Callahan that the situation was escalating, and he called a double technical foul on Paul and Cunningham.

So to recap: It’s a dead ball. Chris Paul flops when a referee touches him. The referee calls a double technical foul.

Paul’s control over a basketball game is truly complete.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, the Clippers were cementing a floppy reputation.

LOS ANGELES -- There was a moment toward the end of the first quarter in Game 2 between the Grizzlies and the Clippers when Memphis walked the ball upcourt after getting beat in transition. As Mike Conley tried to deliver the ball to Rudy Gay on the wing, Zach Randolph barreled into Blake Griffin just inside the arc.

The contact caught Griffin off guard, and he stumbled backward like a fighter who’d been hit. Just as Griffin regained his balance -- now below the foul line -- Randolph delivered another elbow to Griffin’s torso, knocking the Clippers’ brawny power forward further into the paint.

Back up at the top of the court, Bobby Simmons denied that intended pass to Gay. Conley was fortunate to recover the ball and, when he did, he saw Randolph primed in the paint. Easy entry pass to Randolph, who took a single power dribble and muscled the ball up off the glass with his left for an easy layup. After staggering early, Memphis trailed by only five points.

The Grizzlies ultimately won the game and much of their success was attributed to pushing the Clippers around at will.

A playoff series develops certain storylines, and a dominant one to emerge from the Grizzlies-Clippers matchup has been physicality -- who is manhandling whom beneath the glass, in the paint and any other place on the floor where there's contact between opponents, which seems to be any arbitrary point between the east bank of the Mississippi River and the coastline of the Pacific Ocean.

Designated brute Reggie Evans said the Clippers got “punked” in his team's Game 2 loss in Memphis. Back in Los Angeles prior to Game 3, the Clippers posted a quote from commentator Charles Barkley on the locker room wall:

Other than Kenyon Martin, [the Clippers] are not a physical team … If I was coaching the Grizzlies, I would say "We are not letting them dunk." They want to get the "play of the day." They don’t want to be rough and tumble.

When the Clippers eked out a win in Game 3 by dodging a bullet at the buzzer, they claimed victory in the physical sweepstakes. "Overall, I thought we did a good job of being the more aggressive team," Griffin said. "That was kind of the plan, to be the aggressive team from the jump. That’s [the Grizzlies’] whole M.O., being aggressive, their whole ‘Grit ‘n’ Grind’ thing."

On the Memphis side, Rudy Gay was despondent after the game. Gay is a genial guy, but about as milquetoast as they come when it comes to declarative statements about team and individual performance. Yet he could hardly contain his frustration at the podium following Game 3.

"We're supposed to have a physical team," Gay said. "They took that away from us today. They pushed us. They did all the things that we usually do to teams. ... They really imposed their will on us tonight."

Evans might have struck the most balanced note after the game, one that acknowledged fewer instances like the one Griffin suffered back in Memphis, but stopped short of wholesale praise.

"We did pretty good, but we can still improve," Evans said. "We still have a little more work. We don't want to get too comfortable, too relaxed and too happy with the results. Even though we won, found a way to get a win, we still have to go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong."

Evans understands that victory in the manhandling event tends to be assigned retroactively.

If Gay's last-second shot fell through the net, would he have bristled the way he did about the Clippers' seizing the mantle of schoolyard bully? Would the Clippers have been peppered with questions about whether their inability to control the trenches would be their undoing in this series?

"Physicality" is an ambiguous term whose definition changes player to player. When Evans was asked about it, he cited the offensive rebounding numbers. To Paul after Game 2, physicality meant Memphis' willingness to tug, pull and push him wherever and whenever he tried to navigate in the half court. Randolph's moments come when he and Griffin are wrestling for position.

And for Gay, it's about luring the opposing defense into illegal contact by being aggressive with the ball. For the Clippers, physicality doesn’t come without a price. They might have done a better job of holding their ground in Game 3, but they also let Gay and Randolph combine for 23 free throw attempts. There's smart physical and silly physical, and the Clippers simply can't foul Memphis the way they did on Saturday afternoon. Setting aside Memphis’ Game 1 exploits from the perimeter, the Grizzlies aren’t going to win this series from the perimeter. But they have big men who can stroke it from the foul line, and Gay has the capacity to turn a mediocre shooting performance into a charity drive, as he did in Game 3.

The Clippers can take down the bulletin-board material for Game 4. They did an acceptable job on the glass and Paul was more elusive to the Grizzlies behind the pick-and-roll. But there's still work to be done. Cutting down on the aforementioned fouls. Inspiring Griffin to leverage his big frame and plant a stake on the left block. Staying active on the glass. Fighting over those high picks for Conley.

The physical battle is usually portrayed as a bout, but it's just as much a game of wits. The Clippers worked harder in Game 3 -- and good for them. To take a decisive edge in Game 4, they now have to work smarter.

Ricky Rubio and Derrick Rose both tore their ACL’s this season. Rubio did so March 9 against the Lakers after the Timberwolves entered the day tied with the Rockets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Rose went down with 1:10 remaining in Game 1 of the First Round and the game already in hand for the Bulls.

Which point guard was more valuable to their team’s success this season? Most would probably assume Rose, the reigning MVP, was once again one of the most valuable players in the NBA when he was healthy. But is it possible that Rubio could’ve been a more valuable player than Rose?

RICKY RUBIO
In games Rubio played this season, the Timberwolves were 21-20 and had a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Without him, the Timberwolves lost 20 of their final 25 games and finished last place in the Northwest Division.

With Rubio off the court, the Timberwolves were 7.1 points worse per 48 minutes. The Timberwolves offense wasn’t affected as much as their defense was without Rubio. They scored 1.4 more points and allowed 5.7 fewer points per 48 minutes with Rubio on the court.

DERRICK ROSE
Rose missed 27 games during the regular season and the Bulls were 18-9 in those games. They were significantly better at 32-7 with Rose, but they still maintained the top seed in the East without him.

The Bulls were 3.5 points worse per 48 minutes with Rose off the court this season. The Bulls were greatly affected offensively without Rose, but their defense actually improved. They scored 8.2 fewer points and allowed 4.7 more points per 48 minutes with Rose off the court.

SUMMER OLYMPICS
Neither Rubio nor Rose will be able to compete for their respective countries in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Which player’s injury will have a larger effect, Rubio on Spain or Rose on USA?

In the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Rubio averaged 8.1 assists per 40 minutes, the second-highest behind Argentina’s Pablo Prigioni. Spain had to rely heavily on Rubio running the point without Jose Calderon, who injured his leg and didn’t play in Turkey.

Calderon will be an offensive asset, but Spain could be hurt defensively without Rubio. Since Calderon entered the NBA in 2004, nobody has better than his 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. This season, the Raptors scored more, shot better and had a much better assist-to-turnover ratio when Calderon was on the court, but their opponents also scored more and shot better while Calderon was out there.

Raul Lopez, Sergio Llull and Juan Carlos Navarro could also contribute for Spain at the point.

Rose led USA in assists per game (3.2) in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Without him, USA’s point guard options are Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. In the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Paul and Williams didn’t play and Westbrook averaged 18.8 points, 5.4 assists and 5.8 rebounds per 40 minutes. Paul (9.1 APG) and Williams (8.7 APG) both ranked in top five in the NBA this season in assists per game (Calderon was 4th and Rubio was 6th).

HoopIdea wants to #StopTheFlop. To spotlight the biggest fakers, we present Flop of the Night. You can help us separate the pretenders from the defenders -- details below.

We're going to single out Chris Paul and Reggie Evans here, but really, today this is a team award. The crowd in Memphis quickly caught on to the Clippers' now notorious reputation for flopping. SI's Chris Mannix captured the mood by tweeting that the Clippers were "flopping all over the place."

Though there are other instances we could mention, let's focus on video of two hysterically unconvincing flops from Paul and Evans, who have each won this award previously.

What's so incredible about these flops is that they occurred on back-to-back plays. So just as the telecast cut back from a replay of Evans flopping to the ground after running into Marc Gasol, we saw Chris Paul on this fastbreak flop, crumpling to the ground in anticipation of contact as Quincy Pondexter completely avoids Paul and dishes to Tony Allen.

It should be noted that O.J. Mayo, who epitomized the Grizzlies' relentless and cagey effort in Game 2, seemed to respond to the Clippers' flopping tactics by flopping right back. By the end of the game, as the Clippers pressured the ball all over the court in a desperate attempt to create turnovers, Mayo and Mike Conley were giving as good as they got.

Thankfully, the referees let 'em play a bit inside the Grind House. There's no love lost between these two teams, and the combination of bruising play and frequent flopping makes the officials' jobs all the more difficult.

When you see an egregious flop that deserves proper recognition, send us a link to the video so we can consider it for Flop of the Night. Here's how to make your submission:

• Alert HoopIdea to super flops with the Twitter hashtag #FlopOfTheNight (follow us on Twitter here).
• Use the #FlopOfTheNight hashtag in Daily Dime Live.
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

There was plenty of time to come. Down seven points with seven minutes left? That’s a lifetime for Chris Paul, who radiated a white-hot focus as crunch time approached.

Watching the game, you just knew the Clippers would make a push. After all, Paul has proven time and again that he is a basketball magician. As recently as Game 1, he needed only eight minutes to mastermind the disappearance of a 24-point deficit.

So just as he had in Game 1, Paul the magician waved his hand around his top hat, but this time nothing appeared. Try as he might, Paul simply couldn’t conjure the plays, much less the momentum, necessary to overtake Memphis.

The Clippers never got closer than seven points, and Paul watched as the Grizzlies made one play after another.

As the game escaped his grasp, you could see Chris Paul's determined brain -- of the most powerful tools in the NBA -- work into an intensity that bordered on rage.

With 1:47 left, one of Paul’s patented eight-foot fadeaways danced on the rim and fell off.

On the other end, he applied a violent half-nelson on Marc Gasol to prevent the giant from cutting to the rim.

Next he chased Mike Conley backward and used his chest to bully him to the ground, forcing Conley to cry “Uncle!” though it sounded more like “timeout!”

As Conley lay on the floor frantically pleading for time, Paul clawed the ball free, a moment too late.

Finally, when the game was clearly out of reach, he plowed into Conley on the left sideline, lowering his shoulder to dislodge the ball as he ran through the play. Seemingly relieved to at least levy a hard foul if he couldn't get the steal, Paul walked back and helped Conley to his feet.

Despite his best, genuine efforts, Chris Paul was running up against the limits of his ability to control the game, or at least this game. Even Paul, as great as he is and as hard as he tries, couldn’t wrangle Game 2 into the one he wanted it to be.

The Grizzlies are a team that thrives on chaos. They revel in the scrum, and are committed to elbowing, bumping and shoving the Clippers' best player every chance they get.

It’s an enthralling contrast to Paul, who doesn't shy from contact but is also obsessed with order, with his ability to control every aspect of the game -- the ball, opponents, teammates, referees, coaches -- he works every angle.

It’s also a fantastic challenge. Superheroes are most compelling when their opponent presents not just an existential threat (life or death) but a philosophical one -- think of the Joker’s destructive nihilism vs. Batman’s strict moral code in The Dark Knight.

The last two minutes of Game 2 were Batman pounding on the Joker in the Gotham jail cell, finally pushed beyond his ability to hold back, the Joker giggling manically in his face.

Last night it was the Grizzlies who claimed the last laugh. And we learned that even Chris Paul doing everything right is sometimes not enough to control the chaos.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Once the Grizzlies digested the Game 1 meltdown (come to think of it, they might not have been able to keep that one down), they went back to work, watched the film and likely came to a reasonable conclusion:

Memphis dominated the Clippers for 39 minutes on Sunday night.

If an NBA team defines success by their capacity to get the shots they want over the course of the game, Memphis achieved that for most of Game 1. If not for settling into their prevent offense, what Gilbert Arenas called "stalling," almost a four-corners style of play, this exercise might be a one-way exchange:

What do the Clippers need to do to get back in the series?

Chris Paul is aware of this dynamic. "I think Gilbert [Arenas] said it yesterday," Paul said. "[The Grizzlies] don't have to change anything. They beat the life out of us."

As good as the Grizzlies looked for three-plus quarters, they'll tweak their plan for Game 2. Meanwhile the Clippers have a ton of work to do to stave off the rigor mortis that afflicted them for most of the game:

Now starting at small forward for the Clippers against Rudy Gay...
Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro has been coy about his plans for the 3 spot in the Clippers' starting lineup, and for good reason. With Caron Butler lost to a fracture in his left hand, the Clippers have a couple of imperfect options. The first is journeyman Bobby Simmons, who hasn't seen much action lately. Simmons offers Del Negro better size against the rangy 6-foot-8 Rudy Gay. The Clippers staff likes Simmons' defensive judgment, but he's been an offensive liability, tallying a very sad Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 6.06. He's shooting 31 percent from the field and doesn't get to the line.

After playing the role of co-savior on Sunday night, Nick Young would be the natural candidate if the Clippers wanted to throw maximum firepower at Memphis with their starting lineup. But both Young and Del Negro have expressed a comfort with Young's role in the second unit. He's a one-on-one player and inveterate shooter who best operates as a microwave in a less structured game. Over the course of the season, Del Negro has been inclined to maintain order on his bench and elevate better defensive options to plug holes in the starting unit. Don't be surprised if Simmons starts, but Young finishes.

This decision for the Clippers is less about Simmons-Young and more about Gay, who was able to find mismatches at will over the first three quarters. Time and again, Gay would zip off down screens and force the Clippers' big men to switch out. Or Memphis would go to their "Pistol action," which forces a mismatch for Gay against one of the Clippers' guards. Had the Grizzlies not collapsed and stayed true to what was working for them offensively, the headline Monday morning might have read, "Gay carries Grizzlies to Game 1 victory."

Work through Marc Gasol
The Grizzlies don't boast the most efficient half-court offense, but you never would've known it by their performance in the first quarter in Game 1. Memphis' best-looking offense originated with Gasol, both as facilitator and scorer. When he wasn't draining face-up jumpers, Gasol was distributing the ball. He dished out six assists, at least one to each of the other four Memphis starters. Gasol's gifts were a beautiful composite of what makes the Grizzlies offense tick: A high-low pass to Zach Randolph, hitting Tony Allen (twice) on baseline cuts, a pair of kickouts to Conley when the defense collapsed, and a well-run handoff play for Gay.

Whether the Grizzlies have Gasol flash to the foul line where he can act as the distribution hub on the offense, or they put him into pick-and-roll plays on the left side which will pressure the Clippers' big men to make decision, he's the catalyst for Memphis. They got away from late in Game 1 and it might have cost them the game.

Can Z-Bo be Z-Bo?
By his own admission, Randolph isn't 100 percent, and you can see it in his work down on the right block. When Randolph is right, he uses his feet and mass to put his defenders on their heels. By keeping his defender moving, Randolph is to create that layer of space he needs to get that sweet shot up, with his countermove if necessary. Right now, he's hesitating and Blake Griffin and Reggie Evans are standing their ground and denying Randolph that coveted space. That needs to change if the Grizzlies want to have that inside-out look. The aforementioned Gasol-oriented sets are vital to the Grizzlies' success, but so is the Randolph-based stuff. Randolph might not demand a double-team right now, but he can't allow the Clippers' big men to establish position -- and confidence -- in his kitchen.

Feed the big dog
Speaking of the inside-out game, the Clippers have some issues of their own to address. Griffin needs more touches in the post, not just for his own productivity, but to get the Clippers' half-court offense humming. Griffin has superior speed and athleticism to anyone in the Memphis frontcourt corps, and he must get ample opportunity to exploit that advantage.

Force the Grizzlies to either play Griffin straight-up or send a double-team, out of which Griffin is a capable and willing passer. Much of the Clippers' perimeter game is predicated on Paul's penetration, but plenty of good looks materialize with Griffin leveraging the defense. That's when the ball starts moving in the Clippers' offense.

"This is the way our offense is set up," Randy Foye said. "It's about where the trap comes from. [Griffin] posts up on that left block. When he turns middle, they collapse, and put him in a situation where they make him pass the ball. I move over the weak side to try to get open, and he knows where to find me."

The turnover game
It's the immovable object and the irresistible force. The Clippers ranked second in the NBA in protecting the basketball (thank you, Chris Paul) while the Grizzlies led the league in forced turnovers (thank you, Mike Conley). In Game 1, the Clippers were out of character, coughing up the ball 18 times in 91 possessions. Memphis generated 20 points off those turnovers, a bounty that sustained them for much of the game. Memphis will need a similar output against a team that's far more efficient offensively. They also need to keep the Clippers off the offensive glass. Memphis has been no better than an average defensive rebounding team all season, but letting the Clippers collect nearly a third of their misses is, for all practical purposes, a turnover in its own right.

HoopIdea wants to #StopTheFlop. To spotlight the biggest fakers, we present Flop of the Night. You can help us separate the pretenders from the defenders -- details below:

Flopping in the NBA is hitting a new level with the arrival of the playoffs. Our first playoff Flop of the Night goes to LeBron James, a player who has shown a flair for the flop in postseasons past.

James’s prolonged reaction to a rugged back pick from Tyson Chandler drew the most scrutiny on Saturday (and a flagrant foul on Chandler), but it’s actually the preceding play that earns James this dubious award.

After deflecting a Knick pass, James tracks down the loose ball in the corner, where he is hemmed in by J.R. Smith. At first glance it seems as though Smith, in his eagerness to recover possession, nudges James to the ground. But this replay shows that it’s actually James who elbows Smith before losing his balance and falling out of bounds.

Luckily, Jeff Van Gundy was on the scene to call out the flop: “I’m not giving him that call. If I’m the referee, [it's] ball out of bounds, good. Knick ball the other way.”

It’s worth listening to the end of the clip, when a slow-mo replay of the flop reduces Van Gundy’s commentary to indistinct grumbling. He is literally speechless.

Runner up: Chris Paul, who is blown backward by this seemingly innocuous fourth quarter drive from Mike Conley.

When you see an egregious flop that deserves proper recognition, send us a link to the video so we can consider it for Flop of the Night. Here's how to make your submission:

• Alert HoopIdea to super flops with the Twitter hashtag #FlopOfTheNight (follow us on Twitter here).
• Use the #FlopOfTheNight hashtag in Daily Dime Live.
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

When Blake Griffin was assigned to the Los Angeles Clippers as the first pick at the 2009 draft, he moved through the usual rituals -- the handshake with David Stern, the donning of the cap, then his inaugural news conference as a member of his new team. With camera bulbs flashing like lightning bugs, Griffin fielded questions about joining a losing organization, one that lived in the shadow of its crosstown rivals.

Whatever he might have been thinking privately that night, Griffin said all that right things. The low expectations for his new team meant there was time to work and build a culture. He scoffed at a question about whether the franchise’s futility would affect his mood or mission.

“I know what’s happened in the past,” Griffin said then. “People keep telling me that, but I’m not just going to say, 'Oh, well, we haven’t had that many winning seasons so I’ll just give up now.'"

Nearly three years later, as Griffin prepares for his first postseason game, the Clippers are an organization whose culture has changed radically since his arrival. Griffin is partially responsible for the new vitality of the Clipper brand. His pyrotechnics, which began to attract real recognition in December 2010, helped the Clippers achieve cult status last season, even though they won only 32 games.

Griffin is a visual talent for a visual age, and his exploits are perfectly distributable on video platforms, which is where a fair number of us spend our time these days. His charisma has taken a peculiar turn this season, as he has become more polarizing -- but that pivot has also turned him into one of the league's lead characters.

Griffin's individual notoriety wasn't enough on its own to elevate the Clippers to relevance, but then Chris Paul arrived.

Like Griffin, the legacy of the franchise, its name, its past transgressions -- none of it fazes Paul. As far as he's concerned, the Clippers are the Los Angeles Pauls. The way Paul sees it, abstractions like history and superstition don't stand a chance against history if he's at the controls. He has accepted this franchise as his home, and that alone renders your snide comments and glib insults null and void. Ask him a question about the Clippers' storied futility, and he'll reject the whole premise.

Seriously. Ask him.

The Clippers now have two guys who have effectively rebranded the organization with their skills and appeal (or, perhaps for some, anti-appeal). After winning more than 60 percent of their games, the Clippers will take the floor in Memphis on Sunday night. As has been the case since the start of the season, nobody is quite sure what the threshold of success should be for the Clippers. Should their season be deemed a failure if they bow out ceremoniously to a quality Memphis Grizzlies team with home-court advantage? Or should a team with two superstars be disappointed with anything less than a conference finals appearance?

There's no consensus to these questions because we haven't figured out whether we should judge the Clippers' performance in the postseason through the lens of history or as just another NBA team.

For incrementalists, the outcome of the Clippers' playoff campaign isn't all that important in the larger context of the franchise's renovation. You don't cry if someone makes a dent while laying sheetrock for your dream home, one you hope to live in for the rest of your life. Even if the Clippers go quietly in a Round 1 loss, that won't nullify the accomplishments of the season. The Clippers are now a destination where superstars will set up shop, and where a young star can prosper as both player and persona. Ten years ago, Elton Brand heard nothing from the Clippers when he was eligible for an extension on his rookie deal. On July 1, 2012, it's a safe bet the Clippers brass will be on Griffin's doorstep at 12:01 a.m. with paper and pen to secure his services long term. Better yet, chances are that Griffin will sign that extension, which is no small thing. With Paul returning, the Clippers can pick up where they left off and continue the project. By next spring, a first-round exit a year earlier will be in the rearview mirror.

The counterargument is that this line of thinking is exactly the kind of defeatism that sentences bad franchises to eternal failure. You really think Paul cares about "larger narratives"? Have you watched him play? Paul cares about only one thing -- winning -- and any attempt to accept losing as a minor setback is silly. If you want to become a tent-pole franchise in this league, then act like it. No team worth its salt ever rationalizes losing. In fact, that's precisely how you delineate the Lakers from the Clippers.

For the past couple of years, the Clippers have been engaged in one of the most ambitious rebranding exercises in professional sports. That evolution won't be derailed by a first-round loss to Memphis, but there's a fine line between relevance and success.

The Clippers have claimed legitimacy. Now we'll see if they can win.