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The Clippers are 18-23 all-time in season openers.
Here are tonight's starting lineups, between the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers, in the Clippers' season opener at Staples Center:
Point Guard: Andre Miller
Shooting Guard: Brandon Roy
Small Forward: Nicolas Batum
Power Forward: LaMarcus Aldridge
Center: Marcus Camby
Reserves: G Armon Johnson, G Wesley Matthews, G Patrick Mills, G/F Rudy Fernandez, F Dante Cunningham, C Fabricio Oberto
Point Guard: Baron Davis
Shooting Guard: Eric Gordon
Small Forward: Ryan Gomes
Power Forward: Blake Griffin
Center: Chris Kaman
Reserves: G Eric Bledsoe, G Randy Foye, G/F Rasual Butler, F Al-Farouq Aminu, F Brian Cook, C DeAndre Jordan, C Jarron Collins
As expected, Craig Smith and Willie Warren are inactive for the Clippers.
For more Clippers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Clips Nation.
As the Los Angeles Clippers prepare for their home opener tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center, thoughts turn to the pace of the game, especially since Portland is playing their second game of a back-to-back set. The Trail Blazers defeated the Phoenix Suns at home last night, 106-92.
Over at the wonderful Clippers' blog Clips Nation, Steve Perrin looks for the Clippers to run more often:
Baron Davis is best in the open floor, and the simple fact of the matter is that Blake Griffin is on an entirely different level of athleticism. So yes, they should look to push the tempo, if only for those two guys. I did see some encouraging signs on this front in pre-season. The Clippers, who may have a strength advantage at almost every position on any given night, looked to establish deep post position early in the clock, even when they didn't have a traditional fast break opportunity available. They did this with several players - Griffin, Kaman, Gomes. This is actually the key to playing at a high pace - any team will run on steals and long rebounds, but do you attack with pace even when the pure numbers advantage isn't there? And do you attack after makes? Several times during the pre-season, Griffin ended up with a transition dunk after a made basket by the opponent. That tells me they do indeed want to run. We'll start to get an idea tonight. The Blazers play at the slowest pace in the league, and part of that is playing transition defense.
Playing at an up-tempo pace can lead to the Clippers getting to 100 points, perhaps faster than Portland. Which brings us to Lawler's Law, one of the finest facts the universe as ever known. Coined by longtime Clippers' announcer Ralph Lawler, the law is simply this: first team to score 100 points wins. Last season, during Clippers' games, "Lawler's Law" went 56-2, after going 50-7 before that. In Clippers games since 1978, the team scoring 100 points first was 1801-156, a 92.0% winning percentage.
The Clippers have 14 players on their roster, which means two players will have to be listed as inactive tonight. Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times reported from this morning's practice:
Word from Clipper shootaround- inactive players tonight are Craig Smith and Willie Warren. Smith's back is still an issue.
Tonight is one of four Clippers games this season that will be televised on ESPN.
For more Clippers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Clips Nation.
(Sports Network) - Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers will get the 2010-11 season underway this evening, as they host the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center.
Known for decades as perennial NBA doormats, the Clippers actually have a chance to avoid the NBA Lottery and finish with a .500 record this upcoming season. They may not qualify the playoffs in 2010-11, but have enough talent, especially inside, to make a push in the Western Conference. Fans of the "other" team in Los Angeles have been witnesses to an underachieving club that brought in Vinny Del Negro as head coach and cleaned house in upper management.
Wealthy owner Donald Sterling has deep pockets and failed to use nearly $20 million in cap space during the free agent period. The Clippers flirted with the idea of luring LeBron James to the City of Angels before the superstar took his talents to South Beach, and ended up landing a handful of role players. Maybe the organization feels confident that a healthy return of Griffin is enough to get the team back to a respectable image.
Griffin, of course, suffered a broken kneecap during the preseason a year ago and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft never saw the floor for the remainder of the season. But the Oklahoma standout has worked tirelessly to get himself back into playing shape and has tremendous expectations to meet this season. Having a healthy Griffin team up with All-Star center Chris Kaman gives Del Negro several options to work with inside. He averaged a team-best and career-high 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game a season ago.
Clippers talented guard Eric Gordon hopes his success in the FIBA World Championships this summer will lead to an even better 2010-11 campaign. He earned the praise of Duke legend and Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski for his hard work and consistency for the gold-medal-winning team. Gordon improved on his defense under Coach K and is a good candidate for team MVP this season.
Baron Davis has been bothered by both knee and calf injuries this season, and hopes to get back to his once-dominant days as a Hornet. The slick-dribbling Davis isn't getting any younger and can serve as a mentor to the younger guys on the roster simply with his experience. His work ethic has come into question and Davis said last month he wants to drop a few more pounds to get to his desired playing weight.
The weight of losing seasons may finally get lifted for the Clippers, who have finished with a .500 record or better only three times since the 1991-92 season and haven't reached the postseason since 2005-06.
Portland kicked off its season with last night's 106-92 victory over the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. A 31-11 advantage in the fourth quarter was the difference and Brandon Roy led the way with 24 points and six assists.
Nicolas Batum recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds, and scored 11 points during an 18-1 run in the fourth quarter. Marcus Camby showed his still has something left in the tank and ended with 13 points and 10 boards for the Blazers, who had a 48-30 edge in rebounding and lost to Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs last season.
"I thought our guys tonight, we played the game we wanted to play," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said. "We stopped turning the ball over and got some penetration."
McMillan's Blazers went 3-1 against the Clippers in the regular season a year ago and have won nine of the last 11 meetings between the teams.
For more Clippers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Clips Nation.
The Los Angeles Clippers open their season Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers in a nationally televised game at Staples Center.The 7:30 p.m. PDT game is one of four Clippers' games on ESPN this season, and will simultaneously be televised on Prime Ticket.
The Clippers are 18-22 all-time on opening night, including 1-2 against Portland. The Clippers were 1-3 last season against Portland. The Clippers were 1-7 during the preseason, which was their worst exhibition record since going 0-2 in the strike-shortened 1999 preseason. The Clippers were also 0-6 in the 1986 preseason.
Blake Griffin led the NBA in rebounding in the preseason, averaging 12.3 per contest, and will make his NBA debut after missing all of last season with a non-displaced stress fracture of his left patella.
Chris Kaman, coming off his first All-Star selection last season, averaged 16.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game during the preseason. Kaman was just one of just eight NBA players last season to average 18 points and nine rebounds.
The Blazers defeated the Phoenix Suns 106-92 in their season opener Tuesday night at the Rose Garden in Portland.
On Monday the Clippers waived guard Marqus Blakely, trimming their roster to 14 players. On Clips Nation, Steve Perrin analyzed the transaction:
It was clearly going to be a tough transition for Blakely. At 6'5", he played power forward in college, getting almost all of his scoring in the paint at Vermont (go Catamounts!) He was going to have to be a small forward or even a shooting guard in the NBA. His athleticism and length are elite - he was the Clippers' best wing defender in Summer League by a long shot. But his ball skills on the offensive end need a lot of work, and that may be a lengthy process, if indeed he can ever get to an NBA level there.
Given the nature of the transition he was attempting, it could definitely take some time. To that end, don't be surprised if Marqus Blakely winds up back in the Assoc. in a year or two. The guy can play.
Here is the Clippers' opening roster:
For more Clippers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Clips Nation.
Blazers Beat Clippers 98-88, Spoil Griffin's Debut In Home Opener
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Brandon Roy filled the stat sheet with 22 points and 10 rebounds, as Portland won its second straight to start the season, downing the Los Angeles Clippers, 98-88.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Marcus Camby became the third Portland player with a double-double, posting 11 points and 14 rebounds. Nicolas Batum donated 15 points and six boards for Portland, which was coming off a 106-92 victory over Phoenix on Tuesday night.
Eric Gordon scored 22 points and Blake Griffin added 20 points and 14 rebounds in defeat. Griffin's 14 rebounds set the Clippers rookie record in a season debut. The Oklahoma standout suffered a broken kneecap during the preseason a year ago and the top overall pick in the 2009 draft never saw the floor for the remainder of the season.
Rasual Butler added 16 points for the Clippers, who brought in new head coach Vinny Del Negro to instill a winning culture. The Clippers have finished with a .500 record or better just three times since the 1991-92 season and haven't reached the postseason since 2005-06.
Portland scored seven straight points late in the first stanza to create some breathing room. A three-pointer by Rudy Fernandez punctuated the stretch for a 24-16 advantage.
Trailing 31-23 after one quarter, the Clippers edged close before finally taking the lead at 41-40 on Gordon's slam in transition. Butler capped eight successive points with a trey for a four-point edge, but Portland answered with nine straight of its own to take a 49-44 lead on Roy's mid-range bucket.
Roy's three-pointer just before the first-half horn pushed Portland's lead to 54-49. The Clippers trailed by as many as nine in the third quarter, but took the lead late on two Jarron Collins free throws for a 71-70 edge.
An 80-80 tie with just over seven minutes remaining turned into a double-digit margin thanks to 11 straight points for the visitors. Batum's driving layup and Aldridge's straight-on trey were the two killer shots in the spurt.
The Trail Blazers rolled to victory from there.
Game Notes
Portland has won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams...The Clippers fell to 18-23 all-time in season openers...Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan won his 200th career game in Portland.
Oct 27 10:52p by Julio Nievas - 0 comments