The Los Angeles Clippers continue their road trip from hell tonight, facing the undefeated New Orleans Hornets at the appropriately named New Orleans Arena. The Clippers have played well in the first two games of their road trip, but lost both games, 111-104 in Denver and 109-107 in double overtime Saturday night in Utah against the Jazz. The road trip concludes tomorrow night in San Antonio to face the Spurs.
The Clippers have not fared well against the Hornets of late, losing their last 13 meetings. The Clippers' last win over the Hornets was a 100-90 triumph on Jan. 8, 2007, in a game played in Oklahoma City. The Clippers have lost six straight games in New Orleans, with their last win coming April 20, 2005.
Blake Griffin has excelled so far this season, leading the NBA with 33 offensive rebounds in seven games. Griffin leads all NBA rookies averaging 11.0 rebounds per game, and he is second among rookies in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game.
The Clippers are 1-3 in their last four games, but have simply played at a different speed with Eric Bledsoe at point guard in place of the sore-kneed Baron Davis. Bledsoe and Eric Gordon have thrived in those four games, providing quite a backcourt duo:
| Clippers Backcourt Last 4 Games | ||||
| Player | Min/Gm | Pts/Gm | FG% | Ast/Gm |
| Gordon | 40.5 | 24.5 | 51.5% | 6.3 |
| Bledsoe | 40.0 | 13.0 | 55.0% | 7.0 |
The Hornets are 6-0, and all of their wins are by nine points or fewer. New Orleans has won four of their six games by six points or less. This is the first time in franchise history that the Hornets have been 6-0. Point guard Chris Paul, who had 19 assists in a win over the Miami Heat on Friday, leads the Hornets in scoring (18.7 points per game) and assists (10.2 per game). Paul is third in the league in assists per game, and tied for sixth with 2.3 steals per game.
Tonight's 5 p.m. PDT game will be televised on Prime Ticket.
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