Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers look to continue their winning ways tonight in northern California as they face the Sacramento Kings at Arco Arena. The Clippers have turned their season around, having gone 8-9 after a 1-13 start. They have won four of their last five games, including the last two on the road. They have already beaten Sacramento twice this season, both times in Los Angeles.
Griffin is making a push at not only Rookie of the Year, but an All-Star push as well. He is averaging 21.1 points and 12.4 rebounds this season, joining Dwight Howard and Kevin Love as the only three players to average 20 and 12 this season. Griffin has 18 straight double-doubles, one shy of the longest streak by a Clipper since the 1986-1987 season. Michael Cage had 19 straight double-doubles from December 10, 1986 to January 16, 1987.
Griffin leads the NBA in slam dunks with 72, seven more than Amar'e Stoudemire. Teammate DeAndre Jordan is third in the NBA with 57 dunks. Eric Gordon is ninth in the NBA is scoring, at 23.9 points per game. Gordon is tied for fifth in the league with 22 games of 20 points or more. Griffin is averaging 13.9 points in the second half this season.
The Clippers have lost five straight games in Sacramento, with their last win coming on Dec. 7, 2007. But the Kings are reeling. They have lost seven straight games, 15 out of 16, and 21 out of 23. They started their season 3-1, but are now just 5-22, the worst record in the NBA. They are 0-3 in the first three games of a five-game homestand. Tyreke Evans leads the Kings in scoring (16.2 points per game), assists (5.2 per contest), and steals (1.4 per game) this season.
The Clippers are 1-15 when allowing 100 or more points, with their one win coming Sunday against Phoenix. Griffin and Gordon have combined for 58.8% of the Clippers' free throw attempts this season. The Clippers are 1-4 on the road in the second game of back-to-back contests this season.
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