The Los Angeles Clippers continue their homestand Sunday with an afternoon contest against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center. The matchup between these two teams has featured a home court advantage of late. The Warriors have beaten the Clippers nine out of their last 10 meetings in Oakland, including a 109-91 win in the second game of the season. Meamwhile, in Los Angeles, the Clippers have won 23 of their last 32 against Golden State.
The Clippers in their last 15 games have scored 100 points six times, and they have won all six of those contests. In the other nine games, they are just 1-8. Blake Griffin continues his bid for an All-Star nod on his home floor, averaging 21.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per contest. Griffin has an amazing 22 straight double-doubles, a streak that began with Griffin's 44-point, 15-rebound coming out party against the Knicks at Staples Center.
The Knicks are back at Staples Center Sunday, but they are in town to play the Lakers in a night affair. Since that game, Griffin hasn't just been barely qualifying for double-doubles, either. He has just one 10-rebound game during that stretch and only three 11-rebound contests. In addition, he has scored fewer than 20 points just four times, with a low of 13 points. During his 22-game streak, Griffin is averaging a whopping 24.8 points and 13.9 rebounds. Griffin has reached at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in each of his last 11 games.
Another force in the middle of late for the Clippers has been DeAndre Jordan, who is coming off a 14-point, 20-rebound, six-block performance against Denver. Jordan is averaging 10.6 points and 10.9 rebounds in his last seven games, and has a stunning 19 blocks in his last three contests.Griffin and Jordan should be able to take advantage in the middle against Golden State, who is the worst defensive rebounding team in the league. The Warriors grab 68.8% of available defensive rebounds, which ranks 30th of 30 NBA teams.
The Warriors' Dorell Wright is averaging 21.1 points over his last nine games, including the first two 30-point games of his career. Monta Ellis, who is third in the NBA averaging 25.6 points per game this season, has 10 different 20-point halfs this year, second in the NBA to Kobe Bryant. Today is the first of two meetings this week with the Warriors, as the two teams will hook up again in Oakland on Friday night.
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