Bucks-Clippers Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Jan 06 2012 2:09PM

After years of futility, the new-look Los Angeles Clippers are suddenly anything but lacking in confidence.

The same can't be said for the Milwaukee Bucks, who let another potential win slip away their last time out.

The Clippers look for an 11th victory in 12 home meetings with a Bucks team hoping to avoid opening 0-5 on the road for the first time in seven seasons Saturday night.

With the additions of superstar point guard Chris Paul and former All-Stars Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler, Los Angeles (3-2) seems to have already shed its label as one of the NBA's bottom feeders.

The Clippers, who have just one playoff appearance over the last 14 seasons, are averaging 101.2 points on 48.5 percent shooting to rank among the league's top five in both categories.

"We're dangerous, man. We've got a very dangerous team, offensively. We can beat you in so many different areas," Billups told the team's official website. "I think that's going to be advantage for us all year, having so many different weapons offensively in the starting unit and in the second unit. We're going to win a lot of games like that."

In contrast, Milwaukee (2-4) has struggled to find a winning formula. The Bucks' only victories came against Minnesota and Washington at home at the end of December, and they dropped to 0-4 on the road with Thursday's 103-100 loss to Sacramento.

Milwaukee, which hasn't lost its first five road games since opening 0-7 as the visiting team in 2004-05, took a 21-point halftime lead but couldn't hold off the Kings. Three of the Bucks' losses have come by five points or fewer.

"I don't want to take anything away from (Sacramento's) performance, but I feel we should have won the game. This has become a trend for us and we have to find a way to solve it," coach Scott Skiles said.

"We have been able to build nice leads, and then we go away from what we do and this happens. We are having trouble acknowledging those types of problems, and we need to fix those types of problems."

Point guard Brandon Jennings recorded seasons highs of 31 points and five steals while going 6 of 10 from 3-point range Thursday, and Milwaukee may need another big effort from him if it hopes to keep up with the Clippers.

Los Angeles posted its highest point total and most lopsided victory of the season Wednesday, blowing out Houston 117-89. Paul had his second double-double with 20 points and 10 assists while Blake Griffin scored 22 along with nine rebounds.

The NBA's top rookie last season, Griffin seems to have taken his game to another level with Paul running the show. He is among the league leaders with an average of 25.2 points and is shooting 56.8 percent from the field - significantly better than his impressive 50.6 mark from last season.

"It's been great playing with him," Paul said. "He is a workhorse. I saw that when I played against him, but playing on the same team with him, you really appreciate how hard he works. But it's our job as guards - me, Chauncey and the other guards - not to make him have to work so hard. We're here to make his job easier, so that's what we're going to continue to try to do."

Griffin could have an easier time getting things going down low if Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut is unavailable. Bogut's status is unknown after he missed the last two games for undisclosed personal reasons.

Swingman Mike Dunleavy (groin) and forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (right knee tendinitis) also could remain out.

Griffin scores 22 to lead Clips over Bucks 92-86

Posted Jan 08 2012 2:27AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) On a night when point guard Chris Paul didn't have his usual numbers, Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups were there to help complement Blake Griffin's usual solid effort.

Griffin had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Butler scored 20 points against the team he suffered a season-ending injury against last January, and the Clippers beat the severely undermanned Milwaukee Bucks 92-86 on Saturday night.

"I love it," said Billups, who scored 19 points. "I love it because your stars don't have to be superstars every night. They can lean on other guys when it's not going so well."

The chippy game resulted in a combined 54 fouls, including a flagrant 1 against Milwaukee's Larry Sanders for his hard takedown of Butler on an attempted layup with 1:38 left in the third quarter.

Paul finished with nine points and seven assists.

"We have so many scorers and so many weapons that even if the ball doesn't go in sometimes, we'll still be able to score points," Griffin said. "As good as our new guys are, that's what makes that transition easier. Guys like Chauncey and Caron, because of how good they are and how hard they work and how much they love the game, it just flows a little bit better than it would otherwise."

The last time Butler played against the Bucks, on New Year's Day 2011 with Dallas, he ruptured a tendon in his right knee while going for an offensive rebound at Milwaukee. He underwent surgery and missed the rest of the Mavericks' championship season, then signed with the Clippers as a free agent.

"He's highly motivated, coming off that injury, and he's going to have a great year," Billups said. "I don't know if people forgot, but Caron has been one of the best small forwards in the game in the last seven, eight, nine years. He probably flew under the radar because he didn't play much last year. But we know about him, and he won't be a secret for long."

Brandon Jennings scored 21 points and had seven assists for the Bucks, who have lost four straight. They played their third in a row without center Andrew Bogut, who is in Australia attending to personal matters with his family. Teammate Luc Mbah a Moute, who helped UCLA reach the Final Four in 2008, missed his third in a row because of tendinitis in his right knee.

In addition, swingman Mike Dunleavy Jr. was sidelined by a groin problem, reserve guard Beno Udrih also sat out with an injured left shoulder, and reserve forward Jon Brockman left the game for good midway through the second quarter because of a bruised left eye.

Drew Gooden again started in Bogut's place, contributing 18 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes. The Bucks are off to their first 0-5 start on the road since 2004-05, when they dropped their first seven.

"We need somebody to step up and knock down shots for us," said forward Stephen Jackson, who was 4 for 18. "It has been difficult on this trip, for sure. We haven't gotten anybody with any consistency knocking down shots. We're not playing a very efficient game right now."

Paul took a breather after getting his fourth foul with 2:17 left in the third quarter and Los Angeles leading 65-59. He was replaced by Randy Foye, who had played only six minutes to that point despite his 14-point fourth quarter in Wednesday's 117-89 win over Houston.

The Clippers still had a four-point lead when Paul reported back in with 9:55 remaining, and they stayed in front the rest of the way. Paul hit a 20-footer with 2:23 remaining to help clinch it.

"I never go into a game saying I'm going to get 15 or 20 points. I'm just going to take whatever the defense gives me," Paul said. "Tonight Chauncey got it going - and Blake, obviously. That's how it's going to be with this team all season long. You've got to win games like this. When it's all said and done, it's not about the stats. It's about the won and lost columns."

Milwaukee led 40-38 at halftime despite shooting 35 percent. The Clippers took charge in the third quarter with a 14-2 run that gave them their biggest lead, 63-50, with 4:48 left in the period.

"Defensively, we just have so much room for improvement," Griffin said. "We played poorly on defense tonight, and luckily they missed some shots."

The 3-point shooting was poor at both ends of the court. The Clippers missed their first nine attempts - all in the first half - and finished 4 for 19. The Bucks were 6 for 20 after missing 10 of their first 12 from behind the arc.

Forward Reggie Evans grabbed six rebounds in his Clippers debut after being sidelined for the first five games of the season because of a sprained right foot. The ninth-year veteran averaged a career-high 11.5 rebounds in 30 games with Toronto last season.

The Bucks shrugged off a seven-point deficit and took their first lead 38 seconds into the second quarter on a layup by Jennings that put them ahead 19-17. Clippers reserve guard Ryan Gomes picked up three fouls in his first 7 minutes on the floor and was back on the bench with 10:18 left in the half.

NOTES: This was the teams' only meeting this season due to the reconfigured 66-game schedule caused by the lockout. ... Paul extended his streak to 15 consecutive games with at least one steal when he stripped the ball from Gooden with 4:16 left in the second quarter. ... The Clippers had 14 turnovers against a Bucks defense that had forced an average of 19.2 over their first six games.

Notebook: Clippers 92, Bucks 86

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday January 8, 2012 2:17AM

THE FACTS: Blake Griffin had 22 points and 14 rebounds Saturday night and Caron Butler scored a season-high 20 to lead the Clippers to a 92-86 victory against the injury-plagued Bucks at Staples Center.

QUOTABLE: "We didn't have our best stuff tonight, but I thought we got after it defensively in the second half."
-- Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro

THE STAT: In the four victories by the Clippers this season, they've held their opponent to under 90 points.

TURNING POINT: The Clippers trailed by two points after a pedestrian first half then came alive on both ends of the floor to start the second. They scored seven points off three turnovers to spark a 25-10 run and give the Clippers their biggest lead, 63-50. The Bucks weren't able get back within two possessions the rest of the way.

HOT: It's not often Clippers point guard Chris Paul gets out-played, but Southern California native Brandon Jennings was more productive on this night. He finished with 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two turnovers, while Paul had nine points, seven assists, one rebound and four turnovers. Jennings made a couple baskets to draw the Bucks within four early in the fourth quarter, but Paul will gladly take the victory.

NOT: The Bucks started the game 1-for-12 from the floor. Carlos Delfino was the only Milwaukee player with a hot hand early, but he was whistled for his third foul midway through the second quarter and never took another shot. ... The Clippers came in with the fewest turnovers in the league but had 10 giveaways midway through the second quarter. They had only four the rest of the way. Paul had three turnovers in the first quarter and his replacement, Mo Williams, had three more while spelling Paul in the second.

GOOD MOVE: In the middle of the deciding third-quarter run, Paul stole the ball from Jennings and started a fast break the other way, leading Griffin with a perfect lob pass that resulted in a powerful slam dunk and a 49-45 lead. It was one of three dunks during the run for Griffin. Paul, who came into the game as the league leader in steals per game at 2.60, finished with four swipes.

BAD MOVE: With just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter and the Bucks still within five points, Milwaukee forward Larry Sanders clothes-lined Butler as he drove to the basket, earning a flagrant foul. Butler made both free throws then sank a 3-point basket about a minute later to stretch the lead to 10. Butler scored 14 points in the third quarter.

QUOTABLE II: "We came back out in the second half and matched their intensity, made some shots and changed the tide."
--Clippers guard Chauncey Billups.

NOTABLE: Clippers forward Reggie Evans, who was signed as a free agent shortly before the start of the season and sat out the first five games with a sprained right foot, checked in for first time with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the first quarter and immediately grabbed on offensive rebound off Griffin's miss. Evans had six rebounds in his first 13 minutes ... Billups made all seven free-throw attempts to push him to 26-for-26 from the line this season, one of only four players in the NBA who have yet to miss this season ... Already without four players due to injury, the Bucks also lost reserve forward Jon Brockman to a left eye contusion during the first half, leaving the Bucks with nine healthy players.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Tuesday @ Portland, Wednesday vs. Miami, Saturday vs. Lakers. For the Bucks, Sunday @ Phoenix, Tuesday vs. San Antonio, Thursday vs. Detroit.

• Bucks: Bogut, Dunleavy
• Clippers: Bledsoe

• Bucks: Jennings
• Clippers: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #20 Leroy Richardson, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 19229
• Duration: 2:26