Hawks-Clippers Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Nov 10 2012 3:59PM

The Los Angeles Clippers are still Blake Griffin's team, but the star power forward doesn't need to do all the heavy lifting on the offensive end.

Center DeAndre Jordan and newcomer Jamal Crawford have been taking care of that lately.

They're a big reason Los Angeles could score in triple figures in seven consecutive games for the first time in nearly two decades as the Atlanta Hawks come to town Sunday.

Signed to a five-year extension in July that could be worth up to $95 million, Griffin is off to a slow start after undergoing surgery for a knee injury suffered while practicing with Team USA for the Olympics. He claims that playing with a sleeve on his right arm for the last three games because of fluid in his elbow hasn't affected him, but his numbers have dropped sharply from last season when he averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds.

Griffin's averages are 15.7 and 8.7, respectively, after scoring a career low-tying seven points and grabbing 10 boards in Thursday's 103-90 win at Portland.

"Blake doesn't have to carry the load," coach Vinny Del Negro told the Clippers' official website. "... Obviously, he's a huge part of us and we're going to go to him when we need to, but other guys can step up."

Jordan and Crawford have been among those guys, helping the Clippers (4-2) rank among the league's top-scoring teams and reach at least 100 points in all six games. They haven't done so in seven straight since a run of 12 games during the 1993-94 season.

Jordan is hitting 75.0 percent of his shots this season and has 41 points with 19 rebounds in the last two games as Los Angeles has bounced back from consecutive home losses.

"I don't know what kind of votes they get at the end of the season, but to me he might be our most valuable player," Chris Paul said of Jordan, owner of a career 6.1 scoring average.

Crawford, named Sixth Man of the Year while with Atlanta in 2009-10, also deserves plenty of credit for the Clippers having a chance to record their best seven-game start since 2007-08. He leads NBA reserves with 21.8 points per game after scoring a team-high 25 on Thursday.

Los Angeles' bench is averaging 41.8 points compared to 25.3 last season.

"If we're playing against another team's bench we should be better than their bench," center Ryan Hollins said. "We kind of take that upon ourselves and do our job."

Josh Smith knows he needs to do his job better if the Hawks (2-2) are going to have a successful four-game road trip. The veteran forward missed 13 of 19 shots - and two free throws with 1:05 to play - in Friday's 95-89 home loss to Miami.

Smith, who missed a 104-95 win at Oklahoma City last Sunday with a sprained right ankle, did not use a knee-to-knee collision with LeBron James as an excuse.

"I've got to be more efficient. I've got to be better at the free-throw line," said Smith, 2 for 10 from the foul line this season. "I apologize to all my teammates. It was just a poor effort."

The new-look Hawks, though, have been getting a strong effort from point guard Jeff Teague, the team leader with 16.3 points and 7.3 assists per game.

Facing Paul, also a former Wake Forest All-American, Teague averaged 15.5 points as these teams split two games in 2011-12. Paul totaled 47 points and 17 assists in those matchups, while Griffin had 48 points and 18 boards.

Clippers storm past Hawks in 4th quarter

By JOE RESNICK
Posted Nov 11 2012 7:53PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Blake Griffin and Chris Paul can rest a little easier when they get a breather these days. The Los Angeles Clippers have a strong group of reserves ready to pick up the slack.

Jamal Crawford, Eric Bledsoe and Matt Barnes engineered a big fourth-quarter run to help the Clippers beat the Atlanta Hawks 89-76 on Sunday.

Griffin scored 16 points and Paul had 15 points and eight assists. But it was the backups who played a key role in the pivotal 15-1 surge in the final period.

"It's fun to watch, and it's exciting for our team," Paul said. "We really feed off their energy, and it's a huge advantage for us. Guys like Matt Barnes, Ryan Hollins and Ronny Turiaf, they know who they are in this league. And that's the key to everything. They're not going to try to do anything outside of themselves or be something they're not. And that's why we have confidence in them."

The Clippers' reserves outscored their counterparts 35-32, marking the first time in five games this season the Hawks were outscored in the battle of the benches. Atlanta had a 47-28 advantage against Houston, a 47-32 margin over Oklahoma City, and entered this game with a 41.8 scoring average by the reserves.

"We come in and change the pace and bring energy," Bledsoe said. "For the most part, we have the same defensive instincts as the starters. Everybody knows what everyone else is capable of and what we have to do. Ronny and Ryan know how to play great defense as big men. They talk and let us know when the screens are coming and when they're not. That's a good feeling, when you know your teammates have your back."

Crawford, who won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award in 2010 while playing for Atlanta, had 11 points after coming in with a team-high 21.8 average - tops among the league's reserves. Fifth-year center DeAndre Jordan, coming off the first back-to-back 20-point games of his NBA career, finished with eight points.

Josh Smith had 13 points for the Hawks, who shot 41.7 percent from the field in the opener of a four-game road trip. They also committed 22 turnovers that were converted into 24 Clippers points.

"Defense is more important than anything," Crawford said. "Offense comes and goes, and it can muck up the game sometimes. But today we were able to get out and really get after it defensively. That was the difference in the game. That's something we know we can do every single game, because we practice against the starters - who aren't too shabby. So whenever you practice against a group like that, you get more confidence and it makes you better."

Coming off consecutive victories over San Antonio and Portland, the Clippers took a 65-60 lead into the fourth. Neither team led by more than six until Barnes stole the ball from Ivan Johnson and raced down the floor for a breakaway dunk that gave Los Angeles a 70-62 lead with 10:10 remaining.

"I think we got a little careless with the basketball," said Smith, who had a team-high five turnovers. "Whenever you give a home team momentum plays like that, it's kind of hard to give yourself the opportunity to win in the fourth quarter."

After Lou Williams' short jumper at the other end, the Clippers broke it open and built an 85-65 cushion with 3:49 to play after scoring 13 straight points. During the run, Barnes converted a dunk and a layup on fast breaks after turnovers by Smith.

"It was our defense that did it for us down the stretch," Griffin said. "I don't remember how many stops in a row we had, but I think we had something like eight or nine. That's the kind of defense you have to have to close out a game like that - and that was with our `second team.' A lot of these guys could be starting on a good number of NBA teams. So it's not much of a drop-off."

The Hawks coughed up the ball 10 times in the final quarter while going almost 6 minutes without a field goal. To make matters worse, they missed nine of 16 free-throw attempts in the game.

"The turnovers and free-throw shooting were bad," coach Larry Drew said. "We couldn't make a free throw and we had 22 turnovers. I thought our guys followed our game plan for 2 1/2 quarters. But midway into the third, it was like we totally forgot what had put us in the position we were in and we abandoned it. We got sped up with the pressure, and we let the officiating bother us. We let some calls get us out of character and lost our focus and composure. We can't play like that on the road."

NOTES: Shaquille O'Neal watched the game from a front-row seat at midcourt with his daughter Amira, but he said he wasn't sticking around for the Lakers-Sacramento game that followed. During Thursday night's TNT coverage of the Clippers' game at Portland, O'Neal said he thought Jordan was the best center in the Western Conference - Dwight Howard notwithstanding. ... The Clippers have two days off before hosting Miami on Wednesday night. Since moving to Los Angeles for the 1984-85 campaign, they are 18-68 against teams that won an NBA title the previous season.

Notebook: Clippers 89, Hawks 76

Dan Arritt, For NBA.com
Posted Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:31 PM - Updated Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:31 PM

THE FACTS: Los Angeles reserves Eric Bledsoe, Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes all scored in double figures Sunday afternoon and the trio combined to slam the door on the visiting Hawks in the fourth quarter of an 89-76 victory at Staples Center.

QUOTABLE: "We think our bench is better than a lot of starting units. When we go out there, we try to do a job, collectively. Everyone understands their role and we just try to be successful."

--Jamal Crawford

THE STAT: The Clippers came into the game ranked second in the NBA in bench scoring at 41.8 points a game this season. L.A. scored 35 against Atlanta, led by Bledsoe with 12 points, Crawford with 11 and Barnes 10. The reserves were responsible for 20 of the 24 points in the deciding fourth quarter.

TURNING POINT: Hawks reserve guard Devin Harris made a pull-up jumper on his team's first possession of the fourth quarter to cut L.A.'s lead to 65-62, but the Clippers responded with a 20-3 run to go up by 20 points with 3:48 remaining in the game. Bledsoe, Crawford and Barnes combined for 18 points in the spree.

HOT: Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, after missing his first eight free throw attempts to start the season, went 2-for-2 from the line to extend his streak of successful free throws to seven. Jordan didn't reach double figures in scoring, however, finishing with eight points to end his string of double-digit games at three -- which tied a career long.

NOT: As much as Jordan has improved his free-throw shooting of late, Atlanta forward Josh Smith is heading in the opposite direction. Smith missed all four of his foul shots, dropping him to 2-for-14 on the season. Smith came into the season shooting 66.9 percent from the line in his first eight seasons in the NBA. Smith wasn't alone in his struggles from the line against the Clippers. The Hawks shot 7-for-16 as a team.

GOOD MOVE: The deep bench for the Clippers has allowed coach Vinny Del Negro to limit the minutes of his key starters through the first seven games. Blake Griffin averaged 38 minutes in his rookie season two years ago and 36.2 last season, but has played more than 35 minutes only once this fall. He played just over 30 minutes against the Hawks, including 1:11 in the fourth quarter, but still managed to score a team-high 16 points.

BAD MOVE: Atlanta small forward DeShawn Stevenson played the first four games for the Hawks, starting two, but didn't see the floor against the Clippers. Stevenson came in averaging 7.8 points in 26.1 minutes and did not have a turnover this season. With him on the bench, the Hawks committed a season-high 22 giveaways. They came in fifth in the league in fewest turnovers per game (13.5).

QUOTABLE II: "That was the first time that happened this year, where we had a letdown in the fourth. They made a run and we really didn't handle it as well as we could have."

--Atlanta forward Al Horford

NOTABLE: The Clippers were trying to start the season with a franchise-record seven straight games of 100 points or more. ... Shaquille O'Neal watched the game from courtside, but wasn't planning to stay around and watch his former team, the Lakers, host the Kings later Sunday night. ... The Hawks combined for 32 bench points, the first time this season they've been outscored by the opposition.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Wednesday vs. Miami, Saturday vs. Chicago, Nov. 19 @ San Antonio. For the Hawks, Monday @ Portland, Wednesday @ Golden State, Friday @ Sacramento.

• Hawks: Petro
• Clippers: Billups, Hill, Thompkins

• Hawks: --
• Clippers: --

• Lead Changes: 20
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #40 Leon Wood, #59 Gary Zielinski, #73 Tre Maddox
• Attendance: 19060
• Duration: 2:03