Timberwolves-Clippers Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Nov 28 2012 4:22PM

The Los Angeles Clippers are blaming their defense for their current struggles, and those complaints likely will continue if they can't slow down Kevin Love.

Los Angeles will get some help at the defensive end Wednesday night with the long-awaited return of point guard Chauncey Billups, who will try to help his team avoid a fifth consecutive loss in a home matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Clippers (8-6) gave up an average of 86.2 points during a six-game winning streak from Nov. 7-19, but they've allowed 103.0 per game during their current four-game skid.

They fell 105-98 on Monday to a New Orleans team that ranks near the bottom of the Western Conference in scoring.

"Our defense was terrible. It's almost embarrassing," said point guard Chris Paul, who finished with 20 points, eight assists and four steals. "Teams feel like they can come down and score on us every night. Guys can't look in our eyes and feel like they can get by us. We have to take more pride in our play."

Understandably, defense was the main focus of coach Vinny Del Negro's practice Tuesday.

"Our defense has to create our offense, which it was doing earlier in the season and we've got to do a better job with that - locking in defensively, having a more physical presence in the paint and on the perimeter," Del Negro told the team's official website. "If we do that, it will make the game easier. We'll get out in the open court and make the game smoother for us."

Billups, a tough defender, could help set the tone for better play at the Clippers' end of the floor. The 16-year veteran played in 20 games last season before tearing his left Achilles' tendon Feb. 6. He averaged 15.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds.

Monday's defeat overshadowed a strong offensive effort as the Clippers hit a franchise-record 18 3-pointers. Caron Butler set a team mark by hitting nine while scoring a game-high 33 points - his most since he had 39 while playing for Washington against Boston on April 15, 2009.

Forward Blake Griffin, though, shouldered the blame after one of his worst performances, shooting 1 for 9 and scoring a career-low four points before fouling out late.

"I just missed shots. It's on me," Griffin said. "It's not because of our offense. It's not anybody else's fault. It's my fault. I had open shots, I had post-ups - I mean, I shot the ball nine times. I just missed them."

Griffin is averaging 25.3 points and 10.6 rebounds in eight career games against Minnesota, scoring 19 points and adding 13 boards in a 95-82 victory in the last meeting April 12.

The Timberwolves, though, played that contest without an injured Love, who also missed the first nine games of this season. He's averaging 24.0 points and 16.5 rebounds in four games since making his season debut Nov. 21.

Love had 23 points and 24 rebounds at Sacramento on Tuesday, helping lead Minnesota (6-7) to a 97-89 victory that ended a five-game losing streak.

"I knew he got a lot of rebounds, but I didn't know how many," coach Rick Adelman said. "It was one of the most complete games I've seen him play. He wasn't forcing anything. He passed the ball. He set screens. He did whatever we needed."

The Wolves have beaten the Clippers the last three times they've had Love, who totaled 39 points and 17 rebounds in a 95-94 win the last time he faced them March 5.

The streak began Jan. 20, when Love hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Minnesota a 101-98 victory at Staples Center.

Billups returns, Clippers beat Wolves 101-95

By JOE RESNICK
Posted Nov 29 2012 2:54AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Chauncey Billups had no intention of calling it quits last February when his season ended because of a torn left Achilles' tendon. He didn't need to come back, but didn't want his stellar NBA career to end that way.

Nine excruciating months later, the five-time All-Star made it back on the court with the Los Angeles Clippers and gave them the spark they needed to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 101-95 on Wednesday night.

"I still have a burning desire to win," said Billups, the 2004 NBA Finals MVP with Detroit. "The night I went down, before I even left the locker room, everybody was saying I was retiring. But those were people who didn't know me and my fabric and where I'm from.

"I could understand why they would say that," he added. "I mean, I'm 35, I've pretty much done it all, made a good living for myself and my family, and did everything I wanted to do. So why would I come back? But that's just not how I'm cut, man. I wasn't going to go out like that - not to prove everybody wrong, but for my own self."

Billups, beginning his 16th season, had seven points and three assists in 19 minutes as the Clippers ended a four-game losing streak. The Clippers outscored Minnesota 49-44 while he was on the floor.

"I knew this day was going to come, but I didn't know it was going to happen before the year ended," said backcourt mate Chris Paul, who had 23 points and 11 assists. "I talked to him that night after he got injured, and a lot of people in this league thought it was over for him. But not him. We're too much alike. He wasn't going out like that, so it was great to see him back out there. I'm just glad he isn't in a suit anymore."

Billups, who was replaced in the starting lineup at shooting guard by Willie Green for the Clippers' first 14 games, got their first basket on a 3-pointer from the top of the key 42 seconds after the opening tip. It was his only basket of the game in five attempts. All of his points came during his first stint on the court, which ended with 6:06 left in the opening quarter.

"I was just so excited to be back after such a long time," Billups said. "I've only played full court like three times since the injury, so knowing that, I'm trying to be patient with myself. It's going to take a little while. I got back pretty far ahead of schedule. To be honest, I was going to be back before this, but there were a couple of small setbacks, which was expected, because I had to recalibrate my body for playing an intense level of basketball."

He averaged 15.0 points and 4.0 assists in 20 games last season with the Clippers after the Clippers claimed him when the New York Knicks waived him through the amnesty clause.

"There's nothing like a real live game," he added. "I'm sure I'll be sore in the morning, and I'm pretty sure it'll be like that for the first week or two. It's kind of like the way guys are the first few days of training camp."

Blake Griffin, who had career lows in points (four) and field goals made (one) during Monday night's 105-98 home loss to New Orleans, had 18 points and six rebounds. Caron Butler, who scored 33 points in that game and set a franchise record with a career-high nine 3-point baskets, missed his first five shots and finished 1 for 8 with two points in 24 minutes.

Kevin Love had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota and is averaging 23.0 points and 15.6 boards in five games since returning from a broken right hand he sustained in the preseason. Last January at Staples Center, he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Clippers to a 101-98 loss.

Alexey Shved had 17 points off the bench for the Wolves, who outrebounded the Clippers 52-35 - including 21 off the offensive glass. Josh Howard, who signed with Minnesota as a free agent on Nov. 16, made his first start of the season at small forward in Andrei Kirilenko's place and had seven points on 3-for-9 shooting.

The injury-depleted Timberwolves, already missing point guard Ricky Rubio, Brandon Roy and Chase Budinger, didn't have small forward Kirilenko at their disposal either because of back spasms. But they learned several hours before the game that Rubio, recovering from torn ligaments in his left knee, was cleared by doctors for full-contact practices.

The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter before Paul's 15-footer put the Clippers ahead to stay at 86-85 with 4:33 to play. DeAndre Jordan swatted Howard's attempted layup out of bounds on Minnesota's next possession, bringing Billups back into the game.

Griffin hit a 21-footer, then made it 90-85 with a slam dunk off a bounce pass from Jordan, who rebounded Billups' missed 3-point shot. Jordan missed two free throws with 2:01 remaining, but made up for it with a three-point play off a fast-break dunk to give the Clippers a 93-88 advantage with 59 seconds left.

"I'm happy with how the team's been fighting," Love said. "We've just been losing some tough ones in the second half, and tonight was no different."

The Wolves cut it to 95-93 on a 3-pointer by Shved, who faked Matt Barnes into the first row of seats before putting up the shot. But Jordan responded with an alley-oop gunk on a lob from Billups with 16 seconds to go, and the Clippers locked it up with four free throws by Paul.

Paul navigated the Clippers to a 57-55 halftime lead with 11 points and six assists, one of them coming on Jordan's dunk in the final second.

Los Angeles trailed by as many as nine points early in the second quarter before pulling ahead 38-36 with an 11-0 run. Lamar Odom, still struggling to get untracked since rejoining the Clippers as a free agent, capped the rally with an offensive rebound of Eric Bledsoe's missed jumper and a put-back dunk with 6:47 left in the half. In Monday night's loss, Odom played more than 19 minutes without attempting a field goal for the first time in his 14-year NBA career.

NOTES: Among the sellout crowd was Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and former Clipper Ron Harper. ... Clippers reserve G Jamal Crawford has converted a career-high 44 consecutive free throws since his last miss on Nov. 3. His previous best streak was 37 last April while playing for Portland. ... Love's 117 career double-doubles are the most among active players, one more than the Lakers' Dwight Howard and six more than Griffin, who is third on that list. ... Green, who averaged 18.4 minutes and 6.4 points in his 14 starts during Billups' absence, spent the entire game on the bench.

Notebook: Clippers 101, Timberwolves 95

Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Thu Nov 29, 2012 1:50 AM - Updated Thu Nov 29, 2012 1:50 AM

THE FACTS: The Clippers went back to doing what they do best Wednesday night, dominating the paint against Kevin Love and the visiting Timberwolves. Chris Paul paced L.A. with 23 points and 11 assists, and post players DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin bounced back with solid performances in the 101-95 victory at Staples Center, ending a four-game losing streak for the Clippers.

THE STAT: Love had 19 points and 12 rebounds but it was the Clippers who owned the paint just two nights after establishing a franchise record with 18 3-pointers in a loss to New Orleans. L.A. owned a 54-38 advantage in points in the paint. Griffin, who scored a career-low four points in the loss to the Hornets, came back with 18 points and six rebounds against Minnesota. Jordan, who scored a season-low three points against New Orleans, finished with 15 points and six rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "I knew this day would come."

-- Clippers' Chris Paul

TURNING POINT: The Clippers were clinging to a two-point lead heading toward the final minute of the fourth quarter when Chauncey Billups, making his season debut after tearing his Achilles in February, stole a pass from Luke Ridnour and set off the other way. He spotted Jordan making a B-line toward the basket and threw a lob from above the 3-point line. Jordan caught the pass high above the rim, slammed it through and was fouled. He made the free throw to push the lead to five and Minnesota never got back within one possession with the ball in hand.

HOT: Clippers reserve forward Matt Barnes bounced back from three straight poor performances to score 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and grab six rebounds in 26 minutes. His energy helped the Clippers bounce back from a nine-point first-half deficit.

NOT: Two days after setting a Clippers franchise record by sinking nine 3-pointers and scoring 33 points, Caron Butler struggled to find the bottom of the net. He missed seven of eight field-goal attempts and finished with two points, or 31 less than he scored on Monday.

GOOD MOVE: Clippers backup guard Jamal Crawford came into the game leading the team in scoring at 18 points a game and he has been a regular down the stretch of games. But it was Billups who played most of the minutes in crunch time, hitting Jordan with the biggest lob pass of the season and finishing with seven points and three assists in 20 minutes.

QUOTABLE II: "A great win for us in terms of getting some of our energy back and working Chauncey into the lineup. I thought everybody contributed."

-- Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro

BAD MOVE: The Timberwolves committed three fouls in the first 1:43 of the fourth quarter and L.A. was in the bonus with 6:47 left. The Clippers took advantage of a few extra trips to the line in the final minutes, shooting 9-for-11 overall.

NOTABLE: Minnesota starting forward Andrei Kirilenko was a late scratch because of back spasms. He's third on the team in scoring at 13 points a game. Josh Howard started in his place and finished with seven points in 27 minutes. ... Minnesota backup forward Derrick Williams, who did not play in three of the last four games after starting the previous nine, had four points and five rebounds in 12 minutes. ... Minnesota point guard Ricky Rubio, out since February after undergoing knee surgery, was cleared for contact earlier in the day. ... Clippers backup forward Ronny Turiaf sprained his ankle in the third quarter. He returned from the locker room but did not return to the game.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Saturday vs. Sacramento, Monday @ Utah, Wednesday vs. Dallas. For the Timberwolves, Friday vs. Milwaukee, Tuesday @ Philadelphia, Wednesday @ Boston.

• Timberwolves: Budinger, Roy, Rubio
• Clippers: Hill, Thompkins

• Timberwolves: --
• Clippers: Barnes, Odom, Turiaf

• Lead Changes: 15
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #12 Violet Palmer, #31 Scott Wall
• Attendance: 19060
• Duration: 2:21