Kings-Clippers Preview

Posted Dec 20 2012 7:10PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) - These are heady days for the long-suffering Los Angeles Clippers. They've tied a franchise record with an 11-game winning streak and at 19-6 are tied for the second-best record in the NBA.

Still, Chris Paul wants to keep the fans' euphoria in check, saying, "We're not trying to peak now. We're trying to build something."

While the Lakers, their Staples Center co-tenants, continue to stumble with a losing record and an early-season coaching change, the Clippers are flying high led by All-Stars Paul and Blake Griffin. Bolstered by one of the league's deepest benches, which was remade in the offseason, Paul and Griffin haven't been seeing much playing time in the fourth quarter.

That's when they become cheerleaders for free agent additions Jamal Crawford and former Laker Matt Barnes, along with Eric Bledsoe, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf, the latter two being the other former Lakers on the team.

"They have their identity and it starts on defense," Griffin said.

The Clippers have shown they're capable of winning without big numbers from Griffin. They are 13-3 in games when he scores less than 20 points. He's averaging 18.0 points and 8.6 rebounds.

Veterans Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill, another free-agent pickup, have been vocal with their leadership and support while rehabbing injuries.

"We're all playing for one goal and not individual accolades," Paul said.

The Pacific Division leading-Clippers have taken advantage of a soft stretch in their schedule to win those 11 straight games, with victories over some of the league's worst teams, including New Orleans, Charlotte, Toronto, Detroit, Phoenix and Sacramento, their next opponent on Friday night.

"Eleven in a row. Not bad, is it?" owner Donald Sterling said before leading a locker room cheer after a 93-77 victory against the Hornets on Wednesday night.

Before the streak began, they knocked off some of the league's best. They have wins over Memphis, the Lakers, San Antonio (twice), Atlanta and defending NBA champion Miami.

"They have a chance to win it all," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.

Even the team's veteran announcer, Ralph Lawler, is on his own winning streak. His "Lawler's Law," which dictates that the team reaching 100 points first will win, is 19-0 this season.

Paul and Griffin have clearly clicked on and off the court in their second season together. They frequently kid each other during their dual postgame interview sessions held in a separate room next to the locker room.

Paul regularly rallies his teammates for outings on the road, including dinners and trips to a mall or movie theater. The team took in the new Tom Cruise flick "Jack Reacher" on their last trip, a 4-0 venture as part of the current winning streak.

There's a family feeling in the locker room, too, with Paul's 3-year-old son and Barnes' twins among the kids cracking up the players after games. Big man DeAndre Jordan has a drawing of himself done by Caron Butler's 8-year-old daughter taped to his locker.

"I've never been on a team this close," said Crawford, averaging 16.6 points off the bench. "Everybody here is pulling for each other, whether it's your night or somebody else's night. Everybody has a role to play."

Willie Green, who has started 22 games in place of Billups, sat when the veteran guard recently returned for three games before getting hurt again.

"He didn't complain and he didn't play a minute," Paul said, giving an example of the attitude permeating the team.

The last time this franchise won 11 in a row was as the Buffalo Braves in 1974-75.

"Most of the guys weren't even born then," coach Vinny Del Negro points out. "We want to make our own history and that's only going to happen if we have the right mentality."

Del Negro preaches defense first and the Clippers have bought into it.

"We can score on any given night," Paul said. "As long as we defend, we give ourselves opportunities to win."

They should have a great opportunity to beat the Kings, who have won only one of their 11 road games. That includes a 116-81 drubbing at the hands of the Clippers on Dec. 1.

Sacramento (8-17) did manage to end a five-game losing streak with a 131-127 home win over Golden State on Wednesday, getting 24 points from DeMarcus Cousins and 23 from Aaron Brooks to help hold off a late Warriors rally.

"We showed a little bit of character and fired back," Brooks said.

Tyreke Evans missed his second straight game with a knee problem and his status is unclear for Friday.

Clippers win 12th straight to set franchise record

By JOE RESNICK
Posted Dec 22 2012 2:33AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) After the Los Angeles Clippers set a record for the longest winning streak in franchise history, Chris Paul was thinking about Ron Harper, Corey Maggette and other former players who endured all that losing.

Paul had 24 points and 13 assists to help the Clippers, for decades synonymous with long losing streaks, break a 38-year-old club mark with their 12th consecutive victory Friday night, 97-85 over the Sacramento Kings.

"Most of those guys have been here through tougher times," Paul said. "I know Ron Harper really well. He's a good friend of mine, and he's excited for us. We just played against Corey Maggette, and he was excited to see how it is now. So it's been exciting for me in the short amount of time I've been here, especially knowing some of the people who have been with the team for 25 or 30 years and the season-ticket holders. But we can't be satisfied. We've got to keep it going."

The previous record was set by the Buffalo Braves during the 1974-75 season, when current Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was 8 years old. The head coach back then was Jack Ramsay, whose formidable roster included Bob McAdoo, Garfield Heard, Randy Smith, Jim McMillian, Jack Marin and Bob Weiss.

That team won 49 games - still a record for a beleaguered organization that has called three different cities home, wasted first-round draft picks on Benoit Benjamin, Terry Dehere, Michael Olowokandi and Darius Miles, and was labeled "the worst franchise in sports history" by Sports Illustrated in an April 17, 2000, cover story.

Blake Griffin had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who have had 20 double-digit losing streaks since their 11-game winning streak in Buffalo - including a dozen of 12 or more. They lost their first 16 in 1994-95, their first 17 of the lockout-shortened 1988-89 season, and the final 14 in 1986-87. The club record for consecutive defeats is 19, set in 1981-82 and equaled in 1988-89.

But those days are history thanks to the arrival of Griffin, the blockbuster trade that brought Paul from the New Orleans Hornets last December, and a bench that is arguably the deepest in the NBA. The Clippers, who have the league's longest active winning streak, also own the NBA's second-best record at 20-6 and trail Oklahoma City by just one game.

"You have to have players. You have to have talent. You have to have guys believing in what you're doing, and finding ways to win and being consistent," Del Negro said. "I think the guys are learning and understanding what it takes to play at a high level consistently. It's a good thing to have a target on your back, but that also brings a responsibility to play at a high level as often as possible.

This is the earliest the Clippers' franchise has ever reached the 20-win mark, and only the sixth time they did it with a winning record - including a 20-11 start last season. The previous club record in that department also was set in 1974-75, when the Braves started out 20-8. Just four seasons ago the Clips finished 19-63 under Mike Dunleavy.

"I remember the year I got drafted. The season before that they had only 19 wins. So what we've accomplished so far is great," Griffin said. "But the best thing about it for me is being a part of something that's much bigger than Chris or I. It takes everybody from top to bottom - the GM, the coaching staff, the players, everybody. And from Day 1 since I've been here, everybody's been serious about changing."

Los Angeles beat Sacramento for the fifth straight time - including all three meetings last season. The Clippers haven't lost to anyone since Nov. 26 at Staples Center, when New Orleans beat them 105-98 and held Griffin to four points and one field goal - both career lows.

Reserve guard Jimmer Fredette had 16 points for Sacramento, which is 1-11 on the road. DeMarcus Cousins was benched for the entire second half by coach Keith Smart, who ordered him to remain in the locker room after he scored nine points in 20 minutes.

Neither went into detail.

"I won't share that right now, but it's just a conduct issue," Smart said. "We're trying to set a standard here, and when guys move below that standard, things are going to take place. We'll just move on to the next game and I'll make some decisions from there."

Cousins was contrite after the game.

"What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. But I was wrong. I was wrong," Cousins said. "I'm a player that definitely wants to win every night, and I'm an emotional player. That's never going to change. But I shouldn't have responded back. Something was said, and I just should have stayed quiet. Is it a humbling thing? Yeah, I will say that. I mean, I messed up and I apologize to my teammates for responding the way I did and I'll move on from it."

The Kings, who had their highest-scoring game of the season Wednesday night in a 131-127 home win against Golden State, have dropped six of seven. Tyreke Evans missed his third straight game and eighth in the last 12 because of a sore left knee. He also was sidelined for the Kings' 116-81 loss at Los Angeles on Dec. 1, when the Clippers posted their largest margin of victory since the franchise left Buffalo.

Caron Butler's 3-pointer gave Los Angeles its biggest lead, 58-41, with 10:05 left in the third quarter. The Kings narrowed the gap to 63-57 with a 16-5 run capped by Fredette's 3-pointer with 4:25 left in the quarter, but that was as close as they got.

Paul helped put the game away with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 4 minutes.

NOTES: The teams the Clippers have beaten during this streak have a combined winning percentage of .401 (116-173). The Kings (8-18) are the only team they have faced twice in that stretch. ... The Clippers are at Phoenix on Saturday night, trying to break a franchise-record road winning streak of five - by those same `74-75 Buffalo Braves. ... The Los Angeles Lakers, who share Staples Center with the Clippers, haven't won 12 or more games in a row during one season since 1999-00, when they had streaks of 16 and 19. ... Los Angeles is 17-0 when leading after three quarters and 15-0 when holding an opponent under 43 percent shooting. The Kings shot 41.8 percent. ... Fredette missed a free throw with 3:48 remaining, ending his streak at 33 in a row.

Notebook: Clippers 97, Kings 85

Dan Arritt, For NBA.com
Posted Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:12 AM - Updated Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:12 AM

THE FACTS: The Clippers still have a lot to accomplish this season: home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, a deep postseason run and maybe even the franchise's first trip to the NBA finals. But they already accomplished something no other team has done in club history, winning their 12th consecutive game Friday night by defeating the visiting Kings 97-85 at Staples Center.

THE STAT: Some of the most impressive numbers during the streak have been manufactured by Los Angeles' bench, which entered the game ranked second in the league in scoring. Against Sacramento, however, it was the All-Stars who came out to shine. Chris Paul finished with 24 points, 13 assists and five steals and Blake Griffin had 21 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh 20-10 game this season for L.A. (20-6).

QUOTABLE: "That's what All-Stars do. I expect that from them, they expect it and their teammates do. "

---Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro on his top players

TURNING POINT: Playing the second half without troubled starting center DeMarcus Cousins, who was told to stay in the locker room after an argument with KIngs coach Keith Smart during halftime, the Kings (8-18) still managed to cut a 13-point halftime deficit to six with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter. The Clippers didn't flinch, however. They brought reserves Jamal Crawford and Lamar Odom into the game for starters Willie Green and DeAndre Jordan, following up with a 10-2 run to go back up by 14. Sacramento never got closer than seven down the stretch.

HOT: Clippers reserve forward Matt Barnes scored 13 points, establishing a career high with his sixth straight game in double figures. Sacramento reserve guard Jimmer Fredette continues to establish himself as an NBA player. He scored 16 points off the bench for his fourth straight game in double figures. He shot 2-for-3 from 3-point range to improve to 8-for-16 in the last four.

NOT: Something seemed amiss when Chuck Hayes started the second half in place of Cousins, who has already been suspended twice by the league this season. Cousins had nine points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of the first half and appeared to be playing well. When the Kings lost to the Clippers 116-81 on Dec. 1, Cousins was also benched in the second and fourth quarters because of uninspired play.

QUOTABLE II: "It was conduct detrimental to the team and I'll leave it at that."

--Keith Smart

GOOD MOVE: Griffin and Paul didn't completely overshadow the reserves. Eric Bledsoe made the block of the night and possibly the entire season for L.A. when he came up from behind Thomas Robinson during a Sacramento fast break. Just as Robinson was about to stuff the ball through the rim, Bledsoe nearly jumped over him as he swatted the ball away and then crashed hard to the floor. As Bledsoe lay on the court following the block, the Clippers took off on a fast break of their own and Ronny Turiaf finished it with a dunk. Bledsoe stayed on the floor for a few anxious seconds before he was helped up and eventually returned after the media timeout. Bledsoe finished with a career-high three blocks, all in the first half.

BAD MOVE: The Kings were already short-handed with Tyreke Evans out for his third straight game with soreness in his left knee. His replacement in the starting lineup, Francisco Garcia, was also sidelined with back spasms. It didn't help when Jason Thompson picked up two fouls in the first 4:12 of the game while trying to guard Griffin, and things got even worse when Cousins didn't come out for the second half.

NOTABLE: Barnes received his league-leading eighth technical foul of the season during the fourth quarter. ... The Clippers entered the day ranked No. 1 in the league in steals (10.6). They had 13 more against Sacramento. ... Paul is the first player in the NBA to have at least 24 points, 13 assists and five steals in a game. Last season there were three: Paul, Jeremy Lin, and Rajon Rondo.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Sunday @ Phoenix, Tuesday vs. Denver, Thursday vs. Boston. For the Kings, Sunday vs. Portland, Wednesday @ Portland, Friday vs. New York.

• Kings: Evans
• Clippers: Billups, Hill, Thompkins

• Kings: --
• Clippers: Barnes, Odom

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #20 Leroy Richardson
• Attendance: 19060
• Duration: 2:15