| View From Atop The Staples Center: Clips Turn Down Heat Authored by Graham Flashner - December 6, 2005 - 6:40 pm
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But every so often, an event comes along that shatters that sense of security that we all crave. For me, it happened last night, when I arrived at Staples Center to cover the Clippers-Heat game, and was told my name wasn’t on the press list.
Now granted, there are worse lists to be left off – Schindler’s comes to mind – but still, I was shaken. The gals at the press gate had no record of my existence, a not uncommon occurrence for me in daily life. After a call to the Clippers PR guy, the gals came back with the verdict: I could attend the game, but because the regular press box was overflowing with national media, I’d be banished to the “Upper” Press Box, alongside reporters from places like Bulgaria, China, and the high school paper in Antelope Valley.
“How do I get to the Upper Press Box?” I asked the gals, and one of them pointed to an elevator. I thought I saw the other one giggle and make the universal nosebleed sign. This wasn’t good.
Minutes later, I boarded the dreaded elevator, which afforded me a view of Staples Center as it climbed. And kept climbing. A guy from ESPN Radio got on. Now I didn’t feel so bad. If ESPN Radio could sit in the Upper Press Box, how bad could it be? “It’s worth doing once,” he said cryptically.
The elevator doors opened up onto the very top level of Staples Center, a level I never even knew existed. I suddenly recalled the name of a regular column on this site, From The Rafters. Was somebody trying to tell me something?
We were so high up, we had cleared the smog line and I could see clearly, for the first time, the retired numbers of famous L.A. Lakers and Kings. (No Clippers numbers have been retired, alas, although Benoit Benjamin’s would be a good candidate).
We were so high up, that I had to look down at the flag during the National Anthem.
We were so high up, not only couldn’t I tell the players apart without a scorecard, I couldn’t tell them apart with a telephoto lens and a rifle scope.
We were so high up my eyes were tricked into believing that Chris Wilcox was on the court in the first quarter. Oops – that WAS Wilcox out there.
But seriously – did I mention we were high up?
Oh yes, the game. At first, I didn’t understand why the guys in white – normally the home team – looked nothing like the Clippers. Then I realized that the Clippers were wearing throwback Buffalo Braves road uniforms, in honor of NBA Hardwood Classics Night, and also in honor of Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo, who scored many thousands of points in those uniforms. Even the cheerleaders wore Buffalo outfits, and danced to 70s soul music.
The biggest cheers of the night came for the guy who, during a timeout, won a Dodge Charger (how 70s is that?) by hitting a shot from midcourt that he threw backwards over his head. I know this happened because I was able to review it on a TV replay.
Oh yes - the game. From what I could tell, the Heat (10-8) could’ve used Shaquille O’Neal, who was sitting on the bench, not in a retro jersey, but in a crisp three-piece suit, which couldn’t have made the Clippers too unhappy.
Without Shaq, the Heat looked like the Lakers, only more athletic. They jumped out to a 17-5 lead, but as the Clippers have demonstrated time and again this year, that kind of fast start no longer discourages them, and by the second quarter, they led by 6. A three-point lead at halftime remained so after three quarters, and in the fourth quarter, as they’ve been doing of late, the Clips put the defensive clamps down, and blew open what had been a tight game. Elton Brand, channeling McAdoo, had a season-high 37 points (on 16-23 shooting), along with 12 boards and 6 blocks; Antoine Walker, channeling another Buffalo player, perhaps Elmore Smith, missed all ten of his shots.
Sam Cassell added 18 points and 13 assists, showing why Brand is posting career-best numbers this year in scoring (almost 25ppg) and shooting (almost 57%). The Clippers withstood a valiant 29-point effort by the wondrous Dwayne Wade who, along with Alonzo Mourning (17 points) combined for all of Miami’s 14 points in the fourth quarter.
The Clippers committed only 13 turnovers, only seven more than the Philadelphia Eagles committed on Monday Night Football, and their 99-89 win kept them a half-game in front of the Golden State Warriors. The only down note was a sprained foot suffered by Corey Maggette toward the end of the third quarter, perhaps explaining Maggette’s 2-13 field goal shooting.
By the end of the night, Brand was hearing MVP chants – in December! – and feeling ever more assured about his team’s chances.
“We know what we're capable of, and we know how we should play,” Brand said in a crowded, happy locker room afterwards.
"As long as we do what we're supposed to do, we feel like we can get the job done. That's just the confidence we have as a group." |
