| Clippers Would Be Better Off As No. 6 Seed Authored by Graham Flashner - February 25, 2006 - 2:46 pm
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Nothing too catastrophic – just enough to drop them out of their current No. 5 spot, and out of a first-round meeting with the Spurs or Mavericks.
Before they took on the Lakers at Staples Center last night, I suggested as much to coach Mike Dunleavy, telling him the Clips would be better off as the No. 6 seed, with a first-round matchup against the creampuff winner of the Northwest Division, careful to tell him that this is something only a media guy would think of, not a player.
“You never know what will happen,” Dunleavy said carefully, refusing to take the bait.
Either way, it was refreshing to be at a Lakers-Clippers game that had playoff implications for BOTH teams. It was even more refreshing to realize that it was the Lakers who were struggling to hold on to the last spot.
Even Lakers coach Phil Jackson reluctantly conceded “there’s a rivalry”, and said “the Clippers have been picking up draft picks for the past 20 years and their talent has come to roost.” Jackson also said the Lakers should be “more relaxed” now that the trading deadline has passed.
For the record, Jackson also predicted that Finland would win the hockey gold medal at the Olympics.
In the locker room before the game, ex-Clipper Lamar Odom said his body felt great, he was more focused than he’d ever been (“cause it’s playoff time”), and that he intended to start the game aggressive, near the basket. Asked if he could string 3 good games together in a row, Odom shrugged and said “Only God knows.”
Odom started the game so aggressive, he scored 1 point on 0-4 shooting. “We encouraged him at halftime to get more into a rhythm,” Jackson said after the game. Odom came out firing in the second half, shooting 3-8. God was unavailable for comment.
Relaxing in his locker before the game, Clippers center Chris Kaman talked about what it would take to stop Kobe Bryant from dropping 50 points, like he did the last time these teams met: “Try to get the ball out of his hands, make him work defensively, trap him at halfcourt”.
Easier said than done. Bryant lit up the Clippers for 25 first-half points on 8-16 shooting. But in the pivotal third quarter, Cuttino Mobley seemed to take Kaman’s advice personally. With the help of double-teams, he held Bryant without a field goal, and the Clippers took off on a 16-0 run that decided the game. Bryant finished with 39 points, but was only 4-13 after intermission. “I just pressured him”, said Mobley after the game. Elton Brand, who scored 16 of his 32 points in that decisive third quarter, said “we doubled him all over the court. We didn’t want anyone else to get easy shots.”
With the other Lakers starters beside Bryant shooting a combined 10-31, there was no need to worry. And with newly acquired Clipper Vladimir Radmanovic spreading the court and making a living on the left side of the 3-point circle (6-9; 5-8 from downtown, 19 points), the Lakers had no answers.
The Clippers’ 102-83 victory restored confidence to a team that had lost its focus during a five-game losing streak. Considering they’ve had to endure the last two-and-a-half months without their second leading scorer, Corey Maggette, it makes the Clippers accomplishments look all the more impressive. And they’ve come far enough to see a big win over the Lakers as nothing more than just that – a big win.
“It’s not about a city thing,” said Brand. “It’s about the playoffs. This was important.”
The Lakers, on the other hand, have to be wondering if two easy post-All Star wins Portland and Sacramento were just cause for false hope. “Every game is a different puzzle for us,” Bryant said later. What worked against Sacramento didn’t work against the Clippers. We’re going to have to figure out how to solve those puzzles every night.”
And the Clippers are going to have to figure out a way to win just enough games to stay out of that No. 5 slot. |
