| Clippers Bring Their “C” Game Authored by Graham Flashner - February 21, 2007 - 12:42 pm
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In a loss that was not as close as the final score indicated, the Clippers were blown out at Staples Center by the Phoenix Suns, 115-90, offering what could be a disturbing preview of the second half of their season.
Granted, the Suns are not the team you want to be playing when trying to stop a three-game losing streak, especially when short-handed: the Clips were down Cuttino Mobley (groin strain), Chris Kaman (flu strain) and, in the second half, Sam Cassell (abdominal strain).
Not that it would’ve mattered, because the rejuvenated Suns, anxious to stop their own three-game slide, came out firing as only they can: 54% shooting, 8 of their 14 three-point attempts after starting 0-4. With Nash carving up the Clippers defense, and Shawn Marion (31 points, 9 rebounds) and Amare Stoudemire (22 points) unstoppable on the perimeter and in the paint, the NBA’s No. 2 team gave a clinic in ball movement and dribble penetration.
The Clippers, meanwhile, gave a lesson in lethargy. They could’ve rallied around the loss of two starters, but as so often has been the case, their effort wasn’t there. Marion had 12 points off tips-in in the paint, and uncontested shots in the corner. Leandro Barbosa (7-12, 16 points) turned the lane into his personal layup line.
The offense, outside of Brand and Corey Maggette (17 points, 7 rebounds in a rare start) was dismal, with Tim Thomas shooting 5-17 and Shaun Livingston, the alleged floor leader, scoring an all-but-invisible 6 points.
Even with all that, the Clippers were within 9 points late in the second quarter. But an 8-0 finish gave the Suns a 62-45 halftime lead. The Clippers pulled to within 74-61 midway through the third, only to watch the Suns finish with an18-7 burst that sent the crowd to the exits, and turned the fourth quarter into an extended garbage time.
“They didn't make it look worse than it was; that is how bad it was," said Elton Brand (17 points). "They had backdoor cuts for layups, guys getting open shots, and hustle plays.”
They also had their general back. The Suns are 4-12 over the last two seasons without Nash, and they’d lost 3 of the 4 games he missed before the All-Star Break. In the opening quarter, the two-time MVP had 8 points and 7 assists, and his teammates shot 14-18. That’s what you call sending an early message.
“Some of our guys tonight, they were outmatched,” Mike Dunleavy acknowledged.
With a day left before the trading deadline, it doesn’t look like things will get better.
“I don’t see us making any deals,” said Dunleavy. “I don’t see anything on the horizon.”
Even Doug Christie, who had signed a second consecutive 10-day contract and had been bound to the team through last night’s game, decided to throw in the towel, leaving the team over the weekend for reasons still unexplained.
The optimistic days of early November, when the Clippers beat the Suns at home en route to a 6-2 start, seem as far off as Tim Thomas’s outside shots.
At 25-29, half a game back of Minnesota, the Clippers are fortunate that the No. 8 spot in the West is starting to resemble a playoff spot in the East, with the winner likely to finish below .500.
“Everyone ahead of us lost tonight,” Brand noted. “But we can’t wait for other teams to lose, we have to take it upon ourselves to go out there and win, which we're not doing."
Glad he noticed. |
