Lakers, Clippers experiencing bad trips; Rose beats the buzzer

There’s some sort of event called the Pac-12 Conference tournament being held in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I think it has to do with college basketball.

Anyway, it has forced the facility’s regular tenants – the Lakers and Clippers – to hit the road for a stretch. And things are not going well for either team.

The Lakers were dispatched on a brief three-game sojourn and already have lost the first two, dropping to an abysmal 6-14 on the road. On Tuesday, it was an overtime loss at Detroit. On Wednesday, it was a 106-101 loss at Washington that displayed all of their warts.

Playing before a Verizon Center crowd that clearly had more Lakers fans than Wizards fans, the Lakers wasted a 21-point third-quarter lead with a complete breakdown. Kobe Bryant missed 16 of his last 20 shots and was 9-of-31 overall. Down the stretch, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were manhandled by Trevor Booker (18 points, 17 rebounds) and Kevin Seraphin (14 and 9). And their championship pedigree was non-existent down the stretch, when they were outhustled and out-executed by Washington’s reserves.

From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “Why, yes, the Lakers’ season could get worse than a shoddy showing in Detroit. The Lakers fumbled away a 21-point lead to the sorrowful Washington Wizards in a 106-101 loss Wednesday, and that was only the beginning. Andrew Bynum admitted to “loafing around” on the court. Coach Mike Brown critiqued Kobe Bryant’s shot selection. Bryant didn’t seem overly thrilled by that. Welcome to the Lakers’ 2011-12 season. A victory against Miami on Sunday was supposed to be a turning point, but the Lakers turned two thumbs down with lame losses to two downtrodden teams. Bryant again couldn’t find his shot against Washington, making nine of 31 attempts and finishing with 30 points. “He took some difficult shots that allowed those guys to come up with long rebounds and push the ball down the floor and get some easy baskets,” Brown said. “He was one of those guys that I did not think took great shots in the second half.”

While Brown directed his criticism at Bryant, Bynum made a surprisingly candid self-examination.

From Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: “The Lakers were smiling and laughing and having a good time at the expense of the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. They built a 21-point lead and it appeared all was right in their world again. Then suddenly it wasn’t. The Lakers lost their big lead in a matter of a few minutes, gave the Wizards hope and confidence and ultimately a 106-101 victory that called into question their status as a contending team in the Western Conference this season. Later, in a stunning bit of honesty, center Andrew Bynum provided a neat summary of the Lakers’ second consecutive jaw-dropping loss on their three-game cross-country trip to play Detroit, Washington and Minnesota. “I was out there kind of loafing around, having a good time,” Bynum said after scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds but committing seven turnovers. “It caught up. We didn’t play hard. Going through the motions as a unit.”

As already illustrated, the Lakers’ problems vs. the Wizards were myriad – poor shot selection, a lack of respect for their opponent, playing the score instead of the game, etc. But after erasing a 98-92 deficit with seven straight points, they managed just one basket in the final 2:51 – a dunk by Gasol on a designed play by Brown out of a timeout.

But Brown can’t draw up plays before every possession.

From Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com: “The Lakers’ problems, however, run far deeper than Bynum’s effort level in the team’s loss to the Wizards, according to sources close to the situation. Bynum publicly invited the bulk of the responsibility for the Lakers’ second straight loss to a lottery-bound straggler from the Eastern Conference, but sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com this week that there is growing concern among some Lakers players as to whether first-year coach Mike Brown and his staff have the X-and-O wherewithal to fix a Lakers offense that is averaging its lowest per-game point total (94) since before the advent of the 24-second shot clock in 1954-55. Brown’s effect on the Lakers’ defense has been undeniable, but sources say the team’s ongoing struggles on the road — with L.A. dropping to 6-14 away from Staples Center following a loss in Detroit and blowing a 21-point lead to the undisciplined Wizards — have some veterans longing for a return to the trusty Triangle offense preferred by Brown’s predecessor, Phil Jackson.”

That reported dissension will percolate as the Lakers move on to Minnesota before heading home. Meanhile, the Clippers have been away from home a bit longer. Their visit to New Jersey was the fifth game of a six-game trip and resulted in their second straight one-point loss, a 101-100 setback to the Nets.

The Clippers went about things a bit differently than the Lakers. Instead of building a big lead, they fell behind by 18 points. Instead of sleepwalking through the rest of the game, they showed some fight – literally and figuratively. But for the second straight game, Chris Paul lost a bit of focus in the final seconds, and it cost them a win.

In Monday’s 95-94 loss at Minnesota, the Clippers trailed by three when Paul was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the waning seconds. He made the first two free throws but missed the third. Against New Jersey, LA led by two and Paul had defensive responsibility for Jordan Farmar, who inbounded to Deron Williams and drifted to the right wing at the arc. Paul shaded too much toward Williams, who snapped a pass past a diving Paul and right to Farmar, who buried a game-winning 3-pointer.

From Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: “All-Star power forward Blake Griffin suffered a mild left ankle sprain after a collision with Kris Humphries. That just added to pain the Clippers seemed to heap on themselves. They fell behind by 18 points in the third quarter to a Nets team that had won just 12 games going in and was playing on the second night of back-to-back games. The Clippers’ lack of defense surfaced yet again for most of the game, this time allowing the Nets, through three quarters, to score 80 points while shooting 53.3% from the field and 50% (nine for 18) from three-point range. The Clippers for the second consecutive game had egregious fourth-quarter technical fouls, one on Mo Williams with 2:53 left and the Clippers trailing by two points and a double technical on Kenyon Martin and Shelden Williams with 2:10 left and the Clippers again trailing by two points.”

The Clippers have gone 2-3 on their trip, with all three losses by three points or less. They could point out that they are just a handful of possessions from being 5-0. But late-game execution on both ends – something that shouldn’t be an issue with Paul at the controls – is costing them dearly.

Late-game execution wasn’t a problem for the Miami Heat, who had their hands full with the shorthanded Atlanta Hawks but got big baskets down the stretch from Udonis Haslem for an 89-86 victory, their xxth in xx games.

Much was made of the redemption for Haslem, whose normally reliable mid-range jumper has been troublesome this season. He missed an open J in the final seconds of last week’s loss at Utah but came through vs. Atlanta.

From Ethan Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post: “Udonis Haslem didn’t scream. Nor did he smile. Nor was it necessary for him to do either, for anyone at AmericanAirlines Arena to guess what he was thinking, feeling, with just over a minute remaining. Not after he’d turned around, away from the net through which his 16-foot jumper had just dropped, his jaw jutting, his eyes blazing, his team now ahead by an ultimately insurmountable three points. “I shot the ball with confidence,” Haslem said, after Miami’s 89-86 victory against Atlanta. “No matter what, I can’t afford to lose confidence. You know, I know I can shoot the ball. Everybody here knows I can shoot the ball. The greatest shooters in the world, if they don’t have a rhythm and they don’t have a pace, they’re not going to be able to knock down shots. I’ve just got to continue to be ready.” And so he was, ready for the pass from his long-time teammate Dwyane Wade, a pass out of a double team, a pass to a spot no different from where LeBron James found him last Friday in Utah, a spot from which Haslem failed to connect just before the buzzer. On the next Heat possession Wednesday, Chris Bosh, who had been even more frigid in this game than Haslem has been all season, made his own 19-footer from the baseline. Then Haslem had to be ready again, ready for another nifty Wade feed, this one out of a pick-and-roll.”

However, overlooked by the local scribes was how little the ball went through LeBron James’ hands in the final minutes. Yes, Dwyane Wade was being defended by Kirk Hinrich, an obvious matchup advantage. But James barely touched the ball down the stretch, serving primarily as a floor-spreading decoy.

Is pointing out James’ lack of involvement in the crunch-time offense a bit of pot-stirring? Of course. And are his late-game exploits overanalyzed? Undoubtedly. There would not have been any endgame without James, who scored 31 points and kept the Heat afloat in the first half, when Wade and Bosh were enduring miserable droughts from the field.

James doesn’t need to be Michael Jordan, or even Kobe Bryant. He just needs to embrace the moment, as most superstars do. Derrick Rose is a perfect example.

From the Chicago Sun-Times: “Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau looks like Sir Georg Solti when he orchestrates even the most ordinary of defensive possessions, with multiple options to address every possible nuance that might make a difference. But when the Bulls have the ball, the game is tied and 18 seconds are on the clock, he has the easiest job in America. “This is the play: Get the ball to D-Rose, and everybody else get out of the way,” Carlos Boozer said. “And it works every time.” Maybe not every time. But it worked Wednesday night, when Derrick Rose dribbled down the last 18 seconds of the clock in a tie game with the Milwaukee Bucks before pulling up to make a 20-foot jumper over Brandon Jennings at the buzzer that gave the Bulls a 106-104 victory before another partisan Bulls crowd at the Bradley Center.”

Elsewhere …

You know who almost never leads our roundups? The Thunder, who win without the swirl of a soap opera generated by the Evil Empire’s hype machine. Russell Westbrook had 31 and James Harden and Kevin Durant had 30 apiece in a 115-104 win over Phoenix, OKC’s 14th straight at home. The Thunder dropped a buck-fifteen even though only five guys scored and six were held to a donut.

The logjam at the top of the Atlantic loosened a bit as the 76ers – who could have surrendered first place with a loss – absolutely pummeled the Celtics, 103-71, to open some minor breathing room. Evan Turner bounced back from a 1-of-12 nightmare in his first start Monday in Milwaukee to score a career-high 26 points. Boston came in with a five-game winning streak but had no juice after Tuesday’s OT win over Houston. Shots were short and they were consistently beaten to rebounds and loose balls. The Celtics are 0-6 on the road in the second of back-to-back games, and they have three back-to-back sets in a monstrous eight-game road trip that begins Sunday vs. the Lakers.

Also losing ground to the Sixers were the Knicks, who fell to 0-3 on their four-game trip with a 118-105 loss to the Spurs. Neither Jeremy Lin nor Baron Davis could stay in front of Tony Parker (32 points, six assists), who took advantage of the absence of Tyson Chandler. Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points, but New York is 3-6 since he returned to play alongside Lin and 26-35 since he was acquired just over a year ago. And then there was this gem from Amar’e Stoudemire: “(The Spurs) don’t have nearly enough talent to compete with us. Our personnel, our talent is off the charts.” So what is that, exactly? An indictment of the coach or the effort of the players? The no-talent Spurs improved to 15-3 at home and are 8 1/2 games better than the Knicks.

The new eighth seed in the Western Conference is the Timberwolves, who beat the Trail Blazers for the second time in five days, 106-94. In those two games, Kevin Love had 71 points and 26 rebounds while fellow All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge has 36 and 14. Minnesota already has won the season series from both Houston and Portland. Meanwhile, the Blazers have lost four of five as they began a seven-game road trip that has only one breather (Saturday at Washington) and could be the detonator for this roster in the offseason.

The Rockets are in a serious re-entry. A 116-98 loss at Toronto was their fifth in a row, and their defense has disappeared. In a recent four-game winning streak, Houston gave up 87.5 points per game. During the slide, it has allowed 107.8 ppg.

The stumbles by the Lakers and Clippers created a new third seed in the West – the Grizzlies, who rolled to their fifth straight win with a 110-92 road rout of Golden State. Memphis has somehow gone 22-12 without Zach Randolph, who is expected to return sometime next week.

The Cavaliers no longer have LeBron James, but they do have a guy who makes last-second shots – rookie Kyrie Irving, whose court-length take on Arron Afflalo gave Cleveland a 100-99 win at Denver. With 15.1 seconds to go, Cavs coach Byron Scott opted to inbound in the backcourt with a clear-out, and Afflalo almost forced an eight-second violation. But Irving got the shoulder with a crossover, went to the hole and no Nugget stepped up to force a pass. Ty Lawson missed a driving layup at the horn.

The Bobcats remained the only team without consecutive wins, falling at home to the Jazz, 99-93. Bismack Biyombo, who nearly had a triple-double against Dwight Howard in Tuesday’s win over Orlando, came close again with nine rebounds, five turnovers and six fouls. Al Jefferson scored 31 points for Utah, which is also hot on Houston’s tail.

When you drive like an idiot, your license is suspended. Twitter should have the same policy. Some wanna-be model claimed DeMarcus Cousins sent her a picture of his junk, which the Kings forward and pillar of the community denied. In what was hopefully an unrelated incident, Cousins was a DNP with food poisoning as Sacramento edged New Orleans, 99-98. Rookie Isaiah Thomas stole an inbounds pass and lobbed a pass to John Salmons for the go-ahead layup with 6.8 seconds left.