The Los Angeles Clippers have won two straight games by a total of eight points. Both wins, which allowed the Clippers to shave one game off of the L.A. Lakers’ lead in the Pacific Division, came down to late-game heroics by Chris Paul. Late in Saturday’s 95-91 victory over the Houston Rockets, Paul scored 10 consecutive points in less than 2 1/2 minutes, beginning with a 16-foot jumper at the 2:42 mark of the fourth quarter, to bring the Clippers
Let the Wood-sanity begin. It has been three games since Mike Woodson took over the coaching duties of the New York Knicks after the firing resignation of Mike D’Antoni. The Knicks have since gone 3-0. Preaching defense and accountability — perhaps the polar opposite of D’Antoni’s style — Woodson has changed the attitude of his players and the results have shown in remarkable fashion on the court. Since going on a nightmare six-game losing streak that saw them fall out of the playoff picture, New
The trade deadline had passed at 3PM EST on Thursday afternoon. Everything seemed settled and players could finally take a deep breath and play basketball again. Not so fast. Moments after the official deadline had passed, word arrived out of Denver that they had traded away long-tenured Nene Hilario in a three-team deal, receiving JaVale McGee, Ronny Turiaf and a future second-round pick in the process. The loss of Nene turned out to be too much for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets
The bottom of the Western Conference playoff race just opened up a bit wider. The Houston Rockets, who currently hold the eighth and final spot in the West, announced Monday that will be without do-it-all point guard Kyle Lowry for two to four weeks due to a bacterial infection. The Rockets played New Jersey over the weekend, and Lowry was taken to a New York hospital with an illness. He underwent tests that revealed the infection and will remain hospitalized until Tuesday,
Unless you caught the second-game of the day-night doubleheader at the Staples Center, you might not be aware that a second masked man is playing there, a masked man named Chris Paul whose Los Angeles Clippers just dropped into second place in the Pacific Division. Yes, Paul, Blake Griffin and Lob City are no longer perched atop Tinseltown. First place in the division is now back in the hands of Kobe Bryant, the guy who called the game-clinching play in the huddle Sunday
One man started the rumor of a Pau Gasol trade on Twitter in the afternoon and it had swept the globe by tipoff. Possibly distracted, Gasol had 12 points and 11 boards in the Lakers win, though Andrew Bynum (26 & 10) did the heavy lifting and Kobe Bryant scored 34. Kevin Love was a very late scratch with a sore back, but the return of Nikola Pekovic (25 & 13) and a great effort by rookie Derrick Williams (22
At the end of the film Se7en, Detective Mills, played by Brad Pitt, gets into an argument with serial killer Jon Doe, played by Kevin Spacey. Doe claims what he is doing will be remembered forever. Mills dismisses him by saying, “You’re no messiah. You’re a Movie of the Week. You’re a T-shirt, at best.” That’s about where Linsanity is right now. It’s not Lin’s fault that his novelty has somewhat worn off. He is still playing pretty well, as evidenced by
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.