The Clippers won again at home and defeated the up and coming Hornets. The Clippers beat this team with a balanced attack and a steady dose of Elton Brand. Six Clippers scored in double digits, including 4 of the 5 starters, the only starter who missed the double digit mark was Kaman. Tim Thomas came off the bench and made back to back to back 3 point shots to get the Clippers a secure lead. I really liked the offense Dunleavy ran with Livingston and Thomas on the floor. Livingston was posting up Bobby Jackson and Thomas camped out behind the 3 point line. Every time Tim Thomas' defender went to help BJax, Livingston kicked it out for a wide open Tim Thomas three pointer. If the double team didn't come, Livingston just went to work against the smaller defender. This could be a bread and butter play for them when the post season comes around. Clippers didn't even shoot the ball very well tonight at just 41.6%, but they still dominated the Hornets by 16 points. Clippers extend their lead in the Pacific Division with a 5-1 record.
Oh man, what a sloppy game, wow, but the Clippers depth, and amount of scorers helped. Early in the game, it was Brand's play and Tim Thomas' shooting that kept the team afloat, then later on, the others joined in.
I felt the Jazz would be a true test for the team, and they were. It seemed like every team we were playing was playing out of character against us, but Utah held on even without Andrei.
Kaman and CMaggs played like crap last night. Kaman's confidence went down the drain and he continues to make mistakes forcing Dunleavy to keep him on the bench. I'm a fan of CMaggs, but he needs to understand his limitations on the court. I don't know why he bothers shooting 3pointers, because he has no consistency with his shot. He aims at the rim and doesn't have the proper technique to shoot from beyond 18 feet. He also needs to learn, he's not a playmaker. CMaggs at his best when he just drives to the rim, draws contact and gets to the free throw line. He needs to let Sammy and Livingston create the offense and CMaggs just needs to be on the receiving end of those passes. The Jazz offensive execution is superb. They play efficient basketball, never panic, and stay within their offense. Sloan is so good at finding a weakness in the oppositions defense and then exploiting it by running the same play over and over again. The Jazz also did a number on rebounding, and limited the Clippers to less offensive second chance opportunities than they normally get.
Well truthfully the stagnant no creativity offense had to come and bit us in the butt at some point in time. Every single team couldn't play terrible on offense.
