Game 51: Los Angeles (11-39) VS Atlanta (29-20)

[thanumba2clippersfan]

back-to-back blowout road victories

Can we please see this same Clippers team for the rest of the season.

I'm with you on that one

[mkwest]

DeAndre reaches high but catches it and delivers the 2 handed slam.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

DEANDRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mj_shoefanatic]

our bench just toying with Atlanta

[mkwest]

Clippers win 121-97. 2 nights and a combined 45 points in the 2 victories. I'm impressed. It's no secret that we can go toe-to-toe with any team in terms of talent. The fact of the matter is that talent doesn't mean much if it's not utilized correctly. The last 2 games, this team has really been firing on all cylinders. We're shooting a high percentages (most of the season we failed to shoot over 50% in a game), we're passing the ball and racking up assists, we're also getting good looks at the 3 point line and draining them. Tonight we had 3 turnovers in the first half and none in the 2nd half until the final 4 or 5 minutes where we picked up 3. That is a beautiful thing considering that we had 24 against the Wizards earlier in the week. Thornton stepped up playing in front of mom and dad. Zach did his thing as usual. Ricky is continuing to play well. Baron even played well once he started driving in. Keep up the good work Clippers. Hopefully we can have a strong finish and developed good team chemistry to build on for next season.

[mj_shoefanatic]

Just imagine how deep we'll be once we get Taylor and Collins back.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

Great victory tonight. I'm more impressed tonight than last night. It seems like last week we couldn't do anything right. I had to watch an embarrassing loss to the Wizards last week in DC. My aunt was even surprised that the Wizards won that game. But now in our last two games it seems like we can't do anything wrong. The scary part is that if we keep playing this well and we don't even have all of our players back yet.

We get a day off and then it's the Bobcats on Monday, I want to continue to see this type of effort from our team.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

Just to add as a team we had 38 assists, beautiful basketball tonight

[playaloc916]

Wow. I thought we had a chance to squeak through a win, but to blow out the Hawks? Hopefully, this becomes a statement game, that the guys are tired of losing. Again, we have a good chance to keep the winning streak alive against the Bobcats next.

Thorton had a monster game by scoring, rebounding and passing, Z-Bo having his usual near 20-10 game, and Baron handled the ball well with 8 assists and 1 turnover (didn't he have that last game against the Grizzlies? I hope he keeps doing it!). Even the bench had excellent games. Deandre with a good contribution of 5 points, 6 boards, and 3 blocks, all in only 11 minutes, Ricky Davis keeping his "good game" streak alive, and my man Fred with 9 assists? And great ball movement too, with 38 assists.

Man, I don't know what's going to happen if we keep this up and have a fully healthy roster with Taylor, Collins, and the Kaveman coming back.

[JJ LoDuca]

I missed this game-- and the last game-- both in their entirety, so I'm pretty bummed that I missed two really good games. Hopefully they keep their form Monday in Charlotte!

[PlinkingPanda]

what the heck. I miss a 2nd good game. I must be bad luck whenever I watch.

[cinnamon]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a two-game winning streak here!
This is a really exciting and unexpected development. I ended up going out tonight, so taped the game, and will really enjoy watching every minute of it late tomorrow morning. (JJ & Fishy, I'm sorry I live 3,000 miles away so I can't invite you over for a coffee and a watch of the game tape. I hope you both get to watch the next couple of games.)
Now, bring on the Bobcats!

[mkwest]

I missed this game-- and the last game-- both in their entirety, so I'm pretty bummed that I missed two really good games. Hopefully they keep their form Monday in Charlotte!

what the heck. I miss a 2nd good game. I must be bad luck whenever I watch.

Since you two will likely miss Monday's game too (radio only) we may just win again. jk

The game is being replayed right now on KTLA if you guys are still awake.

We set a league record by being the only team 25 games under .500 to win back-to-back games on the road by 20 or more.

[Det the Threat]

Wow, yet another blow out win for us.

The ball movement was fantastic and we took it to a team, missing a key piece(Bibby), to make it two in a row.

Z-Bo is becoming a three point machine and Baron seems to finally play to his strenghts, which is going to the hoop, instead of just settling for longe range jumpers.

Let's hope the guys continue to play together like this, cause if the ball is moving, like it is right now, then we're hard to beat for a lot of teams in this league.

[mj_shoefanatic]

I highly doubt that even with Bibby the hawks had a chance to win this game.

[clipperfan4life]

I wasn't able to catch this game since I went out but i am shocked after I saw the scoreboard late last night! I wasn't expecting a blowout win...but wow I wish I was able to see this game. My eyes went crazy after seeing that the team had 38 assists! I hope we make some kind of run...bobcats YOU'RE NEXT!

[cinnamon]

I finally got to watch this game from beginning to end, and it was great fun. I have several observations.
First, it's obvious that Thornton is capable of passing (6) and rebounding (7) when he is motivated enough. That's a good sign --- the bad news is that that nobody in the Clippers organization seems to be able to motivate him the way playing in front of his parents does.
Secondly, I was really thrilled that even with 3 or 4 prominent guys on the team who really want to have the ball in their own hands at all times, our team managed to get 38 assists last night. I saw some really unselfish play, especially in getting the ball to Thornton so he could show it off for his home crowd, but not exclusively that. I really love ball movement, and believe unselfish play is usually the most consistently effective way for a team to play, so this was very heartening to me.
Thirdly, I know there's a whole list of Clippers who scored more points, but I was reminded of why Marcus Camby is my favorite player --- it wasn't the reliable 16 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds, but the way he is somehow everywhere, steadying and supporting everyone else and doing all those important little things that make such a difference.
Have to say, I loved Eric Gordon's block. Even when other players are taking the shots, he finds ways to be useful. A good sign.
The Atlanta announcers were hilarious in their constant and profuse glorification of their homestate hero Al Thornton. They mentioned him at least every third sentence throughout the game, and made him sound like the league's most obvious leading MVP candidate. I hope he never hears the soundtrack of that game or he will have such a swelled head he won't fit through the doors of our new practice facility. I mean, I really like Al, but this was way out there over the top.
Great game, Clippers. Let's do it again!

[cinnamon]

One last observation: What a pleasure it was to see the Clippers smiling and laughing together, and communicating freely on the court and on the bench. Man, it seems like a long time since we've had that to enjoy.