(#15 AND a Kobe jab?! Perfect!
)Friday, December 28th, 6:00 pm PDT, Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City
This game will be broadcast by
.Los Angeles Clippers
23-6 - 1st in Pacific/1st in West
Won 15 Straight ▪ 10-0 Last 10
PTS/G: 101.6 (8th of 30) ▪ Opp PTS/G: 91.9 (3rd of 30)
SRS: 9.49 (1st of 30) ▪ Pace: 91.8 (15th of 30)
Off Rtg: 110.3 (4th of 30) ▪ Def Rtg: 99.8 (3rd of 30)
@
Utah Jazz
15-15 - 5th in North West/10th in West
Lost 1 Straight ▪ 5-5 Last 10
PTS/G: 98.1 (11th of 30) ▪ Opp PTS/G: 98.8 (19th of 30)
SRS: -0.27 (16th of 30) ▪ Pace: 91.3 (20th of 30)
Off Rtg: 106.3 (11th of 30) ▪ Def Rtg: 107.2 (24th of 30)
Recent Matchup History
This Season: LAC 1 - UTA 0 (LAC 105 - UTA 104)
Last Season: LAC 2 - UTA 1
Last 10 H2H: LAC 4 - UTA 6
Last 6 H2H in Utah: UTA 4 - LAC 2
Injury Report
Clippers
Chauncey Billups - Left foot tendinitis
Grant Hill - Bone bruise in right knee
Trey Thompkins - Bone bruise in left knee
Jazz
Mo Williams - Sprained right thumb
Raja Bell - Too ****
They see us rollin', they hatin'. Clippers top of the NBA, Lakers sub .500, and their fans turn up to our home game to cheer for Boston. Maybe the Mayan's meant December 31st, 2012?
15 straight, beat down after beat down and the Clippers don't look like they're done yet. Everyone's heard the saying "These aren't you dad's Clippers." It's more than that. After having exceeded the franchise win streak record of 11 straight, the Clippers are on the verge of another record that not even the Lakers can brag about; 17 wins in a month. At present, the Clippers' record of 15-0 for December is the equal 3rd greatest record of ANY franchise in ANY month in NBA history, only a game back on the '77 Lakers and '58 Celtics 16-0 months.
Standing in the way of the Clippers setting NBA history is Utah, with 2 chances to knock off the juggernaut. Utah come into this game sitting at .500, without their starting PG, and last in their division, but they will be far from an easybeat.
The Jazz have been a traditionally tough team in Salt Lake, and they have a front court rotation that a majority of the league would be envious of. The Jazz will be looking to stay in the hunt for the play offs, currently sitting in 10th with teams nipping at their heels and having dropped 5 of their last 7, so they have more than just wanting to stop a record to play for.
Both sides should expect a tough game that will go down to the wire. The Clippers are the 2 point favourites according to Yahoo, and personally I wouldn't expect a much larger margin after scraping a 1 point win previously this season. From this game, there is only 1 thing for certain, these aren't your father's Clippers, they aren't even our Clipper's from last year. Games like this will tell us exactly WHO they are.
Starting Lineups
Los Angeles Clippers
Deandre 3000 - Blake - Caron "Ol' Stinkeye" Butler - Willie "Get minutes?"Green - Point God
Utah Jazz
Big Al - Smaller Al - Bad Al with a Cliff - Pumpkin Head - Al's Grandaddy
Key Reserves
Los Angeles Clippers
Shake n Bake - "herp a derp, PER of 5 last season" - Bledshow - Titties - Towel boy gone good
Utah Jazz
Professor - Derrick "Sexual" Favors - DeMarre Carol - Pin Head - Enes "There's No P in my name!" Kanter
Team Leaders Per Game
Los Angeles Clippers
Points - Blake Griffin - 18.1
Rebounds - Blake Griffin - 8.8
Assists - Chris Paul - 9.5
Steals - Chris Paul - 2.7
Blocks - Deandre Jordan - 1.6
Utah Jazz
Points - Al Jefferson - 16.3
Rebounds - Al Jefferson - 10.2
Assists - Mo Williams - 6.7
Steals - Paul Millsap - 1.0
Blocks - Derrick Favors - 1.6
Who should I watch for?
Clippers
Blake Griffin will have his work cut out for him in this one, against one of the most under-rated big man rotations in the league. If we are going to keep the streak going, we will need a big performance from Blake in Utah AND when we back up and host the Jazz again on Sunday. Blake put up a strong 30 points@70% with 11 boards in one of the few games he has had to play over 35 minutes this season, and vs Utah has a career average of 25.1ppg@60%, 12.4rpg and 3.3 apg. Having played 33+ minutes only 4 times in the last 15 games, Blake should be plenty rested for what will be a battle in the paint.
Clippers
Eric Bledsoe must be giddy at the thought of playing against a point guard rotation aged 33 and 34. With Mo Williams out for the foreseeable future, the old men of the back court will need to do some heavy lifting, and may struggle at both ends against a super high energy, athletic point guard like Bledsoe. Beldsoe will look to push the ball up court and make those old knees grind at every chance, while making a pest of himself with his length and strength to force the two bucket listers into turnovers. While the Jazz have done a good job of looking after the ball this season, Bledsoe could cause a few headaches in Utah.
GO CLIPPERS!
, I'm hyped.