Game 37: Los Angeles (12-24) vs The Heatles (30-9)

[mkwest]

Los Angeles Clippers VS Miami Heat
Where: Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA
When: Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 @ 7:30PM
TV:
Radio: KFWB News Talk 980



PG: #5 - Baron Davis SG: #10 - Eric Gordon

SF: #15 - Ryan Gomes PF: #32 - Blake Griffin

C: #9 - DeAndre Jordan

Key Reserves

Eric Bledsoe - Randy Foye - Al-Farouq Aminu - Ike Diogu



PG: #8 - Carlos Arroyo SG: #3 - Dwyane Wade

SF: #6 - LeBron James PF: #1 - Chris Bosh

C: #11 - Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Key Reserves

Mario Chalmers - James Jones - Juwan Howard - Joel Anthony



Inactive List:

Brian Cook (Sprained Right Ankle), Chris Kaman (Bone Bruise/Sprained Left Ankle) and Craig Smith (Herniated Disc) are out.


Udonis Haslem (Torn Ligament, Left Foot) is out.



Team Leaders


Eric Gordon - 23.5ppg (9th) & 1.2spg
Blake Griffin - 12.6rpg (4th)
Baron Davis - 6.8apg
DeAndre Jordan - 1.7 bpg


LeBron James - 25.3ppg (3rd), 7.2apg & 1.5spg
Chris Bosh - 8.3rpg
Joel Anthony - 1.4bpg



Around 8 months ago, the faithful citizens of Clipper Nation paraded around the outside of Staples Center proclaiming their desire to welcome King James to the City of Angels. News media was at hand and fans were given the opportunity to plead their case and tell upcoming free-agent, LeBron James, why he should become a Clipper.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnNLLdCxi-I[/youtube]

Rookie sensation Blake Griffin was asked for his thoughts on a potential Griffin/James pairing. When the Cavs came to Los Angeles earlier in the season, LeBron took the time to personally speak to Griffin who was sidelined with a knee injury. Were they just words of encouragement or was there something more that could allude to what was in store for us in Clipper Nation during the LeBron James Free Agency Extravaganza?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmZBDMNZLaU[/youtube]

The time for "The Decision" came and LeBron announced to the world where he would be taking his talents for the 2010-2011 season.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyvavfpEwbI[/youtube]

The cities of Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Newark all came up short in the sweepstakes and had to go other routes in hopes of achieving success. Some have done well, some are a work in progress, while others are in shambles. Now, the once beloved NBA Superstar, LeBron, has assumed the role of the biggest heel in the NBA. He has been heckled and booed in arenas across the country every time that he touches the ball. Will that be any different in Los Angeles? Many say that the Clippers had very little chance to obtain the talents of LeBron James. Perhaps, every team aside from Miami had a minuscule chance of obtaining his services. The Clippers have gotten off to a rough start, but things are looking up as the loyal fans have finally found a super star of their own in Griffin. Will fans ask what could have been if the two would have paired in sunny SoCal, or will the strong and broad shoulders of Blake Griffin be enough?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExdKPcQhBvk[/youtube]

Rookie point guard Eric Bledsoe and James share the same management team and they went to dinner before the much-hyped Lakers-Heat game.

(James bought, Bledsoe said, laughing hard.)

After Bledsoe quit laughing, he said that James has been impressed with his progress, having been thrown into point guard on-the-job training in the NBA.

"He says he watches our games all the time, especially the late-night games," Bledsoe said recently.

The Clippers play James and the Heat on Wednesday at Staples Center.

James and Bledsoe also talked about Blake Griffin that night. In fact, James had even tweeted about Griffin in complimentary terms on Thanksgiving night when Griffin was ripping through Sacramento.

James told Bledsoe he planned on staying out of Griffin's way around the rim when they finally meet on the court.

"He's going to let him dunk," said Bledsoe, joking.

Last January, James went to the Clippers bench and sought out the injured Griffin, giving him a hug and offering the kid with a bad knee some words of encouragement.

"Stuff like that stays with me. I just remember what he said," Griffin said. "He said, 'Don't let this injury affect the rest of your career. You're going to have a good career.' "

Lisa Dillman, LA Times

[mattfish]

Wow, great job with the game thread mk! I'm undecided on how this game will turn out... I think our biggest problem will be defending Bosh and Z when they shoot jumpers.

[Leor_77]

Well, obviously, the Heat are favored in this game, but I'm still very confident in the Clippers. I have no doubts that our Griffin/DJ front line will destroy them. The main issue will be managing LBJ and DW, and making them take outside shots and/or pass it off. If the ref's don't completely make those two foul magnets, then I like our chances to upset them.

[scratch21]

im gna be in the house sect. 208
Hope its a good one

[TheNewEra]

Bosh is key this is going to be fun we need tough physical play

[Recently]

Not gonna get my hopes up too high on this game, heat have been on a massive roll the past month. Hopefully we see blake embarrass bosh a few times though.

[SportsFan215]

This is going to be a really fun game to watch. I hope the team really gets up for this one, and shows how good they can be.

[PlinkingPanda]

Beatles = fab four. Miami Heat = big three. Heatles = stupid name.

We just gotta defend the paint and make them a jump shooting team. Do the best they can to defend James and Wade from driving to the basket. Hopefully DJ can make that big impact, but I worry that EJ may get in early foul trouble.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

With Penn State beating two consecutive ranked opponents I'm feeling very upset minded right now. I hope that our Clippers can pull an upset against the Heat, they haven't lost in like forever. I think this game will be a good measuring stick of how good the Clippers have gotten. It should be an exciting game tomorrow night.

[Leor_77]

With Penn State beating two consecutive ranked opponents I'm feeling very upset minded right now. I hope that our Clippers can pull an upset against the Heat, they haven't lost in like forever. I think this game will be a good measuring stick of how good the Clippers have gotten. It should be an exciting game tomorrow night.

Haha I'm with you man. Clippers are all about upsetting the top teams this year, and in our recent hot streak (7-3), I honestly think that we should have won at least 2 of those games. Looking at the Milwaukee and Portland games, it's not like the Heat blew them out. Heat had to come back from behind to win in OT, and we're certainly just as good, or better, than those teams. Their front line has NOTHING on us, and Baron Davis will dominate, as they have no good point guards.

[Knightspeed]

Clips gotta cool down these heaters.

[biggd]

I have a good feeling about this game, DJ and Blake will man-handle Z and CB-loser!... question is can they contain queen james and wade

Clippers by 4

[biggd]

With Penn State beating two consecutive ranked opponents I'm feeling very upset minded right now. I hope that our Clippers can pull an upset against the Heat, they haven't lost in like forever. I think this game will be a good measuring stick of how good the Clippers have gotten. It should be an exciting game tomorrow night.

As Blake said in a recent video, you gotta have a winning mindset...good things will happen in the right frame of mind

[mike3]

I actually think where the type of young exciting team that could end this streak of theres, looking forward to this one and hopefully Griffin posterizes someone

[Sofia]

Beatles = fab four. Miami Heat = big three. Heatles = stupid name.

Duhhh... they signed Dampier....

[Sofia]

The head says Heat, but I got a feeling heading into this.

Hopefully that feeling is a good one, and hopefully we can get a big game tonight from Baron, it's up to him if we want to win this one.

Oh and BG to make Joel Anthony look stupid.

[biggd]

I just want BG to dunk on CB-loser and queen James...

to the person to said Bdiddy is the key, your 100% right. I really hope he is ready for this one

[TheNewEra]

This i going to be a true battle we are going to need top flight defense

[donemilio21]

WIN WIN WIN I wanna see Blake dunk over Lebron over and over again!!
yeah!!!! I'm excited for this one

[mkwest]

The head says Heat, but I got a feeling heading into this.

I have a good feeling myself. Hopefully I haven't been deceived.