Game 43: Los Angeles (24-18) vs Houston (24-20) @ 12:30PM

[mkwest]

Los Angeles Clippers VS Houston Rockets
Where: STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA
When: Saturday, March 17th, 2012 @ 12:30PM
TV:
Radio: KFWB News Talk 980

Clippers lead the season series 2-0
Previous Meetings:
1/4 in Los Angeles: Clippers over Rockets 117-89
3/4 in Houston: Clippers over Rockets 105-103 (OT)



PG: #3 - Chris Paul SG: #4 - Randy Foye

SF: #5 - Caron Butler PF: #32 - Blake Griffin

C: #6 - DeAndre Jordan


Reserves

Bledsoe | Williams | Simmons | Evans | Martin




PG: #3 - Goran Dragic SG: #12 - Kevin Martin

SF: #25 - Chandler Parsons PF: #4 - Luis Scola

C: #21 - Samuel Dalembert

Reserves

Lee | Budinger | Morris | Patterson

Inactive List:

Chauncey Billups (Achilles) and Nick Young (Pending Physicals) are out.

Courtney Lee (Dislocated Finger/torn ligament) and Kevin Martin (Strained Right Shoulder) are probable.
Marcus Camby (Pending Physicals), Derek Fisher (Not with team), Kyle Lowry (Bacterial Infection) and Chandler Parsons (Flu-like Symptoms) are out.

Team Leaders



Blake Griffin - 21.3 Points (10th) and 11.0 Rebounds (4th)

Chris Paul - 8.4 Assists (4th) and 2.2 Steals (2nd)

DeAndre Jordan - 2.4 Blocks (3rd)

Team Performance
97.6 Points Per Game - 10th Overall
42.8 Rebounds Per Game - 11th Overall
20.9 Assists Per Game - 16th Overall
95.6 Points Allowed - 14th Overall
13.6 Turnovers Per Game - 3rd Overall
13.7 Turnovers (Opp.) Per Game - 24th Overall
Offensive Rating: 108.1 Points Scored Per 100 Possessions - 5th Overall
Defensive Rating: 105.9 Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions - 21st Overall
Pace: 89.4 Possessions Per Game: 27th




Kevin Martin - 17.1 Points

Samuel Dalembert - 7.7 Rebounds and 1.9 Blocks (8th)

Kyle Lowry - 7.2 Assists (9th) and 1.8 Steals (7th)


Team Performance
98.1 Points Per Game - 8th Overall
41.8 Rebounds Per Game - 18th Overall
20.8 Assists Per Game - 17th Overall
97.7 Points Allowed - 21st Overall
14.8 Turnovers Per Game - 15th Overall
14.8 Turnovers (Opp.) Per Game - 14th Overall
Offensive Rating: 105.3 Points Scored Per 100 Possessions - 9th Overall
Defensive Rating: 105.0 Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions - 17th Overall
Pace: 92.0 Possessions Per Game: 12th

mkwest's game thread record: 7 - 4

[og15]

The guy I'm worried about it Chandler Parsons, he's been playing quite well for them as the starter. Houston is also a good 3PT shooting team, so the perimeter defenders need to be aware of who they are sagging off of while playing. Close out on the mid-range shooters and stay in position, hopefully forcing long contested two point shots as much as possible.

I'm interested to see the kind of energy and defensive intensity that the team comes out with. Paul is used to coaches and teams that can compete on the defensive end, and even in games where the offense was poor, you hear him saying "our defensive intensity was lacking". Hopefully as a team there's a new sense of urgency and it shows into their play.

[The Infamous1]

You guys should win this and end up finishing around the 3rd seed at the end of the year.

I honesltly think if it wasn't for a few bone head mistakes in Alot of games and inexcusable loses the Clippers could've been the 1 seed out west

[RiversideClips]

The Clips need this game! They need to play a hard 48 minutes w/out any Brain Farts!
I miss Cookie..................... not!

[thanumba2clippersfan]

This game is a must win for us. We don't want a repeat of the Suns game since the Rockets may be missing some players.

[TheNewEra]

lets go clips!!

[clippermitch]

Let's see how the players meeting translates on the floor.

CP3 needs to be aggressive and be the superstar that he is. I really hope I don't see one player complaining and loathing down the court. We need energy and have that killer instinct.

Going to the game. Dragging my wife and 4 year old in this ugly, rainy day so they better not stink it up!!!

[donemilio21]

Our first game without Brian Cook. its gonna be tough. lets see how the team reacts to his absence.

[mkwest]

The man is back!

You guys should win this and end up finishing around the 3rd seed at the end of the year.

I honesltly think if it wasn't for a few bone head mistakes in Alot of games and inexcusable loses the Clippers could've been the 1 seed out west

I don't know if I'd say number 1 seed, but I agree that there have been a lot of games that we've let slip away because of a dumb play (or 3) or a lack of a sense of urgency.

[TheNewEra]

We need to go into a great sense of urgency mode from here on out a killer mode so to speak to finish this season strong

[mkwest]

Parsons has flu-like symptoms and will not play.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I still don't feel good about this one. Houston has a bunch of guys out but we know how that worked against the Suns. We need to come out and kill them, really hope that we can.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

DJ hits 1 of 2 free throws to start the game

[TheNewEra]

strong start so far

[NikeBaller22]

I like the way the Clippers started the game

[H-town]

no parsons, martin, lowry, camby ... easy win for the clippers

[thanumba2clippersfan]

Good sign Blake hits his first 2 free throws

[mkwest]

no parsons, martin, lowry, camby ... easy win for the clippers

Don't jump the gun just yet. With the Clippers, you can expect the unexpected.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

no parsons, martin, lowry, camby ... easy win for the clippers

We lost to the Suns without Nash and Hill, so I wouldn't call this a victory so soon.

[NikeBaller22]

Blake looks good in starting out the game