Week ahead for Clippers: Home game with Memphis before three-game road trip
The week ahead
There will be a lot of Memphis Grizzlies sightings this week. One of the NBA's newest rivalries will be seen twice in the next few days, beginning Monday when Memphis visits the Staples Center. That will mark the conclusion of the homestand. The Clippers then hit the road for four, beginning in Houston on Wednesday and then to Memphis on Friday. Sunday, they will be in Chicago for a 10am local start.
The week behind
In an abbreviated week coming off of the All-Star break, the Clippers were able to extend their winning streak to four games. In front of the Staples Center crowd, the Clippers defeated San Antonio 119-115 last Thursday. On Saturday, the club handed George Karl his first loss as head coach of the Kings with a 126-99 defeat.
1 Stat, 1 @NBAAllStar CP3 leads the league in on-court Offensive Rating (@LAClippers score 115.0 Pts Per 100 Poss. w/ him on court)
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) February 15, 2015
Record and standings
The Clippers enter the week 37-19 and in fifth place in the Western Conference, 7.5 games behind Golden State.
Thumb's up
Austin Rivers came off of the bench and provided some pop for the Clippers with a career-high 28 points in the 27-point win over Sacramento night. His previous career-high was 27 points in his rookie season against the Timberwolves. Rivers' 28 points came in 26 minutes of action. Following the game, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said he was a "proud coach."
Austin Rivers has career night as he finds his touch with Clippers
Thumb's down
Hack-a-fill in the blank is a lot of things. You could say it's boring and it disrupts the flow of the game. You could also call it an acceptable strategy. Depending on what side of the fence you're on, the onus has to be on said player to knock down free throws. Otherwise, coaches will continue to use the strategy. Against the Spurs DeAndre Jordan didn't do that. He made just 10 of his 28 attempts from the charity stripe -- a whopping 35.7 percent.
Player to watch
In the absence of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan has taken his play to another level. Nevermind the struggles at the free throw line, Jordan is averaging 18.2 points and 18 rebounds while shooting 62.5 percent from the field over his last five games. During this stretch, he's also recorded two 20-20 games. The Clippers are 4-1 during this span.
Stat to watch
The Clippers will enter their next road trip as losers of four of its last five road games. Three of the four teams they will face on the next road trip are playoff teams. The Clippers are 15-15 on the year against teams that are .500 or better.
