“It happens more than you think after games”, Rivers told Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times.
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ABOUT THE RAPTORS (8-6): Valanciunas, who leads the team in rebounding (9.3) and sits third in scoring (12.7), will undergo more tests to determine how much time he will miss, but a matchup against Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is unlikely. After tinkering with the roster during the summer, this team was expected to be among the title contenders in the Western Conference.
Josh Smith’s lack of on-court productivity is one thing.
Profanities and yelling made their way through the cement walls separating the Clipper locker room from an adjacent room where the media was waiting to speak to head coach Doc Rivers.
And like so numerous Clippers’ issues, there’s no clear reason why they’ve struggled to start second halves.
Forward DeMarre Carroll and guard DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points apiece, sparking the Raptors (9-6) and helping them avoid blowing what was a 29-point, first-half lead. 6-7 is good for the worst start of the Chris Paul era. Los Angeles’ laissez-faire attitude is infecting their defense and stymying what should be an offense that scares every team in the league. That next man up is likely Bismack Biyombo, who is averaging 4.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 16.9 minutes off the bench.
Despite bringing in an entire new group of small forwards during the offseason, the Clippers still seem to have a hole at the position.
The Los Angeles Clippers entered the season with high expectations, but things haven’t gone according to plan just yet.
Blake Griffin – “Big picture, we’ll be OK. Guys are upset”, Rivers said. You would think that if a team was strong enough internally, they would be able to push through a rough patch without any craziness, if that’s indeed what the Clippers are going through right now, who are 2-7 in their last nine contests. This has all been largely absent, but a looming six-game home stand against very beatable teams can be an opportunity to free themselves and regain that chemistry. But why that effort can be accepted in the second half when it’s not present in the first tells almost all you need to know about Los Angeles through a month.
The biggest problem for the Clippers isn’t that something is broken. The Raptors escaped the Staples Center with an 11-point victory. The 1948-49 Washington Capitals and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets also began with 15 straight wins. By beating Denver on Sunday, Golden State still hasn’t lost and continue to terrify the NBA with basketball that’s not just unstoppable but unsolvable. The same can be said for Ish Smith (11 points, nine assists, eight boards, three steals), but he’s been terrific and has even been outplaying Jrue Holiday (eight points, four assists) lately. On top of being the club’s second-best three-point shooter so far this season (37%, trailing only J.J. Redick), he’s a capable defender.
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The game also marked the first of what could wind up being 20 or so without Valanciunas.
