golden state warriors vs los angeles clippers preview — chris paul went down with a shoulder injury (Photo: Vavel.com)
How have the Los Angeles Clippers continued to win with their superstar point guard Chris Paul out with a shoulder injury?
We asked @illastrate of The No Look Pass to give us an update, but before that, let’s see what the Golden State Warriors‘ Stephen Curry and Mark Jackson had to say about that.
“Darren Collison is no scrub of a point guard,” Curry said, “He’s started on plenty of teams. That’s why it’s such a big pickup for them, just in case something goes wrong or an injury happens. So they’re solid team and obviously CP makes them better but with J.J. (Redick) back in the lineup, they’ve found ways to get wins.”
“J.J. Redick is a big part of it. He’s back, he’s healthy,” Jackson said.
“He’s just relentless with his body movement on the court. Seems like every cut he makes is a hundred miles an hour, changes direction pretty quick, obviously he’s a great shooter so he doesn’t need much time to get a look, but the way that he runs his routes and that they actually draw up when he was in the game, it’s something that’s been pretty consistent over his whole career,” Curry said of Redick, “You can’t relax for a second. They’ll hit you with a screen and he’ll come off ready to shoot. That’s probably the hardest thing is how much he moves, how fast he moves, you gotta be on your toes the whole possession.”
“Jamal Crawford is certainly running away with the Sixth Man Of The Year award, when you think about what he’s done in the absence of Chris Paul. Blake Griffin playing at an extremely high level. Deandre Jordan rebounding, defending, altering shots and finishing. Doc Rivers obviously one of the best in the business,” Jackson added, “So they’ve done a very good job and that’s what the good teams do in spite of guys being hurt or missing for extended period of time. You still find ways to win.”
Here’s a fan’s perspective, from TheNoLookPass’s Illastrate:
1) CP3 has been out. How the heck are the Clippers still winning games?
As great as CP3 is, he’s a ball dominant point guard. Without him, it’s almost been PG by committee, with Darren Collison starting and Jamal Crawford, Willie Green and even Hedo Turkoglu sharing backup minutes. What we’re seeing is a lot of ball movement. JJ Redick return also coincided with Pauls injury and he’s the biggest factor In the Clips’ motion offense running smoothly. And of course you can’t discount what Blake Griffin has done by taking over as the #1 option.
2) Has Doc Rivers been a significant upgrade over Vinny Del Negro?
In more ways than one. Doc is a motivator and he wanted to bring out the best in his players. All of last summer, he was talking up DeAndre Jordan. He made everyone believe Jordan could be a double-double guy who would be in the conversation for defensive player of the year. And sure enough, Jordan leads the league in rebounds and is playing major minutes including in crunch time.
Doc is also great with calling plays out of timeouts, something VDN was sorely lacking in. He’s using Redick in the Ray Allen role and the offense has flourished. The defense has also improved over time. You can see Doc’s vision coming to fruition as days pass and the team continues to improve.
3) How’s Blake progressing and in what specific areas?
The “All he can do is dunk” sentiments are gradually dying. Griffin’s progress has been a gem this season. He’s developed a post game, albeit unorthodox, but effective. His midrange has improved as he has shot close to 50% since the Grammy trip. His passing ability has always been impressive, but with teams constantly doubling him, he’s had to play the role of facilitator often. And doing a great job at it.
The biggest takeaway during CP3’s absence is that he wants to take over. He embraces being dominant and it has paid dividends.
4) Mark Jackson has repeatedly said he doesn’t think there’s a true rivalry between LAC and GSW. Do Clips fans think there is a rivalry or at least one brewing?
Jackson will play it down, but there absolutely is a rivalry. You have two teams widely regarded as the top two in the Pacific Division. Both are in California, both have young, exciting talent. And both just don’t like each other. The intensity in these games is not like a normal game. There’s some scuffle bound to happen, and you may expect something to go down tonight as well. I, for one, love it.
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