SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Marvin Williams will miss his third straight game for the Utah Jazz because of concussion-like symptoms and Derrick Favors is out again Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry had 20 points and a season-high 11 assists to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 103-92 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.
LOS ANGELES – Behind a concentrated team effort, the Los Angeles Clippers easily handled the visiting Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, 116-81, at Staples Center.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jamal Crawford scored 17 points off the bench, leading seven Clippers in double-digit scoring, and Los Angeles rested all of its starters in the fourth quarter of a 116-81 blowout of the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
Blake Griffin has dominated DeMarcus Cousins in their matchups, powering a season sweep by the Los Angeles Clippers last season.
SACRAMENTO — Indiana’s David West scored a season-high 31 points and, combined with a solid defensive effort, helped to give the Pacers a 97-92 victory over the Sacramento Kings before an announced crowd of 12,544 at Sleep Train Arena on Friday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Paul had 23 points and 11 assists, and the Los Angeles Clippers welcomed Chauncey Billups back to the lineup for the first time this season with a 101-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
NEW ORLEANS — It was far from a thing of beauty, but it was Utah Jazz basketball at its grinding, blue-collar best.
The Los Angeles Clippers are blaming their defense for their current struggles, and those complaints likely will continue if they can’t slow down Kevin Love.
It’s true that there was a stigma surrounding Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley when he entered the NBA in 2007. Point guards drafted fourth overall are usually expected to become a star of sorts, and Conley’s ascension has come in gradual stages, while other young wonders at the position (your Roses, Westbrooks, Irvings and Lillards, even) have shot straight to the top.
That loping rate reached its crisis point when the Grizzlies extended Conley’s contract just before an early season deadline back in November of 2010. Mike was coming off of a third season in which he didn’t really distinguish himself, and the five-year, $40 million terms seemed a bit much when you took into account the Grizzlies had all the wonders of restricted free agency on their side should they have decided to let Conley seek out his market value the next summer. Even after the improved 2010-11 season Conley gave the Grizz, those terms probably wouldn’t have been matched by many during the lockout-addled 2011 offseason.
All this, plus Conley’s frustrations in going up against Los Angeles Clippers rookie Eric Bledsoe in last year’s postseason, add to the mix. Conley’s good, damn good, but to hear Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins tell it there are still some out there who don’t understand just what he does for the West-leading Grizzlies. Mike’s recent bout with a flu, a poor performance from backup hybrid guard Jerryd Bayless, and a close win over a Cleveland Cavalier team still lacking “your Irvings” took care of all that — and Hollins wants all you cretins to know and love what you were missing on Monday night. From the Memphis Commercial Appeal :
“I’ve got to give a shoutout to Mike Conley and all the haters of Mike Conley,” Hollins said. “He’s one of the most valuable players we have on this team. He’s not a flashy guy, not a big scorer, not a big name, but he helps makes us go and we missed him big time. Jerryd did an admirable job. … (But) you limit what you can do when you don’t have a guy that knows all of the nuances of what you’re trying to do.”