One of the few disadvantages of the Clippers new rise to prominence is that tickets are a little tougher to come by. The Clippers have sold out every game this season, and currently have higher home attendance than the Lakers this season. (Configuration differences at Staples mean that the Lakers have a slightly smaller capacity than the Clippers, but somehow the Clippers have actually outdrawn their official capacity this season.)

Which makes it a little tougher to get great group deals for things like Clips Nation Night.

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Missed last night's game (see our Fearless Leader's recap here). It looked like one of those games, where I would get frustratingly mad at the tv!...Enjoy the links after the jump. Hat tip to those citizens who may have already posted some of these on the fanshots...too many to name!

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The Los Angeles Clippers roared out of the gate tonight, using first quarter runs of 9-0 and 11-0 to build a 16 point lead at 29-13 over the Memphis Grizzlies. But when Rudy Gay banked in a half court shot at the end of the quarter (the Clippers really need to work on their half court shot defense, this is happening too much) it seemed to shift the momentum to Memphis, as they went on a 15-0 across the quarter break to cut the lead all the way down to a single point just three minutes into the second quarter. And the game was close the rest of the way.

Give the Clippers credit. They took a body blow from Memphis when they lost that lead, but they never panicked. Memphis was able to grab the lead a few times, but the Clippers always responded, and eventually LA took control down the stretch for a 98-91 win.

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Use this thread for comments during the second half.

2011/2012 NBA Regular Season
	vs.
9-6		10-7
STAPLES Center
January 26th, 2012, 7:30 PM
TNT, KFWB 980 AM
Probable starters:
Chris Paul	PG	Mike Conley
Chauncey Billups	SG	Tony Allen
Caron Butler	SF	Rudy Gay
Blake Griffin	PF	Marreese Speights
DeAndre Jordan	C	Marc Gasol

The Back Story:

First meeting of the season. The two teams split four meeting last season.

• December 11th, 2010 in Los Angeles - Memphis 84, Clippers 83 Recap Box Score
• March 14th, 2011 in Memphis - Memphis 105, Clippers 82 Recap Box Score
• April 5th, 2011 in Memphis - Clippers 82, Memphis 81 Recap Box Score
• April 13th, 2011 in Los Angeles - Clippers 110, Memphis 103 Recap Box Score

The second half thread will post at 8:45.

Chatting with the Enemy: Straight Outta Vancouver

It's in Lawler's Law's Daily Clipper column (here), but I thought it deserved a home of its own on the front page. Apparently Eric Gordon refused New Orleans Hornets latest contract extension. The offer was reportedly four years for around 51 million, which is around 12 million (plus raises) a year. Gordon will become a restricted free agent in the summer.

Many of us, myself included, were initially horrified when Gordon was sent away in the Chris Paul deal. But this probably proves what we suspected, that Gordon and his agent might overestimate Gordon's value. The max for an RFA will be around 58 million for four years. With Paul and Blake Griffin requiring max extensions in the summer of 2013, there's almost no way the Clips could have kept Gordon.

Is Gordon worth the max? At his best... yes, he might be the best young two guard in the league. But right now it looks like he might miss half the season. I was surprised NOH went as high as they did. Will someone (Indiana?) pony up the big bucks?

2011/2012 NBA Regular Season
	vs.
9-6		10-7
STAPLES Center
January 26th, 2012, 7:30 PM
TNT, KFWB 980 AM
Probable starters:
Chris Paul	PG	Mike Conley
Chauncey Billups	SG	Tony Allen
Caron Butler	SF	Rudy Gay
Blake Griffin	PF	Marreese Speights
DeAndre Jordan	C	Marc Gasol

The Back Story:

First meeting of the season. The two teams split four meeting last season.

• December 11th, 2010 in Los Angeles - Memphis 84, Clippers 83 Recap Box Score
• March 14th, 2011 in Memphis - Memphis 105, Clippers 82 Recap Box Score
• April 5th, 2011 in Memphis - Clippers 82, Memphis 81 Recap Box Score
• April 13th, 2011 in Los Angeles - Clippers 110, Memphis 103 Recap Box Score

The Big Picture:

The Clippers are coming off a tough loss to the Lakers Wednesday night; the Grizzlies are coming off a loss in Portland that snapped their seven game winning streak. So both teams will be looking to get back on the winning track. The good news for the Clippers is that Chris Paul returned to the lineup after missing five games with a strained hamstring. Paul played 27 minutes and showed no particular ill-effects of the injury (though the 10 day layoff did leave a thin layer of rust on his jump shot). It remains to be seen how the leg feels the day after NBA competition, or if it will be ready for a back to back. The Clippers played well against the Lakers -- the Lakers just happened to win. Blake Griffin had 26 points and 9 rebounds. Caron Butler and Mo Williams both scored well and both have been in a very good groove recently. In fact, all of the key Clippers have been playing well with the exception of Chauncey Billups. The key to this game will be limiting turnovers. The Grizzlies thrive on forcing turnovers and the easy points that come from them. Take care of the ball, win the game. In that regard, you have to like this Clippers team (currently sixth in the league in turnover percentage) to last year's team (last in the league in turnover percentage).

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Tough loss, but i was not expecting a win with a rusty cp3...Lakers barely won thanks to the unlikely Gluck-something bench guy and MWP showing up for the first time this season...I am sure we'll have more news when I get in the office tomorrow, but the clips have piled up already!

**Update** added a few more stories about last night's game(including KAs piece over at truehoop):

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