As you know, I was gone for this game. As it happens, I also forgot to set the TiVo, so I ended up not watching it at all. It's probably just as well - watching the Clippers lose a four point lead in 7 seconds would have been tough.
That down four, 7 seconds thing is a funny one. If you think about it, "all" you need is a quick three, a foul and another quick three to tie the game. That's "all". Of course it almost never happens. You'd really think it would happen more often than it does.
Although I didn't see the game, I did watch the highlight package. Jamison's first three is just one of those things. What are you gonna do? He made a tough shot. And Thomas made his free throws, so you can't ask for more there.
As for the foul, watching online on a tiny screen (with one camera angle and no replays), it sure doesn't look like a foul. In fact, from what I saw, that's not a foul with 4:35 left in the first period. It's NEVER a foul with 3 seconds left in a three point game. I'm shocked that it was called. Shocked.
And very pleased. It's another loss in the books, and one that the Clippers can point to as just another indication of how this isn't their season. They played well enough to win, on the road, without Kaman (or Brand or Livingston or...) and save for an almost unfathomable call by Dick Bavetta, they did win. Hell, the Wizards even broke Lawler's Law. In the big picture, if they benefit from an equally questionable call next season, they come out way ahead.
You know who should be mad right now? Philadelphia and Toronto. The Sixers would be in a virtual tie with the Wizards if the Clippers had won that game. Instead, the Wizards move within a half game of the Raptors. Let's ask Ricky if he thought that was a foul. Oh, and by the way, it matters. The Raptors, Wizards and Sixers would appear to be fighting for the 5th, 6th and 7th seeds - and whoever ends up 7th gets Detroit in the first round.
Anyway, not having seen the game, here are some questions I have in reading through the box score:
- What the hell does MDsr have against Dan Dickau? I mean, the Clippers' teeny tiny guards have been a problem for sure, but does it strike anyone else as strange that Dickau is always the odd man out? Has Brevin Knight been significantly better than Dickau this season? More to the point of course, how can you play Smush Parker 20 minutes, after 3 days with the team, and watch him go 1 for 9, while Dickau gets a DNP-CD? Dickau must be absolutely seething.
- Can someone tell me about Nick Fazekas in this game? I mean, 11 points and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes is nothing to sneeze at, and it's his best game in the NBA by a country-mile. His shot chart also shows him missing at the rim a couple of times. Obviously he was forced to play by the injury to Thornton and foul trouble, but in the box score he appears to have delivered. How did he look? Is there a chance this guy is going to help next season?
- 15 shots for Josh Powell in 31 minutes? Really?
- How long is it going to be before we see Chris Kaman again? After the game, MDsr said what everyone was already thinking: "Chris is going to be out a while, I think. It doesn't make sense for us to take any risks with him." Tanking is funny. A coach would be fined if he said "We're not going to play him because we want to lose games." But it's perfectly OK to say, "It doesn't make sense to take any risks." Which is EXACTLY the same thing. Because, let's face it, every time a player plays, there is a risk, so you're continually making a decision about how important it is to win the game. And the Clippers want to lose right now. It's fine. I just think it's interesting. Of course, if the guy wasn't going to play on this road trip, they probably should have just left him at home to get treatment. I don't care how tricked out the charter jet is, it can't be good for a 7 footer with a bad back to fly cross country. The poor slob has been on 5 flights in 8 days so that he can sit on the bench in his Clipper warm up.