Orlando 97 - Clippers 86 - It Could Have Been Worse
by Steve Perrin on Dec 8, 2009 11:50 PM PST
in Game Recaps
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PrintThe Clippers took the lead for the first time in this game during the third quarter at the 5:13 mark, 64-63. They took their last lead a couple of minutes later, 69-68. They missed their next 11 shots and over the next 12 minutes of basketball, they were outscored 23 to 8. Orlando coasted to the 97-86 win.
Yes it was an all to familiar fourth quarter scoring drought. But this time, you really have to credit the Orlando defense. With Dwight Howard blocking a season-high 7 shots and Anthony Johnson and Vince Carter draped on Baron Davis and Eric Gordon, the Clippers simply got no clean looks down the stretch. So although the Clippers played some very good defense of their own in the second half and used it to briefly regain the lead, in the end the Orlando defense was even better, and good enough for the win.
It's actually pretty amazing that the Clippers were even in this game. When you take into consideration their 14 made three pointers, Orlando had an effective field goal percentage of 55% for the game. Including their 6 threes, the Clippers eFG% was only 47%. Orlando also took more free throws and got more rebounds.
Dwight Howard finished the game with 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and the aforementioned 7 blocked shots. He even made 11 of 15 free throws. But at the beginning of the game it seemed as if he was going to score 40 or 50. He made his first 5 shots and had 12 points after a little more than 8 minutes of play. For the rest of his 35 minutes he was 2 for 5.
Gordon and Davis were able to carry the Clippers for awhile. But when Gordon had to leave the game for a rest late in the third quarter, the Clippers lost their momentum just as Orlando dialed up their defensive intensity. By the time EJ returned, the Magic defense was energized and the Clippers simply never got their offense going again.
Some random observations about the game:
- Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the Magic's three point shooting is the way every non-center they play gets into the act. In this game, eight different Orlando players took at least 2 three pointers (even Dwight Howard had one, but it was an end of quarter heave). Of the 10 Magic players who appeared in the game, only Howard and backup center Marcin Gortat did not attempt a legitimate three. The team literally does not put any player on the court with Howard unless they can shoot. It's such a simple formula (if you've got the big of course) - why don't more teams just load up on shooters?
- Speaking of Gortat, he must be really peeved that Orlando decided to match Dallas' offer sheet. He played 5 minutes in this game. Why Orlando matched a $34M contract for a guy they're playing 5 minutes is a different story.
- Can we safely assume that Orlando was pretty worried about the Clippers if they decided to play Dwight Howard a season-high 43 minutes? Howard did not come out of the game in the second half. It seems like a strange decision considering how much they're paying Gortat and how well he plays when he's in the game.
- Chris Kaman had a horrible time on offense as Howard just overpowered him. But after the first quarter, Chris did a great job on Howard as well. During the second quarter, he had several steals and a handful more deflections. Maybe the milk is kicking in - Kaman was active tonight. His shooting (8 for 22) is still missing, however.
- Jason Williams is under 33% from the three point arc in his career. He's making well over 40% this season which is a career high by a pretty wide margin and he made 4 of 7 tonight. What is it about Orlando that makes everyone a better shooter when they get there? By the way, as I suspected Williams was booed whenever he touched the ball early in the game.
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What is it about Orlando that makes everyone a better shooter when they get there?
I’m sure when they practice, they actually practice sets where players double-team Howard, and he kicks the ball out, and they move the ball to the open shooter, and that shooter takes a 3..
In the Clippers practice, It’s possible that they don’t double-team Kaman, and they just run his iso the whole time (no kick-outs, no ball movement, no 3-pointers)..
If that’s the case, that falls on Dunleavy.. They should be practicing 3-pointers, because it’s a big part of the game.
"look, you can find any coach you want, bring him in here and run the situation. But I don't think they are going to do as good a job as I do." -Mike Dunleavy Sr.
That is a great point
When Kaman gets doubled it often seems like it is the first time he has ever seen it in his life. The Clippers should double him every time in practice.
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
Otis Smith referred to keeping Marcin Gortat as "protecting an asset"
They developed him over 2 NBA seasons, he showed he could play and consequently received a MLE offer. Smith matched because he didn’t want to lose such a good player for nothing. The popular theory around here is that the Magic will trade him this summer (when he’ll no longer be BYC) or next season in order to make sure they get something in return for him. The odds he plays out his contract in Orlando are slim.
Third Quarter Collapse: An Orlando Magic blog at SB Nation | Brandon Bass: "I just play hard."
Smart move
He’s a valuable piece for the MLE. All teams could use a young big like him who plays good D and rebounds well. They also have him as insurance in the playoffs since Howard gets into foul trouble sometimes. It would have been interesting if the Mavs had gotten him though, they could have been legitimate contenders.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Dec 9, 2009 12:47 AM PST up reply actions
Makes sense...
But 5 minutes? What was it about this game that made SVG decide to play Howard 43 minutes?
In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd
They may trade him after December 15th.
Which also begs the question, “Why not play him more to show case him?”
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
He's a good player
They should probably hold onto him this year at least as he would be invaluable in matchups against the Cavs, Celtics and Lakers.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Dec 9, 2009 12:35 PM PST up reply actions
That wasn't so bad
Until the 4th quarter where we couldn’t buy a shot. I didn’t see the game at all (only saw the box score and part of the game’s progress). But at least judging from the box score, we are grabbing our boards and making pretty low turnover numbers. That’s good.
It’s not exactly a game we expected to win (I say that we’d be like 3-7 against them). Now we need to figure out whether the all-important 4th quarter can be executed in a better way.
Why did they continue to double Howard?!
It was so stupid, Dunleavy has to tell them to stop doubling him. Let Kaman or DJ try to take him one-on-one, they did a pretty good job of it, besides the first quarter. EVERY TIME they doubled him they got a wide-open three. How many times does it have to happen before you adjust Dunleavy?
Bingo
That was absolutely the problem. I felt they overreacted to the first 5 minutes when Howard was dominating in the paint. After that, Kaman made an adjustment and DJ’s defense was solid. Even if they foul Howard, who cares? It’s like they decided to trade 2 for 3 by constantly collapsing on Howard and the excellent Magic shooters kept punishing the Clippers. The correct move would have been to single Howard and hope for the best or start hacking him. Skinner was dressed, he could have given you some hard fouls too once Kaman and DJ started getting into foul trouble.
by Michael White on Dec 9, 2009 8:07 AM PST up reply actions
Well...
He did make 11 of 14 free throws, so (a) they did foul him and (b) it didn’t work.
In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd
11 of 15...
He missed his last one
In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd
by Steve Perrin on Dec 9, 2009 11:25 AM PST up reply actions
I'm not sure what game you were watching....
The Magic made 6 of 8 threes in the first quarter. After that point, they made 8 of 26 (and one of those was the Pietrus prayer at the end of the third).
The Magic scored 34 points in the first, 19 in the second, 20 in the third and 24 in the fourth. Sounds like a hell of a great job adjusting in fact. Howard was less effective after the beginning, and the Clippers also did a good job against the threes after the beginning.
In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd
by Steve Perrin on Dec 9, 2009 11:29 AM PST up reply actions
True
it was more our offense that let us down. There was pressure on Howard, but the close-outs were quicker too. The three 3’s in a row by Rashard exploiting Camby really hurt, but we battled back from that somehow. At least we’re talking about what we should’ve done to win. The team needs to find more creative ways to score when the opponents defense tightens up.
The point is
they were getting far too many open looks from 3, and 99% of the time they were coming from doubling Howard.
exactly
they have a gm who built a great team around a great center
they have a coach who implements a good offense and good defensive schemes
"[Fans are] not technically a lot of times savvy. They don't understand and they don't weigh issues the way that [I] weigh them."
Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
by Jax on Dec 9, 2009 9:58 PM PST up reply actions
Well
people have been double Kaman, lookit the results.
The problem might be that we havent’ surrounded Kaman with consistant shooters. Baron and Thornton are too inconsistant. The only 2 that I can think of that can shoot the ball well is Gordon and Novak. Could Novak be as good as Rashard? Probably a better stroke, but less atheletic and not as good on defense.
Then theres the fact that Kaman is NOT Dwight Howard. In no universe is Kaman the replica of Dwight Howard. They practically play a different style of game. Howard is great on dunks, great at posting up, and great at double team. Kaman has gotten many and many of his points from shooting the wide open jumpshot. When he posts up, he either does too much and takes one extra dribble, or throws a horrible attempt. Keep in mind that not ALL the attempts are horrible, but you get the point.
Now we know that Orlando is everything we are not. Another problem I saw is that while Orlando had great play rotation (sharing the ball etc etc), the Clippers only guy with the ball is mostly Baron, Gordon, Kaman, and Thornton… all isolations. And this is speaking on the 4th quarter. I was unable to watch the first 3 because of school, but catching the 4th, I saw Baron trying to make a play only to come up with nothing. Gordon was practically the only one consistant enough to penetrate in. BUT WE CAN’T HAVE GORDON DOING EVERYTHING. I think its time Dunleavy draws in some magical formula so that we can be more consistant while running the play rather than running that damn isolation Baron, Kaman, Thornton, Gordon plays. Its boring, predictable, and ineffective.
Also
Nate Robinson is on the block, do any of you think he could be the answer to our second unit scoring woes?
could be
but he’s quite short and makes careless mistakes with the ball in his hands as well.
He’d also give up his bird rights, if he’d agree to a trade, and we’d either have to take on a bad contract(Curry or Jeffries) or give up something of value for him in return.
BTW: This game just showed that we’re not in the class of teams like Orlando. Griffin coming back would help, but we desperatly need someone being able to hit a jumpshot not going by the name of Eric Gordon.
Novak can hit some shots, but he’s a huge liabilty on defense, as he’s not strong enough to defend the 4 and not fast enough at the 3 spot.
That’s why i’d look what’s out there and what the expiring contracts of Butler, R. Davis and maybe even Camby could net us.
Of course we aren't in the class of Orlando.
9/10ths of the league isn’t in the class of Orlando. I couldn’t believe we actually clawed our way from down 10 or more to up by one. The horrible fourth quarter aside (per usual), I like that the team wasn’t cowed into submission.
"Buckle your seat belts, folks. This one's doing down to the wire." -The inimitable Ralph Lawler.
by Gordon for President on Dec 9, 2009 10:52 AM PST up reply actions
Scoring off the bench
The team needs to find someone who can be a scorer for the second unit. Perhaps a head case like Robinson, Wafer or McCants is a possibility. These end of the 3rd, beginning of the 4th quarter droughts are very damaging as it allows the other team to gain control of the game and destroys the momentum built up previously. Novak seems to be less of an option now as teams are not leaving him alone at all.
Moment of the game was when DJ smashed the dunk
Man that kid is a project, but does he bring it down or what?
by Newton Pham on Dec 9, 2009 8:33 AM PST via mobile reply actions
they need...
To allow him to develop and keep him in the game when he. makes mistakes. I think MDSR puts him in and immediately pulls him out after a mistake— not so much last night. He keeps Craig Smith in when he makes stupid errors— again, except last night. I just think he should do the same with DJ. DJ is young and will make those mistakes, but when he doesn’t anymore—- watch out!
by ChrisS.Oaks on Dec 9, 2009 10:01 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
I swear....
Can we all come to an agreement that Kaman should NOT be the center of our offense? Geez, his spin move is horrible, when he gets frustrated he just shoots 15ft jumpers that has no chance of going in, and last night’s game shows that he is not a top tier Center in the league. Also, Dunleavy needs to sit with his coaches and work on how to rotate players in and out of the game. Seriously, if Baron, Gordon, and Camby are the key players who brought us back into the game, play them in the start of the 4th to keep up the momentum. Taking them off the floor will just ruin it. This is why we win games against horrible teams and can’t keep up with the top teams in the league (except for the game against the Nuggets, I think that game was motivated by the pressure Dunleavy was getting from the media.).
What does Camby do to get you back in the game?
He doesn’t score at all.
The Kaman thing wasn’t working yesterday, but what else are you going to do? Even when they didn’t give the ball to Kaman, they ended up possessions with Thornton shooting a fadeaway with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. Kaman might not be the ideal guy to run your offense through, but neither is anybody else on the team. To say that Kaman was innefective yesterday (and he certainly was) ignores that everybody else was ineffective too (except Gordon I guess.) Baron tried to drive to the hoop but didn’t find much room, ditto for Thornton. Orlando played solid defense and the Clippers had no answer.
There’s nobody on this team where Baron can throw the ball to and the team can get a bucket. When the offense is working its best is when Kaman is on. Kaman either scores in the paint, or passes out of the double team to Thornton slashing or to Gordon for a jumper. But what else is there? EJ doesn’t break people down, neither does Thornton. Baron is doing his best to facilitate but his options are too limited.
by Michael White on Dec 9, 2009 9:32 AM PST up reply actions
Not alot of good options
Not sure how BG is supposed to be the savior.
"[Fans are] not technically a lot of times savvy. They don't understand and they don't weigh issues the way that [I] weigh them."
Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
by Jax on Dec 9, 2009 9:41 AM PST up reply actions
Hustle and energy I suppose
He also has talent and freakish athletic ability. Now if they can just get him on the court.
The Griffin/Gordon/Thornton combo will be impressive over the years.
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
BG should be a bigger threat to score
Without losing much or any of the rebounding edge Camby gives. It should help a lot actually, but we wont know for a while. We’re stuck with a team that has limited shooting and a post player that has a hard time passing out of double teams. The improved D’ of late is encouraging, but there is just little room for error right now. Forced shots hurt even more than normal.
Gordon doesnt break people down?
He has great handles and can easily blow by his defender. He gets to the rim as good as any guard in the league not named Tony Parker. Plus he will get even better as he is only 20 years old.
The Clippers have plenty of options, the only problem with this team is the substitution patterns, but those will change when Blake Griffin gets back.
Maybe the milk is kicking in
Pretty funny.
our defense and rebounding was actually pretty good...
but offense in the fourth was terrible. EGJ really had it going there for a minute, but then orlando took jason williams off of him and the clippers decided it was no longer worth going to him. Watching that fourth quarter was strange, eric gordon just never got the ball. I couldn’t help imagining the lakers falling behind in the fourth and still never giving the ball to kobe. That would never happen, and that shoould never happen with eric gordon and the clippers. EGJ is the clippers best player, no doubt, and he should be a focal point of the clippers fourth quarter offense (as opposed to what happens now, where he stands on the perimeter on the opposite side of the court of kaman and we hope the ball can make it out of the double team downlow and swung all the way around the horn for it to finally get in our best player’s hand) i apologize for the possible incoherence of that parenthetical phrase.
Yay yay.
by KamanHomie on Dec 9, 2009 12:51 PM PST via mobile reply actions
I got the feeling that Orlando
took us pretty lightly and just kicked in when the needed to in the 4th.
Good point about EJ.
"[Fans are] not technically a lot of times savvy. They don't understand and they don't weigh issues the way that [I] weigh them."
Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
by Jax on Dec 9, 2009 1:01 PM PST up reply actions
Said differently...
IMHO, EJ should be getting more shots in every game than Kaman. EJ’s efficiency may decline somewhat as a result, but that just intuitively feels like a likely improvement for the team.
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" – Albert Einstein
by Another son of Mike Smith on Dec 9, 2009 1:06 PM PST up reply actions
Exactly!
The Clippers need to run more pick-and-roll plays involving EJ. He needs to set the screen for Baron and then roll or flare it. If he flares the screen then he can get open looks, if he rolls he can get into the lane and finish, pass, or get to the foul line. Gordon and Kaman or Gordon and Camby can also run dribble hand-offs. If Gordon can get Camby or Kaman the ball at the elbow or just below the 3pt line, Gordon can run his defender off the screen or he can puch his defender under the screen to get a hand-off for a 3. There are so amny things the Clipeprs can do with EJ, b/c he is just that good. But like you stated, he is the Clipeprs best players and one of the top 5 shooting guards in the NBA at the age of 20.
Pretty good game
Lots to like from the Clippers. KA has a nice breakdown of the adjustments and defensive strides made by the Clips. It’s a different game if Howard doesn’t give himself the birthday present of hitting his free throws, JWill isn’t out of his mind (in a good way), and Kaman has a couple of more glasses of milk, the ones that help the shot go down.
Lots of subplots. So nice to have Gordon back. It’ll be even nicer when they go against a team that doesn’t have Howard underneath. DH is such a beast. It was easy to see why Orlando is an elite team. It was fun to watch DJordan against DHoward, and maybe next time DJordan will be a little less tentative, and slightly more effective. Kaman’s three defensive gems in a row were just excellent, turning the tide on Howard’s offense, and Kaman definitely had a little extra pop on the boards and on defense, thanks both to the milk and the challenge of the opponent. Vince Carter ended up being pretty quiet against EGordon, didn’t he? And yes, Gortat has to be frustrated, but his time will come. Why did SVG play Howard so many minutes? Because the Clips had stayed in the game and turned the tide with their defense during the 2nd and 3rd periods, and… because Howard is such a beast. Remember that Wilt, amongst his many ridiculous records, has one for minutes played I think, averaging well over 40+ per game, maybe even 45, probably while he was scoring 50 ppg. Howard can play all day.
There’s a question of whether CMDSr should have matched Howard’s minutes and had BDavis and EGordon in at the start of the 4th. Gordon shouldn’t be overplayed yet, of course. And you don’t want BDavis to wear down. It’s tricky.
Clips look pretty good though, lots of cylinders firing. Another tough game coming up with San Antonio, unfortunately, but hopefully that one will be less about the learning process and more about winning at home.
We are tied for 12th
With the Grizz looking like a better team we had our chances and choked them away if we lose to the Spurs think lotto.
I think we actually did well
I know moral victories are bogus if you want to play in the playoffs but for 3 and 1/2 we were really in the game against the Eastern Conference champs which I think says something. Would I have liked to win this game, sure but there is a reason the Magic are so good. I think there were a lot of encouraging signs in this game. If the clips play this well against any team not called the Lakers, Magic we probably would have won. The clips could really show progress by beating a still very good Spurs team on Sunday which would really show we are no joke.
In Gordon we trust
Poor execution in the 4th and no go-to guy
The team fell apart (again) in the 4th when the game was close, Orlando’s D tightened up, and the Clips clearly had no confidence on offense. They simply don’t execute well enough to get good looks when the defense clamps down, and they don’t have the 1 guy to give it to to make it happen regardless.
At the end of last night’s game, Mike Smith was constantly asking why they weren’t giving the ball to EJ. Over and over he asked “now will they give him the ball?” I couldn’t agree more. Instead of giving it to EJ and letting him get or create a bucket, they practically froze him out, choosing instead to force shot after shot.
This team is in desperate need of a leader who just wills the team to victory. I don’t think EJ is really that kind of player, but he’s the closet thing we have. EJ needs to do a better job of getting open and demanding the ball. His teammates need to recognize that he’s their best option at the end, and Dun needs to call the plays to force feed EJ at times.
What kills me about Baron, despite the fact that he’s statistically playing pretty well, is that he used to be the kind of guy who could take over and win a game for you. Not sure where that guy went.
kind of hard for him to take over
when Vince Carter was guarding him. They really should have been going to Gordon or Thornton who should have been driving more often as the jump shots weren’t really falling after the 3rd.
In Gordon we trust
Orlando is very good
Few if any teams could score against the kind of suffocating D they played in the 4th. Baron drove a few times to the basket only to get devoured by Dwight Howard, Vince is taller and longer than EJ which clearly bothered him and if he took it to the basket he could run into Howard as well. Kaman versus Howard is just not going to work. Our best bet was probably Al but Pietrus and/or Lewis are no slouches on D either. I’m okay with the performance, I thought the team played hard and fairly well, it was more or less that the Magic are a better team at every position except PG.
FA in 2010.
Thornton Fadeaways...
…make me cringe whenever he throws them up. It’s just like seeing Rasual jacking up 3s. Kaman needs to stop the midrange BS and grow a pair to start banging down low. He has the moves to make buckets in the post. EJ is the only breath of fresh air. Dummy should have called more plays for him because he was the only spark they had on the floor.
Agonizing to watch...
I haven’t had the opportunity to watch too many Clippers games from beginning to end this year, and now I’m glad I haven’t. They looked good at times, but that 4th quarter was so frustrating to watch. The Clippers have enough talent on the floor that they shouldn’t have this many offensive problems. I’m not saying Orlando didn’t play good D, but the Clippers offense was so stagnant in the final frame. It seemed like they zeroed in on a particular option, which killed their flow (I remember EJ receiving the ball in the fourth and immediately looked to throw an entry pass to Kaman even though he had the hot hand). Without a go to guy in the fourth, the Clippers need better schemes because iso plays aren’t going to work against a team that has pretty much all of the individual advantages.
"If a Clippers fan is reading a newspaper in his living room and the ceiling falls on him, he'll just shrug and move to another room." -Bill Simmons
Random Sool thought
Butler’s jump shots from inside the arc looked pretty sweet last night. I wonder if he could hit those with some consistency, unlike his other supposed specialty. The Clips might at least employ him as a mid-range threat.
Some are claiming that the Butler’s airball 3 attempt, hurled toward the end of the game, was actually a lob pass to Kaman. Hey, maybe THAT’s what he’s been doing all along! …except that his lobs occasionally, inadvertantly hit iron.
Mad Respect Steve
I dont know how you manage to spin some positives into these crushing losses… but hey someones gotta do it.
I have realized something. Dunleavy is totally right! We aren’t technically savvy! We actually thought Rasual Butler would contribute this year! We are also not technically savvy because we thought the Clippers would be honest and up front about Blakes Injury taking longer!
There are so many things that we have been untechnically savvy about!
We thought this team would make the playoffs! This thought seems very untechnically savvy folks as of now!
mdsr's plan here, known only to him
Is that he’s got the team playing below expectations for a reason. He wants a shot at John Wall!!! Obviously.
MDSr sooooooo smaaaaaaart
"[Fans are] not technically a lot of times savvy. They don't understand and they don't weigh issues the way that [I] weigh them."
Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
by Jax on Dec 10, 2009 7:47 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
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