2011/2012 NBA Regular Season
	vs.
16-8		3-23
Time Warner Cable Arena
February 11th, 2012, 4:00 PM
FSN Prime Ticket, KFWB 980 AM
Probable starters:
Chris Paul	PG	Kemba Walker
Randy Foye	SG	Reggie Williams
Caron Butler	SF	Boris Diaw
Blake Griffin	PF	Tyrus Thomas
DeAndre Jordan	C	Bismack Biyombo

The Back Story:

First meeting of the season. The Clippers swept the two games last season.

• January 29, 2011 in Los Angeles - Clippers 103, Charlotte 88 Recap Box Score
• March 7, 2011 in Charlotte - Clippers 92, Charlotte 87 Recap Box Score

The Big Picture:

The Clippers got a very ugly win in Philadelphia last night, but it looks just fine in the W column. The team could not make a jump shot and they were 2 for 19 on three pointers, but they took care of the ball, they rebounded, they played defense, and they got the win. Hopefully it won't be quite as big a struggle tonight, against the worst team in the league. The Clippers of the past were certainly well known to lose these types of games -- they lost to a Cleveland team on a record breaking losing streak last season after all. Hopefully, the lapse the team experienced on Wednesday against an undermanned Cleveland team was their one mishap this trip, and it will serve to focus them for the Bobcats. It would be nice to get some players dialed back in after tough nights, like Caron Butler and Randy Foye and even Blake Griffin. But first things first -- win the game. Hopefully they won't have to rely on a Chris Paul last second shot tonight. The starters could use a little rest heading into the final stop of the road trip in Dallas, so a blow out would be especially nice.

2011/2012 NBA Regular Season
	vs.
15-7		9-14
Quicken Loans Arena
February 8th, 2012, 4:00 PM
FS West, KFWB 980 AM
Probable starters:
Chris Paul	PG	Kyrie Irving
Randy Foye	SG	Alonzo Gee
Caron Butler	SF	Omri Casspi
Blake Griffin	PF	Antawn Jamison
DeAndre Jordan	C	Anderson Varejao

The Back Story:

First meeting of the season. The teams split two game last year.

• February 11th, 2011 in Cleveland - Cleveland 126, Clippers 119 (OT) - Recap Box Score
• March 19th, 2011 in Los Angeles - Clippers 100, Cleveland 92 - Recap Box Score

The Big Picture:

The Clippers played the first third of the 66 game regular season with Chauncey Billups. They will have to play the final two thirds without him. Billups went down to the floor late in Monday night's game in Orlando, clutching his lower left leg. An MRI on Tuesday confirmed what everyone already feared -- Billups had torn his Achilles tendon. He'll be out for the season, throwing his future with the team into uncertainty, though he says he plans to play again, and would like to play for the Clippers. On paper, the loss of Billups is not insurmountable. The backcourt happens to be the one position at which the Clippers are deep. Randy Foye will move into the starting lineup, where he has always done a respectable job. Caron Butler, Chris Paul and Mo Williams will probably all need to take a few more shots to make up for Billups' absence, but again that's all doable. It's the intangibles that will be harder to replace. But then again, it helps to have Paul in that regard. In this, the first game since the injury, the Clippers' emotions may be the biggest hurdle. Dealing with the weight of the loss may be harder than his actual absence from the basketball court. We'll see. The team could come out in a funk over the situation, or they could come out extra motivated to win in his absence.

2011/2012 NBA Regular Season
	vs.
13-7		4-19
Verizon Center
February 4th, 2012, 4:00 PM
FSN Prime Ticket, KFWB 980 AM
Probable starters:
Chris Paul	PG	John Wall
Chauncey Billups	SG	Nick Young
Caron Butler	SF	Jan Vesely
Blake Griffin	PF	Rashard Lewis
DeAndre Jordan	C	JaVale McGee

The Back Story:

First meeting of the season. The Clippers swept the two game series last year.

• March 12, 2011 in Washington, D.C. - Clippers 122, Wizards 101 - Recap Box Score
• March 23, 2011 in Los Angeles - Clippers 127, Wizards 119 - Recap Box Score

The Big Picture:

The Clippers begin their longest road trip of the season the way you want to begin a road trip -- against one of the worst teams in the league. In their last game the team looked tired in losing by 20 to Denver. They had every right to be tired, playing the second game of back to backs and their fourth game in five nights. But then again, it's not like there's a lot of rest in the schedule the remainder of the season. If they were tired on their fourth game in five nights, what about their fifth game in seven nights, like tonight? The last time the Clippers got blown out, they turned around and beat the defending champion Dallas Mavericks the next night, while playing without Chris Paul, so the good news is that the team seems to be capable of quickly moving forward from a poor performance. With Andray Blatche injured, it's hard to figure who the Wizards can possibly use to defend Blake Griffin. The last time Griffin saw the Wizards, he went for his first career triple double with 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in a double overtime win. That may be a little too much to hope for tonight, but he could certainly have a big game.

2011/2012 NBA Regular Season
	vs.
13-6		14-7
STAPLES Center
February 2nd, 2012, 7:30 PM
TNT, KFWB 980 AM
Probable starters:
Chris Paul	PG	Ty Lawson
Chauncey Billups	SG	Arron Afflalo
Ryan Gomes	SF	Danilo Gallinari
Blake Griffin	PF	Nene
DeAndre Jordan	C	Timofey Mozgov

The Back Story:

• January 29th, 2012 in Denver - Clippers 109 - Denver 105 - Box Score Recap

The Big Picture:

There is no hotter team in the NBA right now than the Los Angeles Clippers. Philadelphia shares their four game winning streak, but all of Philly's wins came at home, with two of them coming against the two worst teams in the league. The Clippers have beaten four teams with a combined winning percentage of .643, with two of those wins coming on the road. LA has yet another challenge tonight, facing a Denver team looking to avenge a loss from just four days ago. The Clippers have the advantage of playing at home, but are also playing the second game of a back to back. Still, as well as LA has played at home this season, I can't imagine that energy is going to be a big problem. Chris Paul has been playing like an MVP since fully recovering from his hamstring injury (still, no chants, per Another Son of Mike Smith). He's coming off of games of 26 points/14 assists and 34 points/11 assists. More importantly, he has the ability to get points in crunch time of close games. The team had also been filling it up from outside until last night in Utah. After a 5 for 22 night, hopefully their three point range will return tonight. Three pointers were a major factor in the first win over Denver, as the Clippers sank 14 of them.