I've been using the head-to-head tool on basketball-reference.com a lot lately. I have a tendency to say stuff like 'Yao owns Kaman' or 'the Clippers own Ben Gordon' and it let's me verify that my observations are supported by the data.
So I was just checking to see if I was correct when I said that Kaman has done well against Brad Miller. Sure enough, in Kaman's first game against him, during his rookie year, he went for 14 and 14 in his 17th game as a pro. The rest of his rookie year Chris didn't do much against the Kings, but starting in Jan 05 he went on a tear - 23/7, 18/15, 14/11, 25/13, 20/10, 9/15, 14/8, 10/12. That last one, 10 points and 12 rebounds, came last year in a game where Chris was limited to 22 minutes. He was 5 for 6 before he fouled out, but it was all good because that was the win in Sacramento after 17 losses.
And then I saw it. April 15, 2007. The Clippers needed a win to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race. Unlikely though it was, the Clippers could assure themselves a place in the playoffs by winning their last three. The tailspinning Kings at home seemed to be the least of their worries.
They responded with their most disappointing game of the season, fell behind by 19 at halftime and lost 105-100. And I failed to mention it in my game preview.
Here's the funny thing - looking at the box score, that game looks pretty good compared to what we've been getting lately. I'd kill for 43% shooting. Mobley and Thomas combining to shot 8 for 22? Sure it's awful, but it's a lot better than what we've been getting.