Note that from Dec. 28 through Jan. 4, ClipperSteve is enjoying the Holidays with his family and away from his computer. As such, this preview does not go into much detail. Please add pertinent information in the comments for your fellow Citizens.
2008/2009 NBA Regular Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 | vs. |  |
| US Airlines Center | ||
| January 2nd, 2008, 6:00 PM | ||
| No Local TV - 1260 AM | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Baron Davis | PG | Steve Nash |
| Eric Gordon | SG | Jason Richardson |
| Al Thornton | SF | Grant Hill |
| Zach Randolph | PF | Amare Stoudemire |
| Marcus Camby | C | Shaquille O'Neal |
The Back Story:
- First Meeting of the season.
The Big Picture:
This is the Clippers' first meeting against the new look Suns. The Suns and Clippers have something in common - they both have very few players left from the teams that met in the 2006 Western Conference Semifinals. The Clippers have one - Chris Kaman. The Suns, on the other hand, have two - Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa. Amare Stoudemire was on the roster, but remember that he was injured and did not play in the series. The Shaq experiment in Phoenix has yielded mixed results so far. The team did not perform well after acquiring him last season, and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Then they started out well under new head coach Terry Porter, playing a style more conducive to his skills (of course anything would be more conducive than '7 seconds' D'Antoni). A four game losing streak had everyone worried again. But the team may be back on the right path again. This much is clear - the starting lineup is chock full of all stars, even if some of them are from the mid-90s. The Suns may still be working out how to play together, and they are paper thin, as always. But they have talent. As I write this before Christmas, I can only assume that Chris Kaman will be playing. The Clippers could definitely use three quality big men to deal with O'Neal and Stoudemire.
- Get the Suns perspective at Bright Side of the Sun.