Clips Nation - Clippers-Heat game coverage: The return of the ClippersWhat it do babyyyhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47967/clipsnation_fave.png2013-02-08T22:47:35-08:00http://www.clipsnation.com/rss/stream/37332432013-02-08T22:47:35-08:002013-02-08T22:47:35-08:00Just how hot were the Heat?
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<figcaption>Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Four of Miami's five starters made at least two points for every shoot they took Friday night. Dwyane Wade was terrific, and he was by far the least efficient scorer of their starting five.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.clipsnation.com/">Clippers</a> ran into a buzzsaw Friday night. It was great to have <span>Chris Paul</span>, <span>Blake Griffin</span>, <span>Jamal Crawford</span> and <span>Chauncey Billups</span> back in the lineup, but it didn't much matter who the Clippers had out there the way the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hothothoops.com/">Heat</a> were shooting. Consider this.</p>
<p>The Heat starting lineup consisted of <span>Udonis Haslem</span>, <span>Shane Battier</span>, <span>Mario Chalmers</span> and <span>LeBron James</span>.</p>
<p>Haslem shot 3-3 from the field for six points. He did not take a free throw.</p>
<p>Battier shot 4-5 from the field, all of them three pointers, for 12 points. He did not take a free throw.</p>
<p>Chalmers shot 5-9 from the field, with all of his makes coming from three point range and finished with 18 points. He was also 3-3 from the line, making two clear path free throws and a technical, so strictly speaking none of his free throws used any possessions.</p>
<p>James shot 9-11 from the field, 4-5 from three point range. He was 8-11 from the line (meaning that his poorest shooting percentage on the evening was when he was literally not being guarded). He finished with 30 points. His 11 free throws included two 'and-ones" (one of those completing a four point play) and one technical free throw, meaning that his 11 free throws accounted for an additional four possessions.</p>
<p>By my math, that makes 66 points on 28 shots, but more importantly just 32 possessions from those four starters. That's a true shooting percentage (really a true true shooting percentage, for what it's worth) better than 100%. </p>
<p>The fifth starter, <span>Dwyane Wade</span>, who had a mere 20 points on 8-16 from the field, was really dragging the rest of his teammates down.</p>
<p>They were all ridiculous. If Shane Battier were to participate in the three point shootout at All Star weekend, he wouldn't make four of five corner threes. But James was by far the most ridiculous. Until late in the third quarter, the only shots he missed were three free throws and a shot that <span>DeAndre Jordan</span> smothered at the rim. In other words, if they weren't blocking his shot, the Clippers were having no effect at all. Their free throw defense against him was significantly better than their field goal defense. </p>
<p>The bright side to this is that the Clippers were likely to lose in Miami regardless, and guaranteed to lose on this night when Miami could not miss. So they take their loss, they got some game action, such as it was, in for their returning players, and now they move on to New York. We'd all be perfectly happy with a split of the Miami-New York double header, and assuming the returnees all feel fine for the game Sunday morning, the Clippers will be in better shape for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.postingandtoasting.com/">Knicks</a>. The first game back was always going to show some rust. Better that Paul has a 1-5 game on a night when Miami was unbeatable than in a game the Clippers might have a chance to win.</p>
https://www.clipsnation.com/2013/2/8/3969984/just-how-hot-were-the-heat-clippers-lebron-jamesSteve Perrin2013-02-08T20:27:38-08:002013-02-08T20:27:38-08:00Heat Smoke Clips, 111-89
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<figcaption>Mike Ehrmann</figcaption>
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<p>Return of 4 key Clippers means little as Miami goes on a shooting rampage.</p> <p>Yikes.</p>
<p>Well, that couldn't have gone much worse. The <a href="https://www.clipsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Clippers</a> stayed competitive for about a quarter, and Miami proceeded to blow the game out beyond recognition. Even when the team cut the lead down to 10 in the third, it never really felt like they were in the game. And once it was cut to 10, Miami very swiftly put the game away in a matter of minutes. It was nice seeing some familiar faces back on the court, notably a player like <span>Chauncey Billups</span> who has been gone practically the entire year and, even in this trainwreck of a game, flashed some of his exceptional bball IQ. For some reason <span>Grant Hill</span> didn't play at all, but I'm not sure it would've made much of a difference.</p>
<p>The script wrote itself all night. Miami has impeccable spacing to accompany their exceptional shooters and they faced an unfamiliar Clipper team that already has big problems guarding the three. Miami got countless good looks from downtown and, even without a legendary shooter like <span>Ray Allen</span>, they are loaded with capable players from beyond the arc. The <a href="https://www.hothothoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Heat</a> went a blistering 15-27 from downtown tonight, deciding the game pretty early one with their shooting. <span>Shane Battier</span>, <span>LeBron James</span>, and <span>Mario Chalmers</span> all hit 4 or more threes individually. The team hit their average of 8 threes per game before the end of the first half. When you space the floor like their shooters do and have savvy ballhandlers like James and <span>Dwyane Wade</span> making decisions off high screen and rolls, everything else seems elementary. James is on some kind of roll right now, he scored 30 points today on 9-11 shooting. He chipped in with his usual overall statline, but his shooting over the past 4 games has been absolutely unreal. He is very easily the best player in basketball right now. I really don't think it's very close between him and the field.</p>
<p>Did much go right for the Clippers tonight? Not much, really. <span>Blake Griffin</span> had some really nice post moves early on in the game, including consecutive possessions where he finished with a left hook and then a right hook. <span>DeAndre Jordan</span> was aggressive early and looked to be into the game for about half of the night, but it didn't translate to too much. Both those players shot quite well tonight at least, as they should have considering Miami didn't have any notable big men playing with <span>Chris Bosh</span> out of the lineup. <span>Chris Paul's</span> most notable contribution in his first game back was picking up a technical foul after being run over by James on a leakout pass. Paul had some nice dribbling moves but he couldn't connect on anything after hitting a very early three to start the game. For the most part, the Clippers weren't shooting too terribly for most of the game, and the team scored 50 points in the first half. The defense was just so lazy and the passing/spacing was so sharp on the Miami side that this game got out of hand in a hurry.</p>
<p>So yeah, quite a mess of a game. That's to be expected a bit with all these players coming back at the same time, but a loss this convincing should never be excused so easily. Let's hope Vinny lights a fire into these guys before the Knick game. Let's also hope he has an idea about his rotations now that he has a full cast of characters on his hands.</p>
<p>For the Heat perspective, check out <a href="http://www.hothothoops.com/">Hot Hot Hoops</a>.</p>
https://www.clipsnation.com/2013/2/8/3969756/heat-blow-out-clips-111-89-chris-paul-blake-griffinShapan Debnath2013-02-08T18:18:20-08:002013-02-08T18:18:20-08:00Clippers-Heat Second Half Open Thread
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<figcaption>Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Clippers are down 62-50 at halftime.</p>
https://www.clipsnation.com/2013/2/8/3969516/clippers-heat-second-half-open-threadLucas Hann2013-02-08T16:45:08-08:002013-02-08T16:45:08-08:00Clippers-Heat open thread
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<figcaption>Stephen Dunn</figcaption>
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<p>The Clippers should be at full strength for the first time this season if as expected Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Jamal Crawford and Chauncey Billups all return to the lineup tonight.</p> <table cellspacing="5" border="1" cellpadding="5" align="center"><tbody>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver">2012/2013 NBA Regular Season</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="240"><center><img alt="Bvv028jd1hhr8ee8ii7a0fg4i_medium" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/472353/bvv028jd1hhr8ee8ii7a0fg4i_medium.gif"></center></td>
<th align="center" width="20">vs</th>
<td width="240"><center> <a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/268378/burm5gh2wvjti3xhei5h16k8e.gif" target="_blank"><img alt="Burm5gh2wvjti3xhei5h16k8e_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/268378/burm5gh2wvjti3xhei5h16k8e_medium.gif"></a> <br id="1352864500518">
</center></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="240"><center><b>35-16</b></center></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><center><b>32-14</b></center></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>February 8th, 2013, 5:00 PM</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="3"><b>AmericanAirlines Arena</b></td>
</tr>
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<td align="center" colspan="3"><b>Prime Ticket, ESPN, KFWB 980 AM, KWKW 1330<br></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" align="center"><a href="http://www.tiqiq.com/nba/los-angeles-clippers-tickets?pubid=1011034" target="_blank"><b>Clippers Tickets</b></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>Probable Starters</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b><span>Eric Bledsoe</span></b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">PG</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Mario Chalmers</span></b></td>
</tr>
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<td align="right" width="240"><span><b>Willie Green</b></span></td>
<th align="center" width="20">SG</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Dwyane Wade</span></b></td>
</tr>
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<td align="right" width="240"><span><b>Caron Butler</b></span></td>
<th align="center" width="20">SF</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>LeBron James</span></b></td>
</tr>
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<td align="right" width="240"><b><span>Lamar Odom</span></b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">PF</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Shane Battier</span></b></td>
</tr>
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<td align="right" width="240"><span><b>DeAndre Jordan</b></span></td>
<th align="center" width="20">C</th>
<td width="240"><b><span><strike>Chris Bosh</strike></span> <span>Udonis Haslem</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>Advanced Stats through games of Feb. 7</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; ">91.7 (14th of 30)</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">Pace</th>
<td width="240"><b>90.8 (21st of 30)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; ">108.7 (7th of 30)</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">ORtg</th>
<td width="240"><b>111.3 (3rd of 30)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; ">101.6 (4th of 30)</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">DRtg</th>
<td width="240"><b>105.1 (12th of 30)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>Injuries/Suspensions/Other</b></th>
</tr>
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<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; "><b style="text-align: right;"><span>Blake Griffin</span> (hamstring) GTD</b></b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><b>Chris Bosh (flu) out</b></td>
</tr>
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<td align="right" width="240"><b><span>Chris Paul</span> (knee) GTD</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Ray Allen</span> (flu) out</b></td>
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<td style="text-align: right;" align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; "><span>Chauncey Billups</span> (ankle) GTD</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><b>Dwyane Wade (flu) GTD</b></td>
</tr>
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<td style="text-align: right;" align="right" width="240"><b><span>Jamal Crawford</span> (shoulder) GTD</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><br></td>
</tr>
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<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; "><span>Trey Thompkins</span> (knee) out</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><br></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th bgcolor="silver" height="20" colspan="3"></th>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p> </p>
<p>Just because there's no official word, I'm not updating the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.clipsnation.com/">Clippers</a> lineup. But it seems likely that Paul, Billups and Griffin will be back in the starting lineup tonight.</p>
https://www.clipsnation.com/2013/2/8/3969216/clippers-heat-open-threadSteve Perrin2013-02-08T13:58:17-08:002013-02-08T13:58:17-08:00All four injured Clippers expected to play
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<figcaption>Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>After participating in shootaround earlier today, Paul, Griffin, Crawford and Billups are all reportedly planning to play against Miami tonight.</p> <p>According to a <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/299993675021287426">tweet</a> from Ramona Shelburn, all four of the key injured <a href="https://www.clipsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Clippers</a> -- specifically <span>Chris Paul</span>, <span>Blake Griffin</span>, <span>Jamal Crawford</span> and <span>Chauncey Billups</span> -- are planning to play tonight barring a setback in the next couple of hours.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>Good news for the Clips. Source tells me "everybody (Blake, CP, Chauncey, JC) is playing at this point."if no setbacks, it's on vs. <a href="https://www.hothothoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Heat</a></p>
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) <a href="https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/299993675021287426">February 8, 2013</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>All four of them participated in the team's shootaround today and evidently felt good doing so. If indeed these four do suit up tonight, it will be the first time this season the Clippers will have their top 13 players available. In fact, it will be the first time this season the Clippers will have any 13 players in uniform.</p>
<p>No further word on the flu-ridden Heat players. Allen is likely out, while Bosh and Wade are considered game time decisions. None of them participated in shootaround. In theory Bosh should be recovering since he was out with the flu on Wednesday while Wade is just coming down with it. Does that mean Bosh will play while Wade will not? I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. There's also the question of how well they might play with the flu, but we've all seen players with the flu, from Michael Jordan to <span>Kobe Bryant</span>, come through with huge games while suffering from the flu, so you never know.</p>
https://www.clipsnation.com/2013/2/8/3968844/injured-clippers-expected-to-play-chris-paul-blake-griffin-miami-heatSteve Perrin2013-02-08T11:38:04-08:002013-02-08T11:38:04-08:00Clippers-Heat preview: Game time decisions
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<figcaption>Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>The Clippers are hoping to get some combination of Billups, Griffin, Crawford and Paul back in their lineup, while Bosh, Wade and Allen of the Heat are all dealing with the flu, so who plays will be the story of this game.</p> <table cellspacing="5" border="1" cellpadding="5" align="center"><tbody>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver">2012/2013 NBA Regular Season</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="240"><center><img alt="Bvv028jd1hhr8ee8ii7a0fg4i_medium" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/472353/bvv028jd1hhr8ee8ii7a0fg4i_medium.gif"></center></td>
<th align="center" width="20">vs</th>
<td width="240"><center> <a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/268378/burm5gh2wvjti3xhei5h16k8e.gif" target="_blank"><img alt="Burm5gh2wvjti3xhei5h16k8e_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/268378/burm5gh2wvjti3xhei5h16k8e_medium.gif"></a> <br id="1352864500518">
</center></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="240"><center><b>35-16</b></center></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><center><b>32-14</b></center></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>February 8th, 2013, 5:00 PM</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="3"><b>AmericanAirlines Arena</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="3"><b>Prime Ticket, ESPN, KFWB 980 AM, KWKW 1330<br></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" align="center"><a href="http://www.tiqiq.com/nba/los-angeles-clippers-tickets?pubid=1011034" target="_blank"><b>Clippers Tickets</b></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>Probable Starters</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b><span>Eric Bledsoe</span></b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">PG</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Mario Chalmers</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><span><b>Willie Green</b></span></td>
<th align="center" width="20">SG</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Dwyane Wade</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><span><b>Caron Butler</b></span></td>
<th align="center" width="20">SF</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>LeBron James</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b><span>Lamar Odom</span></b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">PF</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Shane Battier</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><span><b>DeAndre Jordan</b></span></td>
<th align="center" width="20">C</th>
<td width="240"><b><span>Chris Bosh</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>Advanced Stats through games of Feb. 7</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; ">91.7 (14th of 30)</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">Pace</th>
<td width="240"><b>90.8 (21st of 30)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; ">108.7 (7th of 30)</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">ORtg</th>
<td width="240"><b>111.3 (3rd of 30)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; ">101.6 (4th of 30)</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20">DRtg</th>
<td width="240"><b>105.1 (12th of 30)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="silver"><b>Injuries/Suspensions/Other</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; "><b style="text-align: right;"><span>Blake Griffin</span> (hamstring) GTD</b></b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><b>Chris Bosh (flu) GTD</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b>Chris Paul (knee) GTD</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><b>Ray Allen (flu) doubtful</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;" align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; "><span>Chauncey Billups</span> (ankle) GTD</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><b>Dwyane Wade (flu) GTD</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;" align="right" width="240"><b><span>Jamal Crawford</span> (shoulder) GTD</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><br></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" width="240"><b style="text-align: start; "><span>Trey Thompkins</span> (knee) out</b></td>
<th align="center" width="20"><br></th>
<td width="240"><br></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th bgcolor="silver" height="20" colspan="3"></th>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p> </p>
<p><b>The Back Story:</b></p>
<ul>
<li>November 14 2012 in Los Angeles | <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.clipsnation.com/">Clippers</a> 107, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hothothoops.com/">Heat</a> 100 | <a href="http://www.clipsnation.com/2012/11/14/3648294/clippers-heat-up-the-heat-clippers-107-heat-100" target="_blank"><b>Recap</b></a> | <a href="http://www.nba.com/games/20121114/MIALAC/gameinfo.html#nbaGIboxscore" target="_blank"><b>Box Score</b></a> </li>
</ul>
<p><b>The Big Picture:</b></p>
<p>Which Clippers team will the fans in Miami see tonight? The same venue that hosted a national TV game against a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.poundingtherock.com/">San Antonio Spurs</a> team missing <span>Tim Duncan</span>, <span>Tony Parker</span>, <span>Manu Ginobili</span> and <span>Danny Green</span> could end up watching the only visit of the Clippers this season but not see Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Jamal Crawford and Chauncey Billups. Billups, who has played only three games all season, is the most likely to play tonight, followed by Griffin, Crawford and Paul, but all four missed the Clippers last game with various injuries. Frankly, it's difficult to imagine the Clippers having any chance without all three of their leading scorers (that's Griffin, Crawford and Paul) and it might be wise to just pint toward the game against New York on Sunday. If Griffin does play, then the Clippers will have an advantage inside where the Heat have been playing Chris Bosh at center much of the season. In pre-season and again in the first regular season meeting, DeAndre Jordan overpowered Bosh in some of the most impressive moves of his career. But without Paul running the show (and he seems the least likely to play at this point, not wanting to rush back after what happened last time) it's hard to imagine the Clippers winning in Miami.</p>
<p><b>The Antagonist:</b></p>
<p>The Heat have not been world beaters this season. Their record is only percentage points better than that of the Clippers, and they were several games back of the LAC before Paul was injured 14 games ago. But they are 20-3 at home, second best in the NBA, and more importantly they seem capable of "flipping a switch" and blowing teams out when they are properly motivated. At home, on a national TV, against a well-hyped Clippers team that beat them in L.A., they should have plenty of motivation. In a way, it would almost be better if Paul sat out, to see if the Heat then had a let down. If the Clippers come out with all their horses, Miami will be pumped. The Heat are not without flaws. They play small in the front court, which shows up in poor rebounding and in some big games from opposing bigs. But what's really surprising is that their defense has been only slightly better than average on the season. With long uber-athletes all over the floor, Miami's title last season owed as much to their swarming defense as it did to the impossible mismatches they pose on offense. For whatever reason, they've only played that same defense intermittently this season. Unfortunately, I have a feeling tonight is going to be one of the times they play it. However, one factor may change everything -- the flu. Chris Bosh missed Miami's last game with it, and he, Ray Allen and Dwyane Wade all missed the team's shootaround Friday morning because of it. According to Brian Windhurst, Allen is likely out and Wade and Bosh are game time decisions. Now imagine being those Miami fans, and possibly watching the Heat play the Clippers, minus four all stars and each team's sixth man.</p>
<p><b>The Subplots</b></p>
<ul>
<li> <b>Comparison of key metrics.</b> As I mentioned, the Heat have taken a pretty big step back in defensive efficiency this season, which has to be a concern for Eric Spoelstra. They were 4th in the league last year, but are down to 13th this year. Of course, they did play <span>Joel Anthony</span> more last season, and have made a commitment to a more "small ball" approach which leaves the defensive specialist Anthony on the bench. But that doesn't explain all of the drop off.</li>
<li> <b>Funny thing.</b> Before the Denver-Chicago game last night, the Clippers were fifth in offensive efficiency and fifth in defensive efficiency. After the game, in which the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.denverstiffs.com/">Nuggets</a> hung 128 points on the vaunted <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blogabull.com/">Bulls</a> defense, the Clippers fell to seventh on offense (behind Denver) and rose to fourth on defense (ahead of Chicago).</li>
<li> <b>Miami's rebounding.</b> Miami's rebounding is not good, but it's not really that bad. While it is true that they are last in the league in total offensive rebounds, that is probably the most misleading statistic in basketball. In order for an offensive rebound to happen, you have to miss a shot, and Miami leads the league in shooting percentage at 49%. Offensive rebound percentage tells us that Miami still isn't very good at crashing the offensive glass, ranking 27th in the league -- but then again, San Antonio is 30th in offensive rebounding percentage, so apparently you can be a very good team without getting a ton of offensive rebounds. On the defensive glass Miami is much better. Still below average, but only slightly worse than the Clippers.</li>
<li> <b>Remember 2010?</b> It's seems a bit quaint now, but remember when the Big 3 decided to take their talents to South Beach? At the time there seemed to be an open question as to who would be the top dog for the Heat. Wade had spent his entire career there, so it seemed reasonable to think that perhaps he'd want to be the main man with the game on the line. And for that first season, Miami did seem to struggle a bit figuring out a pecking order. <span style="line-height: 9.75px;">Well that's not a problem anymore. This is LeBron James' team. He leads the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and minutes per game. He takes the big shots with the game on the line. He wins MVPs. He's indisputably the man, and Wade is a (fantastic) supporting player on more or less the same level as Bosh.</span><br>
</li>
<li><span style="line-height: 9.75px;"><b>Defending the wing.</b> Willie Green, Caron Butler, Chauncey Billups, <span>Matt Barnes</span> and <span>Grant Hill</span> will have their hands full tonight trying to defend James and Wade. The good news is that the Clippers have more above average perimeter defenders, a few with decent size, to throw at these Miami matchup nightmares than they have in years past. The bad news is that you can't really stop them. Depending on who is healthy, you could see Eric Bledsoe take a turn on Wade as well. Maybe we'll even get a replay of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.clipsnation.com/2012/11/15/3650226/bledsoe-stuffs-wade-at-rim">this</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 9.75px;"><b>Three point shooting.</b> Uh oh. The Clippers have consistently lost games this season when opponents have lit them up from beyond the arc. The Heat are fourth in the NBA in three point percentage, and with James and Wade commanding so much defensive attention, shooters like <span>Ray Allen</span>, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers and <span>Rashard Lewis</span> get plenty of open looks. In the "it's-just-not-fair" department, James is hitting a career high from deep as well, over 40%. That's what you call unguardable. The Clippers defensive approach is built on helping on penetration, sealing off the lane. That works well against a lot of teams, but it is vulnerable to perimeter shooting, as we have seen. The magic number seems to be 10. If Miami hits more than 10 threes, they will almost certainly win the game.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 9.75px;"><b>James.</b> He was already the best player in the NBA, and believe it or not, he's now better. Maybe even a lot better. His shooting percentages are at career highs, by a wide margin. He's at .556 from the field and .408 from beyond the arc. That's just mean. Last season he established a career high in true shooting percentage at .605. So far this season, he's a .625. Here's the thing -- volume scorers don't shoot have TSPs over .600. They take a lot of shots, and some of them aren't great shots, and it brings their percentages down. To be a top five scorer shooting over .600 in TSP just doesn't happen -- not for perimeter guys. Unless you're LeBron James or <span>Kevin Durant</span>.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 9.75px;"><b>More James.</b> He's averaging 26 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists this season. Only four players in NBA history have averaged 25/8/7 for an entire season: Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 9.75px;"><b>Jamesian.</b> Blake Griffin will never be the playmaker James is, but he is establishing himself as an almost as unique combination of talents. Griffin doesn't play as many minutes as James, but on a per 36 minute basis, they are the <a href="http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=per_minute&per_minute_base=36&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2013&year_max=2013&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=pts_per_mp&c1comp=gt&c1val=19.9&c2stat=trb_per_mp&c2comp=gt&c2val=7&c3stat=ast_per_mp&c3comp=gt&c3val=3.9&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws" target="_blank">only two players in the league</a> averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game. That's pretty good company for Griffin to be in.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 9.75px;"><b>Speaking of minutes.</b> <span>Chris Paul's</span> minutes on the season are now being held down by injury, but even when healthy the Clippers have been one of two teams in the top group of contenders (the Spurs being the other one) to keep their stars minutes relatively low. LeBron is fourth in the league in minutes per game at 38.7. Meanwhile, Paul and Griffin play 33.5 and 32.7 which is a pretty significant difference. Will it make a difference in terms of injuries and "fresh legs" when the playoffs come around? We'll see.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 9.75px;"><b>Speaking of playoffs.</b> If the Clippers are thinking title this season (and when healthy they certainly have the numbers to support the idea) then there's a very strong possibility that they will have to face the Heat in the Finals. The West has three strong contenders and a couple of dark horses beyond them, but in the East, it's still pretty much Miami (depending on what happens with <span>Derrick Rose</span> and Chicago). Which means this game could end up being significant. The teams are currently separated by percentage points in the standings. The winner of this game will be ahead of the loser. And if the Clippers do manage to pull off the win, they'll also take the season series two games to zero. I'm not really counting on it, but it could be big if it happens.</span></li>
<li> <b>Good against good teams, good on TV.</b> The Clippers have been very good against good teams this season, and they've been very good on national TV games. However, those factors are more than canceled out by injuries. If Paul or other significant players can't go, or even if they are limited, I really don't expect the Clippers to be able to pull this game out.</li>
<li> <b>Clippers-Heat rivalry.</b> In recent years, the Clippers have done very well against the Heat in L.A. However, that success has not translated to South Beach. In the LeBron era, the teams have held their serve in every game. </li>
<li> <b>Mini-LeBron.</b> Clipper Eric Bledsoe has earned the nickname mini-LeBron from his teammates, and you can see why. Bledsoe has developed a similar penchant for chase down blocks, and is a physical specimen similar to James, only five or six inches shorter. Looking at <a href="http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&p1=bledser01&y1=2013&p2=jamesle01&y2=2013" target="_blank">Bledsoe's per 36 minute averages next to LeBron</a> is very interesting -- he's not nearly the scorer, but he's in the neighborhood in rebounding and assists, while getting significantly more steals and blocked shots. If Bledsoe wants to take the nickname to heart and work as hard as LeBron has. When James came into the league, he was a mediocre shooter. He's improved his shooting percentage every season he's been in the league except for one. If Bledsoe can developed his shot in a similar fashion, he can truly be a mini-LeBron.</li>
<li> <b>Crawford, Heat-killer?</b> During the China games we were listening to the Miami announcers on NBA-TV and they went on and on about how Crawford has owned the Heat over the years. While it's true that Crawford scored his career high of 52 against the Heat, his career average of 16.6 in 34 career meetings is only slightly better than his overall average. Still, if Crawford wants to be a Heat-killer tonight it's fine with me. He scored 22 in the first meeting, helping put the Heat away in the fourth quarter.</li>
<li> <b>Get the Heat perspective at </b><a href="http://www.hothothoops.com/"><b>Hot Hot Hoops</b></a> </li>
<li> <b>Lyrical reference:</b><br><br><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfJsrJ-lKGc"><b>Bulletproof, I Wish I Was -- Radiohead</b></a><br><br><i>Limb by limb and tooth by tooth<br>Tearing up inside of me<br>Every day every hour<br>I wish that I was bulletproof<br><br>Wax me<br>Mould me<br><b>Heat </b>the pins and stab them in<br>You have turned me into this<br>Just wish that it was bulletproof</i><br><br>Yes, that's right, another <i>Radiohead </i>song. You got a problem with that?</li>
</ul>
https://www.clipsnation.com/2013/2/8/3965300/clippers-heat-preview-game-time-decisionsSteve Perrin