Clippers-Nuggets Preview

Posted Dec 31 2012 5:07PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Having wrapped up December with just the third 16-0 month in NBA history, the Los Angeles Clippers face tough challenges starting the new year.

They'll play four games this week, with two opponents having winning records and the other at .500. The Clippers take their franchise-record 17-game winning streak into Denver on Tuesday night, where the Nuggets are 9-1 at home.

"It'll be a big test for us," forward Blake Griffin said.

Denver (17-15) is the first game of a back-to-back, with a visit to Golden State on Wednesday. The Warriors handed the Clippers their first loss of the season Nov. 3. The Clippers return home Friday to host the Lakers, a team they've already beaten once and who are back to .500. Then comes the second game of another back-to-back against the Warriors.

"We're going to lose at some point, but this is a magical run," said Caron Butler, who had 29 points in a 107-96 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday that maintained the league's best record at 25-6.

The Clippers haven't lost since Nov. 26.

"I want to do this every year," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "This has got to be a staple of how we go about doing our business. We're thinking bigger than the streak."

The Clippers went 16-0 in December to join the 1995-96 San Antonio Spurs, which included Del Negro, and 1971-72 Lakers as the only teams to go undefeated in a month. Their franchise-record winning streak is the longest since Boston won 19 in a row four years ago.

"I am amazed because I haven't done it since I've been in the league," said Chris Paul, a seven-year veteran who had 19 points and nine assists against Utah.

The Clippers kept their streak alive despite Griffin scoring just seven points due to foul trouble. Their bench came through again, with Jamal Crawford scoring 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.

Butler sat in the fourth quarter after playing "out of his mind" as Griffin put it in the opening quarter, when the veteran scored 17 points and hit five of his six 3-pointers.

"It's a tribute to everybody in here," Griffin said. "Everybody has been a huge part one night or the other. It's a selfless attitude the team has taken on. This is the most fun I've ever had playing basketball."

The Clippers have been winning without injured veterans Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill.

"We really haven't had an opportunity to see what it looks like," Paul said of the entire team.

Still, they've won 11 of their 17 games by 12 points or more, and their defense has allowed 100 points just three times during the streak. They've been winning so handily that Paul and Griffin rarely have to play in the fourth quarter. Both are averaging career low minutes in the final period this season.

"We expect to win every time we step out on the court," Butler said. "We have a good mixture of young guys and veterans, and we do a good job of policing ourselves. Coach lets us control the environment. We do a great job being unselfish on and off the court."

A 112-100 home win over the Nuggets on Christmas is part of the streak. Crawford scored 22 points to lead six Clippers in double figures, and Los Angeles held Nuggets leading scorer Danilo Gallinari to seven points on 1-of-10 shooting.

Denver won two straight following that loss before suffering an 81-72 defeat at Memphis on Saturday. The Nuggets scored their fewest points of the season while allowing their fewest.

Gallinari, who had a career-high 39 points in a 106-85 win at Dallas on Friday night, was limited to seven on 2-of-8 shooting as the Nuggets played for the fourth time in five days.

"We just ran out of gas, and ran out of bodies," coach George Karl said. "We didn't have anybody really playing a great game. We worked them as hard as we could. The fight was good, but then with the fourth quarter and turnovers, it just broke our hearts."

Los Angeles has won two in a row at Denver following a nine-game skid there, and the Clippers have taken the past three and six of seven overall meetings.

Nuggets end Clippers' team-record win streak at 17

By DENNIS GEORGATOS
Posted Jan 02 2013 12:45AM

DENVER (AP) During an undefeated five-week run by the Los Angeles Clippers, the Denver Nuggets were just another team they beat along the way. The second time around, the Nuggets were the team that ground the Clippers' streak to a halt.

Danilo Gallinari led six Nuggets players in double figures with 17 points and Denver stopped the Clippers' franchise- record winning streak at 17 games with a 92-78 victory Tuesday night.

The Clippers' streak was the longest in the NBA since the Boston Celtics won 19 in a row from Nov. 15-Dec. 23, 2008.

"We were all a step slower today," said Blake Griffin, who had 12 points for the Clippers. "We've got to be better than that. We're not going to sit and cry on the plane and get beat down. We're not going to cause ourselves to lose our confidence, despite what people want us to do. That's the best thing about the NBA - you've got another game."

Griffin went 4 of 11 from the field - the first time he's shot below 50 percent in 18 games.

Andre Iguodala said the victory against the NBA's hottest team could help Denver build "our confidence, our swagger.

"The Clippers have been playing with that the last 18 games. That builds into them winning. They have the mentality every night they're going to go out there and win. We've got to build the same thing and try to string along the same type of win streak."

The loss was the first for the Clippers since a 105-98 setback against New Orleans on Nov. 26. It also marked the end of a franchise-record seven-game winning streak on the road.

Kenneth Faried added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their eighth in a row at home.

The Clippers, whose point total was two above their season-low, were hurt by poor shooting from 3-point range (5 of 29, 17.2 percent) and the free throw line (13 of 29, 44.8 percent).

Eric Bledsoe also had 12 points, DeAndre Jordan had 11 and Chris Paul 10 for the Clippers.

"Maybe two or three of the 3's that we missed, they had a hand in our face," Paul said. "But we got all the shots that we wanted. There are going to be nights like that. It just hasn't happened for a while."

Andre Miller, starting in place of point guard Ty Lawson, had 12 points and 12 assists for the Nuggets. Lawson, the team said, has been bothered by tightness in his left Achilles' tendon for the past week, forcing him to miss a game for the first time this season.

"We don't win this game without Andre," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He just got us easy baskets, got a lot of guys involved, gave our team a lot of confidence."

Miller said, "It was a good win against a good team. We beat them every quarter. It was a weird game, kind of slow. Both teams want to get up and down the court. It was one of those nights were we fell into some easy baskets. We controlled our turnovers and had the energy on our side."

Iguodala also helped out at point guard and chipped in with 12 points and eight assists for Denver, which lost to the Clippers in Los Angeles, 112-100 on Christmas Day.

After Bledsoe hit a 3-pointer to pull the Clippers to 65-58 with 1:54 left in the third quarter, the Nuggets scored eight of the next nine points, including JaVale McGee's first career 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 75-59 lead into the fourth quarter. McGee, who had a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Andre Miller on Denver's previous possession, hadn't even tried a 3-pointer in a game all season until then. He blew on his shooting hand after making the trey as if he had to cool it off.

The Clippers cut it to 87-73 with 4:02 remaining when Griffin made one of two free throws but the Nuggets, as they did throughout the game, had an answer with Iguodala getting loose in the paint for a slam. The Clippers didn't threaten the rest of the way.

The Nuggets took a 12-point lead with 3:01 left in the second quarter when Faried buried a short hook shot before settling for a 48-43 halftime advantage.

Los Angeles closed the period with a 9-2 run, starting with Paul converting a three-point play followed by a dunk from DeAndre Jordon off a lob pass from Paul.

NOTES: Clippers PG Chauncey Billups, a former Nugget and native of Denver, missed the game as he continues to recover from a foot injury that has kept him on the sideline this season. ... The Clippers began a stretch of four games in five days that resumes Wednesday in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors. ... The Nuggets improved to 5-1 on New Year's Day. ... Miller had a double double for the 204th time in his career and the first time this season. ... The Clippers' 17-game streak was the second-longest ever snapped by the Nuggets. The Chicago Bulls were on an 18-game run when the Nuggets beat them on Feb. 4, 1996.

Notebook: Nuggets 92, Clippers 78

Michael Kelly, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:12 AM - Updated Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:12 AM

THE FACTS: It has been two holidays spanning 36 days, but the Los Angeles Clippers finally tasted defeat.

Danilo Gallinari scored 17 points, Andre Miller had 12 points and 12 assists as the Denver Nuggets handed the Clippers their first loss since Nov. 26 with a 92-78 win Tuesday night.

Kenneth Faried had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who had six players score in double figures to extend their home winning streak to eight.

Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe finished with 12 points each and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 11 rebounds for L.A.

QUOTABLE: "What did we accomplish→ (Winning 17 straight) is cool but they didn't care about that tonight. We're just upset about the loss, we didn't care about the streak."

-- Clippers guard Chris Paul, on the winning streak.

THE STAT: Griffin had shot 50 percent or better in every game of the winning streak. Tuesday he was 4-for-11 from the field and committed five fouls.

TURNING POINT: After stretching a one-point lead to 12 late in the third quarter, the Nuggets -- actually JaVale McGee -- finished the period with a flurry. The 7-footer slammed an alley-oop with 8.9 seconds left, and after Jamal Crawford missed two free throws he took an inbounds pass with 1.6 seconds left and drained the first 3-pointer of his career to put Denver ahead 75-59. He then did a dance back to the Nuggets' bench.

QUOTABLE II: "I had my celebration ready so I had to use it. I was stirring the pot and tasting it because the 3 was that good."
-- McGee, on his elaborate act after his 3-pointer.

HOT: The Nuggets defense. They minimized the damage of the Clippers' inside game, and they also kept L.A. from getting easy baskets by taking care of the ball.

NOT: Los Angeles' outside shooting and foul shooting. The Clippers were 5-for-29 from 3-point range, a far cry from the 35-percent season average, and they were 13-for-29 from the foul line.

QUOTABLE III: "We all got shots we'd love to get cracks at again. It happens sometimes. It's a long season. It's a little frustrating, especially when they're good shots."

-- Crawford

GOOD MOVE: The Nuggets employed two 7-footers on the floor at times to help defend the paint. Timofey Mozgov, who has played a limited role this season, was solid in 12:30 of court time, scoring four points and pulling down six rebounds.

BAD MOVE: The Clippers didn't take care of the ball. They had 15 turnovers which led to 21 Denver points.

ROOKIE WATCH: Denver's Evan Fournier saw the court due to the absence of starting point guard Ty Lawson. He hit both of his 3-pointers and finished with six points.

NOTABLE: Lawson missed his first game of the season with a strained left Achilles' tendon. It was just the third game missed by a regular starter all season. ... Miller, at 36, played nearly 42 minutes, the most he's played in almost two years. ... Faried recorded his 14th double-double of the season and 26th of his career. ... The Clippers' streak was the second longest ever broken by the Nuggets. They snapped Chicago's 18-game winning streak on Feb. 4, 1996.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Wednesday @ Golden State, Friday vs. L.A. Lakers, Saturday vs. Golden State. For the Nuggets, Thursday vs. Minnesota, Saturday vs. Utah, Sunday @ L.A. Lakers.

• Clippers: Billups, Hill, Thompkins
• Nuggets: Chandler, Miller

• Clippers: --
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #36 David Jones, #29 Mark Lindsay, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 19155
• Duration: 2:09