Stat Comparison: LAC to other elite teams so far

[Sħãlïq™]

Overall Record

1. Oklahoma City (20-4)

2. New York (18-6)

3. San Antonio (19-7)

4. Clippers (18-6)

5. Miami (15-6)

 

Points (Offensive)

1. Oklahoma City (105.7)

2. San Antonio (104.8)

3. New York (103.2)

4. Miami (103.1)

5. Clippers (102.2)

 

Points (Defensive)

1. Clippers (93.8)

2. New York (96.1)

3. Oklahoma City (96.4)

4. San Antonio (97.0)

5. Miami (98.1)

 

Differential

1. Oklahoma City (+9.3)

2. Clippers (+8.4)

3. San Antonio (+7.8)

4. New York (+7.1)

5. Miami (+5.0)

 

Road Record

1. Oklahoma City (6-2)

2. San Antonio (11-4)

3. Clippers (8-3)

4. New York (8-5)

5. Miami (4-4)

 

Record vs. .500+ teams

1. New York (9-3)

2. Clippers (10-4)

3. San Antonio (9-6)

3. Miami (9-5)

5. Oklahoma City (8-4)

 

Assists

1. San Antonio (25.4)

2. Clippers (23.1)

3. Miami (22.9)

4. Oklahoma City (22.4)

5. New York (20.4)

 

Turnovers Forced

1. Clippers (17.4)

2. New York (15.9)

3. San Antonio (15.0)

3. Miami (15.0)

5. Oklahoma City (14.0)

 

Turnover Differential

1. New York (-5.3)

2. Clippers (-2.8)

3. Miami (-0.9)

4. San Antonio (+0.4)

5. Oklahoma City (+2.0)

 

Opponent FG%

1. Oklahoma City (.426)

2. Clippers (.429)

3. San Antonio (.437)

4. Miami (.442)

5. New York (.454)

 

Rebound Differential

1. Oklahoma City (+2.9)

2. San Antonio (+0.8)

3. Clippers (+0.6)

4. Miami (-1.4)

5. New York (-4.2)

 

Technical Fouls

1. Clippers (31)

2. Oklahoma City (26)

3. New York (20)

4. San Antonio (13)

5. Miami (7)

 

Record vs. four other Elites

1. New York (3-0)

2. Clippers (3-1)

3. Oklahoma City (1-1)

4. Miami (1-3)

5. San Antonio (1-4)

 

Sweet...

[Cobb]

Regular season don't matter. It's all about the playoffs.

[Need4Sheed]

Regular season don't matter. It's all about the playoffs.

 

 

this

[Sħãlïq™]

Clippers take over No. 1 spot

It's strange, but true: The Clippers might be the best team in the NBA.

That statement would have been met with unadulterated laughter the past few years, but it's a reality that opponents are quickly coming to face this season. With the Thunder cooling off in Minnesota on Thursday, the Clippers own the league's longest winning streak at 11 games, matching a franchise record. They don't possess the NBA's best record -- that distinction still goes to Oklahoma City -- but they are tied for the lead with the Thunder in point differential (plus-8.8) and rank in the top four in both points scored and allowed per possession.

The Clippers have taken steps forward this season behind the NBA's best point guard and one of the league's most potent benches. Chris Paul deserves to be in the early discussion for MVP, and the Clippers' reserves -- better known as "A Tribe Called Bench" these days -- keep producing hits thanks to guards Jamal Crawford (16.6 points per game) and Eric Bledsoe (22.8 Player Efficiency Rating) and swingman Matt Barnes (13-1 in games he scores in double digits).

Yes, it might sound unnatural, but the Clippers are serious title contenders and are only going to get better after Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill return. Coach Vinny Del Negro might have trouble doling out the minutes, but that's not a bad problem to have.

The Clippers' ascension to the top spot -- which the Thunder held the previous two weeks -- isn't the only shakeup this week. The Pacers (No. 10) and Nuggets (No. 11) have moved up several spots, while the Celtics (No. 16) and 76ers (No. 20) have fallen.

(All stats and records are through Dec. 20.)

 

http://i.imgur.com/OGrtP.png

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Number one? No love for OKC because of a single loss?

[Sħãlïq™]

(...) Odom knows better. He sat in the Clippers' locker room the day Staples Center opened in 1999 when he was a 19-year old rookie. The year before he was drafted, the Clippers won nine games during a strike-shortened season. In his first season, they won just 15. Odom doesn't need to be told about the Clippers' past, he lived it.

 

"I was here when we lost 20 games in a row," Odom said after the Clippers' 97-85 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday. "So the record, for me, means a lot. I was in here before the game and let [the team] know exactly what we were playing for and the meaning of it and why it's important for us to get it. It's important to be part of the tradition we're starting. It's big. We're starting something special here. We enjoy each other," Odom said. "We enjoy spending time with each other on this team and it shows. ... We genuinely love each other and so it's easy to overcome obstacles", as Odom spoke, his teammates were having almost as much fun creating new handshakes with their kids than they were celebrating the win. When Odom was with the Clippers before, they were a dysfunctional mess, filled with kids less mature than his teammates' children.

"I didn't take a history lesson on it or anything like that," Paul said. "Ralph did a good job last year, every time we went on the road he would say, 'We haven't won here since then,' or 'We've only beat this team so many times.' But for us, everything in the regular season, we've done. I think we have bigger sights. Our measurement is only the playoffs."

 

Paul says he knows the only way the Clippers can truly change the culture of the team and its perception in Los Angeles and around the country is to win, and win big in the playoffs. But before the playoffs arrive, the Clippers' current success isn't lost on Paul. The Clippers suffered through their fair share of Mayan jokes this week. It's understandable. Anyone who has followed the team over the past 30 years probably thought there would be no greater sign of the apocalypse than the Clippers winning 12 straight and being one of the top two teams in the NBA.

 

Yet here they are. As Dec. 21 has come and gone, the Clippers are 20-6, just one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the NBA. It's an amazing turnaround for a team that went 19-63 just three years ago.

Clippers history not lost on players

 

Regular season don't matter. It's all about the playoffs.

I see what you mean. The road to the 'offs starts in the regular season though. I know, from time to time, a lower seed upsets the No. 1 or No. 2 team (like the "We Believe" Dubs upset the Mavs not too long ago). But I also acknowledge the fact how much rest the Clippers' starters get. This makes a lot of difference come April...