Current Record: 25-28, 3rd Pacific, T-9th West

Last Week:

While the rest of the league was focused on the festivities in Sin City, the Clippers got a much needed four days off to regroup. The Clips were one of only three teams that had exactly zero participants in the entire weekend’s festivities (and justifiably so) which means they will not be suffering from any lingering effects of the around-the-clock drunken parties and hookups with tainted groupies and assorted golddiggers promotion of the league that occurs over All-Star weekend.

In terms of actual games, Elton Brand missed both of them with back spasms, and not surprisingly the Clippers lost both of them: a butt-whupping at Detroit to finish the road trip, and a Valentine’s stinker at home against Atlanta. As a result, LA fell temporarily back out of the playoff picture. Cuttino Mobley was the only Clipper who played well, scoring a season-high 31 points against Atlanta, but then injured his groin in the fourth quarter when the Hawks made their big comeback. Yes, it’s business as usual in Clipper Nation.

Quick Take:

With the All-Star game out of the way, it’s officially crunch time: 29 games to go. Currently, the Clips are one of five teams within two and a half games of the last two playoff spots – Denver is holding the number seven position at 26-25, with Minnesota in eighth at 25-27, the Clippers and New Orleans/Oklahoma City at 25-28, and Golden St. at 25-29. The Nuggets figure to play better once Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony actually get on the court at the same time. The Hornets are surging now that they’ve gotten Chris Paul and David West back from injury, with Peja Stojakovic possibly returning in March. In other words, it’s going to take a lot better than .500 ball the rest of the way to get in.

The Clips still have two games left each with the Warriors and the Hornets, as well as another game with the Nuggets, so they have the opportunity to help themselves out. However, they also have several games against the class of the NBA (Dallas, Phoenix (2), Utah, San Antonio (2), Houston (2)), which means they need to actually win games they aren’t expected to win, which hasn’t happened at all this year. Count it off, it will take 44 wins to make the playoffs, so the Clippers have to go 19-10. Thus, the nights off that the defense takes and the no-shows that Chris Kaman and Shaun Livingston have been having can no longer be tolerated if the club wants to play past April. Maybe someone can tell Tim Thomas the team makes extra money if they make the playoffs, he might actually try for once if he knows he can get a bonus paycheck.

This Week:

Tuesday: vs. Phoenix (TNT, 7:30 pm) – the bad news for the Clips is that the extra rest enabled Phoenix to return to near full-strength, as the Suns expect reigning two-time MVP Steve Nash and Kurt Thomas back in the lineup. While Boris Diaw will still be sidelined with back spasms, having Nash back completely transforms the team: the Suns are 2-4 without him (and losers of three straight), 35-9 with him. His uncanny ability to control the pace of the game and get everyone involved is breathtaking, with the Suns scoring a mind-boggling 111.3 points per game with him in the lineup (only 106 ppg when he’s out). The teams split their first two meetings early in the year, but Amare Stoudemire was still getting his legs back then. The Clips will have to slow the tempo down and pound it inside to Brand and Kaman to have a chance, as they did last year during the playoffs.

Saturday: vs. Golden St. (KTLA-CW, 12:30 pm) – this will be the first of many critical games, with the Warriors right on the Clips’ tail in the playoff chase. The Clippers simply cannot afford to drop any home games to other playoff contenders, particularly to this Golden St. squad that has only won six road games all year (even worse than the Clips). Shooting guard Jason Richardson should be back from his fractured hand, which has sidelined him for nearly half the season. However, point guard and leading scorer Baron Davis went down last week with a knee injury and will be in street clothes recovering from surgery. The teams split their first home-and-home right as the Warriors completed their huge eight-player trade with Indiana. Thus, this will be the Clips’ first look at the Warriors' revamped roster, led by Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. The Warriors will play a frenetic pace similar to the Suns (but not as effective), and the Clippers should likewise employ a similar slow-down, inside-out strategy, especially since Golden St. is worst in the league in rebounding margin.

AP photo by Mark J. Terrill