Rowan Kavner
LOS ANGELES – Everyone’s feeling wicked on Halloween.
The Clippers (2-0) host the Kings (1-1) and DeMarcus Cousins at home Saturday night just three days after beating them in the opener in Sacramento, after which Cousins described his hatred for the Clippers.
Entering Saturday’s Halloween matchup, Josh Smith said opponents shouldn’t like each other.
“I think we should come out and keep giving them reasons not to like us,” Smith said. “I feel like this a competitive game, the competitive juices are flowing. Even when you have good friends on other teams, you’re supposed to hate them for 48 minutes.”
One of those good friends is Rajon Rondo, Smith’s high school teammate, but that won’t mean much Saturday. Smith said an NBA court is no place for a competitor to be having friendly conversations with a foe.
“I kind of feel like it’s self-explanatory,” Smith said. “Rondo’s my best friend, but when I’m on the court with him, I don’t like him. I don’t like him on the court.”
LAST TIME OUT
Clippers 104, Mavericks 88 – The Mavericks hung around, but the Clippers made a run late in the third quarter against the shorthanded group which put the game away in DeAndre Jordan’s first matchup against the team he nearly went to this summer. The Clippers held the Mavs to 36.1 percent shooting and got 26 points and 10 rebounds from Blake Griffin.
Kings 132, Lakers 114 – This one was decided before the second quarter began. Sacramento put up a 40-spot in the first quarter and had 74 points by halftime. The Lakers were scoring, but they still went to the second half trailing by 24 points. Rajon Rondo got going with 21 points, while DeMarcus Cousins scored 21 points and helped Sacramento outscore the Lakers by 42 points in the paint.
NOTEWORTHY MATCHUP
Blake Griffin vs Kings’ interior defense – It’s been the Blake Griffin show offensively for the Clippers through two games. After tearing through the Sacramento defense for 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting, he proceeded just one night later to score 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting against the Mavericks.
Griffin’s elbow jumper is on, and with a hot start in the opener against Sacramento, the Kings’ forwards were forced to start contesting, allowing him to then start attacking the rim. There’s been less than a week between the opener and the Halloween matchup for the Kings to figure out a way to try to slow Griffin down.
TWO THINGS TO WATCH
* Perimeter Defense – As strong as the interior offense was for the Kings on Friday against the Lakers, it was their perimeter game in the opener in Sacramento which gave the Clippers problems late.
* Turnover Total – Head coach Doc Rivers was critical of his team’s turnover total in the opener against the Kings. The Clippers forced 18 turnovers but committed 15 of their own.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Josh Smith on playing a backup center role – “It’s definitely challenging. It’s definitely new to me. I have no problem with it, I’ve just got to get more familiar with it. Those guys are pretty big, so being able to have to guard DeMarcus Cousins and the other 7-footers is definitely a challenge, but it’s a challenge I’m willing to take.”
Lance Stephenson on getting open shots with the starters: “They’ve got to get my trust first. Two games in, we’re trying to get to know each other. Once we get to know each other, I think everything will be fine.”
NOTES: Doc Rivers attended Flip Saunders’ funeral, but he’s expected back before tip-off for tonight’s game … The Clippers are 17-3 in their last 20 matchups against the Kings … The Clippers beat the Kings, 111-104, earlier this week in Sacramento despite the Kings erasing a fourth quarter 15-point deficit … Former Clippers Darren Collison and Caron Butler combined for 21 points off the bench for the Kings in that matchup … The Clippers shot 52.5 percent in that opening matchup against the Kings … Chris Paul moved into 15th place all-time on the NBA’s assists list …
