Doc Rivers, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin couldn’t get past the conference semifinals. (GETTY IMAGES)

It’s difficult to quantify the debacle that just occurred in the 2015 Western Conference semifinals when the team that fell apart has very little history to begin with.

The Clippers were one win away (or one quarter away) from reaching their first conference finals only to watch it all go up in a cloud of smoke about as thick as the L.A. smog. The Clippers blew a 3-1 series lead and were eliminated from the postseason in spectacular fashion with a Game 7 loss in Houston. It marked only the ninth time in NBA playoff history a team tossed away a 3-1 series lead.

”It’s disappointing,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. ”We were close, but close doesn’t really count. Almost doesn’t count. We were up 3-1 and didn’t put them away. We can’t look at anybody but ourselves.”

Griffin did all he could to avoid the collapse. He averaged nearly a triple-double during the series, and he posted 27 points and 11 rebounds in 44 minutes in Game 7. His fellow superstar, Chris Paul, also left it all on the court. CP3 had 26 points and 10 assists despite playing with a bad hamstring.

Paul summed up his frustration by quoting Will Ferrell’s character, Ricky Bobby, from “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

“Ricky Bobby, like [he] said, if you’re not first you’re last,” Paul told reporters. “Being close ain’t good enough.”

It’s another offseason in which Paul will have to figure what went wrong. Last season, he took much of the blame for the Clips’ playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Paul failed to reach the conference finals yet again. Throughout the playoffs, ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy kept referring to CP3 as The Great Chris Paul. We’ll have to put “great” in quotes because “great” players are usually able to push their teams past the second round. “Great” players don’t blow 3-1 leads in the playoffs. And “great” players don’t let their teams blow a 19-point second-half lead in close-out games.

That’s exactly what happened in Game 6.

The Clippers basically had one foot in the Western Conference finals when the Rockets slammed the door on their foot with a historic comeback despite not having their best player, James Harden, on the court. During a key stretch in the fourth quarter, the Clippers looked gassed and couldn’t make a shot, and that included their two superstars. Paul went 1-for-5 while Griffin was 0-for-4 from the field. The role players couldn’t bail them out either, as J.J. Redick, Matt Barnes, DeAndre Jordan and Jamal Crawford all folded under pressure. When the final buzzer sounded, the Rockets had outscored the Clippers 40-15 in a 12-minute horror flick that will go down as the defining moment of the Chris Paul and Blake Griffin era.

“We just stopped playing,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of Game 6. “You could see it. We got the lead and kind of got comfortable and started making plays that you shouldn’t make. Then we it got to eight (point lead) and we couldn’t make a shot.”

It would be unfair to say the Clippers choked against the Rockets, but that’s the CliffsNotes version of this story. When it was time to apply the knockout punch, the Clippers couldn’t pull the trigger. And Paul and Griffin where in the middle of it. Those are the two faces of the franchise. They’re the ones in the State Farm and Kia Motors commercials. When the Clippers needed their two stars to deliver an award-winning performance they both forgot their lines.

So what’s next for the Clippers? They’ll have to deal with a few in-house chores, most notably the contract of Jordan. The 6-11 center who blossomed into a defensive player of the year candidate this season is an unrestricted free agent. He has hinted he’d like to return to his home state of Texas.

It could be a long hot summer in L.A.

Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are two big reasons why the Clippers will be a force in the Western Conference. (GETTY IMAGES)

Donald Sterling will no longer be an embarrassment to the NBA now that he has been replaced by new Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

Sterling embarrassed himself, the Clippers and the NBA when a recording was leaked by his personal assistant V. Stiviano on April 25, sending shockwaves through the basketball community. In the recording, he got caught red-handed in a racist rant. New commissioner Adam Silver acted quickly and banned Sterling from the league for life and fined him $2.5 million. The fine was the maximum allowed under the CBA. Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, stepped in and offered $2 billion to buy the team, shocking people regarding the amount of money for a largely unsuccessful franchise during the course of their history.

The Clippers won a franchise-best 57 games last season, eclipsing the 56 wins they set in 2012-13. But the Clippers lost in the second round of the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, so there will be a little added pressure this season for head coach Doc Rivers and point guard Chris Paul.

Rivers is entering his second season as the head man and they need to be able to get past the first round. However, his arrival seemed to light a fire under big man DeAndre Jordan, who finally had a career year (10.4 points per game, 13.6 rebounds per game, 2.5 blocks per game and 67.6% on field goals) and achieved some of the vast potential he had been teasing the Clippers with for years.

Paul, 28, was consistent as ever last season (19.1 ppg, 10.7 assists per game, and 2.5 steals per game), but he is entering his fourth season with the Clippers and needs to help the team achieve more when it matters. The West is of course stacked from top to bottom, but if he wants to be considered the best PG in the game, he has to help them win more. Being the best at his position is tied to success in the playoffs.

The team didn’t have a lot of money to spend on free agents in the offseason, but they landed a solid signing when they picked up Spencer Hawes, 26, for four years and $23 million ($5.8 million per season). He made $6.5 million last season and took a minor paycut. He is going to give L.A. one of the best backup big men in the league.

He will backup power forward Blake Griffin and Jordan at center. Last season, L.A. was forced to use Byron Mullens, Ryan Hollins, and Glen Davis at center when Jordan was out of the game. Hawes gives Doc a super-sub at PF/C like Jamaal Crawford gives them at PG/SG. Hawes averaged a career-high 13.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 3 apg for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers. He also made an amazing 41.6% of his 3-pointers. Hawes is a great passer in addition to being a good outside shooter (36.1% on 3-pointers), he has registered nine assists three times in his career. He’s going to give L.A. a nice offensive option when he plays center with Griffin and he can slide over to PF and play the stretch four when Griffin needs a rest.

Crawford is the other super-sub the Clippers have and he’s a huge part of an improved bench with the Hawes signing. Crawford had a great year (18.6 ppg and 3.2 apg) and gives them a great 1-2 punch at shooting guard with J.J. Redick (15.2 ppg, 45.5% and 39.5% on 3’s). Redick was very solid in his first season with the Clippers, even though he played in just 35 games due to a back injury. Having Crawford means they don’t lose too much when Redick is out, but if he’s healthy the Clippers will have one of the best benches in the NBA.

The Clippers lost their backup PG Darren Collison when he signed with the Sacramento Kings. They didn’t have to look far to find a replacement as they snatched Jordan Farmar away from the team across the hall, the rival Lakers. Farmar may not always be the picture of good health himself, but for 15-18 minutes per game and maybe 18-20 starts a season he’s a solid pickup. Farmar is coming off his second-best season of his career (10.1 ppg and 4.9 apg in 22 mpg). However, he played in just 41 games due to a variety of injuries.

Griffin blossomed last season into a full fledged superstar as he averaged a career-high 24.1 ppg (up from 18 ppg the previous season), 9.5 rpg and a career-high 3.9 apg. Griffin’s improvement as a passer means teams can’t just double-team. His defense still needs some work but no player is perfect.

Matt Barnes returns as the starting small forward and provides defense and some timely shooting. Barnes, 34, will have most of the minutes since Jared Dudley was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks (for veteran swingman Carlos Delfino basically). Barnes averaged 10 ppg and 4.6 rpg last season, but his 3-point shooting in clutch situations was good, despite a mediocre 34.3%. Delfino will see some backup minutes there once he’s healthy, he missed all of last season with a foot injury. He averaged 10 ppg and made 37% of his 3-pointers in the 2012-13 season with the Houston Rockets. Reggie Bullock may have a better shot at seeing minutes at SF than SG since the team is loaded at that position.

Outlook

The regular season is just a warmup to the postseason, and that is where the Clippers will be judged. Rivers, CP, Griffin are all going to be graded based on their ability to get beyond the second round. This is a team that should easily win 53-55 games and claim one of the top seeds, unless injuries hit and they need to show they are a true contender for the NBA title. The Spurs have to get old sometime, right?

Darren Jacks is a contributing writer for OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @djroxalot.

LeBron James and Blake Griffin could meet in the 2014 NBA Finals. (GETTY IMAGES)

It’s not hard to figure out who the NBA is pulling for in the 2014 playoffs. All you need is take one look at the TV schedule and you’ll find the answer.

ABC showcased the Clippers-Warriors opening game on Saturday, and Game 1 of the Heat-Bobcats matchup on Sunday. It’s a clear indication the league considers the Clippers and Heat as the two sexiest teams in the postseason, and potential showdown in the NBA Finals could generate major buzz.

Who wouldn’t want to see the Heat and the Clippers? The Heat are the two-time NBA champs and they have the best player in the world in LeBron James. And If Dwyane Wade’s knees are right, Miami has two of the most dynamic players in the league.

The Clippers don’t have history on their side but, between Chris Paul’s State Farm commercials and Blake Griffin’s Kia Optima and GameFly ads, they lead the league in most air times off the court.

And that whole Lob City thing isn’t too bad to watch either.

The league won’t admit it but it would be a major blow to Commissioner Adam Silver’s gut if the Heat don’t make The Finals.

No disrespect to the Indiana Pacers, who are a good team but not box office, the Eastern Conference playoffs are far more interesting with the Heat in it. Let’s not even waste time talking about the early rounds of the East playoffs because Miami is booked for the conference finals.

It would be a shame if Miami and Indiana didn’t play each other in the conference finals, but LeBron and Co. could care less who they play. The goal is to reach The Finals for the fourth consecutive year. Ratings would take a nosedive if the Heat are not playing in June.

Silver would prefer not to explain the NHL-type ratings should The Finals include the Pacers and the Spurs, or Pacers and Clippers, or Pacers and Thunder.

Unfortunately for the new commish, the Spurs will have a major say in the whole playoff picture. San Antonio should get by Dallas in the first round and should beat the upstart Blazers in the semifinals. Tim Duncan and Co. will most likely avoid their playoff nemesis in Oklahoma City because the Clippers — assuming they take care of business against the Warriors, which won’t be easy — will knock off the Thunder, setting up a Spurs-Clippers Western Conference finals.

The playoffs are all about matchups and the Clippers do not match up well with the Spurs, who have owned the Clips going all the way back to their San Diego roots.

The Clippers under Doc Rivers are a far better team than they were last year, but they’re still not in the Spurs’ class in terms of defense and discipline.

The Spurs have proven during the course of the regular season that they’ve rebounded from last year’s stunning loss in The Finals and are ready to retake the throne from King James.

Tony Parker and Chris Paul are the MVPs of their respective teams. (GETTY IMAGES)

The two hardest positions to find in basketball are center and point guard. The game has evolved so much that the point guard’s role has expanded and the position has become more complex and more valuable than ever. There are five basic skill sets you must own in order to be play the position. First, you must take care of the ball and avoid turnovers. Second, you must be able to make all the passes. Third, you must execute the game plan and run the offense. Fourth, you must be able to create shots for teammates. Fifth, when all things break down and the shot clock is winding down, you must be able to score either with the drive or jump shot to bail your team out. The players on this list possess all these fundamental skills, and have set themselves apart from their peers.

OneManFastBreak.net rates the top points guards in the Association:

10) TY LAWSON, Denver Nuggets: Former Nuggets coach George Karl says the key to his fast-break offense was Ty Lawson. The former University of North Carolina star has gotten better and better each season, and in 2013 he averaged 17 points and seven assists. Despite his lack of size (listed at 5-11) Lawson is one of the league leaders in points in the paint because he’s a handful in the open court, with his incredible foot speed, he can beat any defender to the basket.

Denver Nuggets’ lightning-quick point guard Ty Lawson. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

9) MIKE CONLEY, Memphis Grizzlies: Conley is the son of Olympic track star Mike Conley Sr. He may not have daddy’s jumping skills but he’s definitely the better ballhandler and playmaker in the family. The former Ohio State standout is a tremendous two-way player. He takes care of the ball (6-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio) and is a very good on-ball defender. He averages 2.2 steals per game and had 174 thefts in the 2012-13 season. When Rudy Gay was traded, the Grizzlies basically gave the keys to the car to Conley and let him drive the offense. Conley raised his profile in the 2013 playoffs when he played Chris Paul to a draw in the Grizzlies-Clippers playoff battle, won by the Grizzlies.

8) DERON WILLIAMS, Brooklyn Nets: Deron Williams is Jason Kidd with range. Much like Chris Paul, D-Will can play fast or slow. He can be a playmaker or a scorer. D-Will has the entire package. He can drive, he can hit the 3 and get his teammates easy shots. And he’s built like a tank (6-3, 209). He’s one of the few PGs who can score 20 points and get 10 assists. The only knock on Williams — and the same can be said about CP3 — is that he hasn’t been able to lift his teams past the conference semifinals, and some also question his work ethic. He came into the 2012-13 season a little out of shape, and it took nearly the whole season for him to get his conditioning up to speed.

When he’s healthy and in shape, Deron Williams is a matchup nightmare. (GETTY IMAGES)

7) KYRIE IRVING, Cleveland Cavaliers: You know you’ve arrived when you have a soda commercial. Irving is the star of the “Uncle Drew” Pepsi Max campaign, and his needle is pointing way, way up on the star-o-meter. Irving has the total package: sick handles, smooth jumper, and athletically gifted. He’s still learning to make his teammates better, and once he has figured out that aspect of the game the sky is the limit. It’s hard to erase the memories of King James in Cleveland, but Uncle Drew is slowly helping the healing process.

6) RAJON RONDO, Boston Celtics: The 6-1 guard from Kentucky was arguably the Celtics’ best player during the 2010 NBA playoffs, turning the Celtics’ Big Three into the Fantastic Four. Rondo is a unique player because he rebounds extremely well for his size, has an array of circus shots when he gets close to the basket. He can also impact the game on both ends. He’s one of the best off-the-ball defenders in the league (leading the league in steals in 2009-10), and plays the passing lanes extremely well. And when you look up the definition of “tough” in the dictionary, you may see Rondo’s name next to it. If Rondo has a weakness, it is his inability to master the mid-range jump shot. If he ever develops a consistent jumper, he’ll be unstoppable.

5) STEPHEN CURRY, Golden State Warriors: The son of Dell Curry came into the league with one of the purest jumpers you will ever see. Steph’s stroke is pure genius, and even his misses are a thing of beauty. Once he was able to overcome his ankle problems, Curry has elevated his game into superstar status. After an injury-plagued 2011-12 season in which his average dipped to 14 points, the Golden State sniper raised his scoring average to 22.9 in 2012-13. Curry had a game for the ages on Feb. 28, 2013, when he electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd by dropping 54 points on the New York Knicks. Curry knocked down 11 threes and was 18-for-28 from the field. Mark Jackson called it one of the best performances he has ever seen at the Garden. That’s high praise coming from Jackson, who grew up in New York City and was drafted by the Knicks out of St. John’s.

Stephen Curry’s 54 points electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd. (GETTY IMAGES)

4) DERRICK ROSE, Chicago Bulls: D-Rose became a star during the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs in an epic series against the Boston Celtics. In his first NBA postseason game, Rose scored 36 points at the new Boston Garden, and his career has been on a fast track to Springfield ever since. Rose is a freakish athlete. He has tremendous handles, amazing body control, and a fearless attitude. He has improved his mid-range game and 3-point shot the last two seasons, and his hard work was rewarded when he was named NBA MVP in 2011 — the first Bulls player to win the award since Michael Jordan. Few can match Rose’s ability to maneuver around a defense. Now, the big question is, can he regain that ability after ACL surgery?

3) RUSSELL WESTBROOK, Oklahoma City Thunder: Westbrook’s coming out party occurred in the 2010 NBA playoffs when he lit up the L.A. Lakers in the first round. Phil Jackson paid Westbrook the highest respect when he assigned Kobe Bryant to guard him for much of the series. Westbrook is one of the best finishers in the game, and he attacks the rim like a Navy SEAL team storming a compound in Pakistan. The scary part about Westbrook — who was a shooting guard when he played at UCLA — is that he’s still learning the point guard position. Many pundits slam Westbrook for being too much of a gunner, saying he doesn’t have the patience nor the fundamentals to run a traditional NBA offense. Westbrook is a unique talent who thrives on raw emotion. It’s his biggest strength, so curbing Westbrook’s special skills would be like leaving a Ferrari parked in a garage and not taking it for a spin.

Russell Westbrook shoots over Chris Bosh during the second half of Game 1of the NBA Finals. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

2) CHRIS PAUL, Los Angeles Clippers: CP3 is an absolute witch with a basketball in his hands. He is capable of posting a 20-5-11-2 stat line, and few point guards can match his intensity and will to win. But Paul’s greatest strength is his the ability to change the tempo of a game. He can play fast or slow. One minute he’s pushing the ball up the court, then one minute he’s walking it up and milking the clock. Paul is the quarterback of the Greatest Show on Hardwood, aka Lob City. Whenever you see Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan on SportsCenter, they’re usually beneficiaries of a CP3 feed. Paul led the Clippers to a Pacific Division title in 2012-13 and was named to the All-NBA first team for the third time in his career. The only thing missing in Paul’s resume is a NBA championship.

1) TONY PARKER, San Antonio Spurs: In the last 20 years, only two point guards have been named MVP of the NBA Finals: Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker. Parker, the MVP of the 2007 Finals, consistently puts up superb offensive numbers, and is the only point guard on this list who shoots over 50% from the field. Few can match Parker’s speed and energy. He seems like he never gets tired and has one of the most devastating offensive weapons in basketball: the floater. The Spurs guard may not have invented the floater, or teardrop, but he certainly has perfected it. Now, almost every guard in basketball — from high school to college to the pro level — uses the one-handed push shot that drives big men absolutely crazy. With future Hall-of-Famers Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili slowing down with age, Parker has become the engine that drives the Spurs.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul could have been teammates in 2011. (GETTY IMAGES)

Los Angeles will always be Laker Town for the simple fact that there have been 11 championship parades held in Tinseltown and more than a dozen banners and retired Lakers jerseys hang above Staples Center. However, the argument could be made that this offseason has been dominated by the other team in L.A.: the Clippers.

With the re-signing of All-Star Chris Paul and the acquisition of former Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, NBA Futures odds are leaning heavily toward the young and hard-charging Clippers to have a better season in 2013-14 than the old and beaten-down Lakers.

Perception is oftentimes reality and right now the Clippers appear be standing on stable ground while the Lakers’ foundation is falling apart.

The Clippers landed one of only four current NBA coaches with a championship ring in Rivers, while the Lakers are stuck with the embattled Mike D’Antoni. The Clippers kept their superstar point guard in the fold, while the Lakers lost superstar center Dwight Howard to the Houston Rockets without compensation. The Clippers play an exciting brand of basketball that resonate with fans, while the Lakers can’t seem to find an identity. The Clippers acquired snipers J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley, former UCLA point guard Darren Collison, and re-signed forward Matt Barnes as a steady veteran off the bench. The best the Lakers could do in free agency was bring in often-injured center Chris Kaman and two journeymen guards in Jordan Farmar and Nick Young.

The Dwight Howard debacle was a devastating black eye to the Lakers. They tried like crazy to keep Howard, even erecting billboards across the Southland, and he still left town. It’s sad to see a once proud franchise like the Lakers basically get down on their knees and beg Dwight to stay. Lakers patriarch Dr. Jerry Buss must be rolling in his grave.

Howard just didn’t feel comfortable playing for the Lakers. You could see it in his eyes and his body language. He was miserable playing for D’Antoni and playing second fiddle to Kobe Bryant.

With the return of Paul, the Clippers could potential field a championship-caliber starting five that includes All-Star forward Blake Griffin, Dudley, Redick, center DeAndre Jordan, and supersub Jamal Crawford comes off the bench. Rivers is a significant upgrade over Vinny Del Negro, and Paul can’t wait to work with his new coach.

“I’m excited about the ups and downs, the highs, the lows of the season to ultimately to get to where we want to be at,” Paul told the Los Angeles Times.

Seeing Paul in Clippers colors must be killing the Lakers. Two years ago, the Lakers thought they had CP3 in the fold only to watch NBA Commissioner David Stern inexplicably put a kibosh on a reportedly deal that would have paired Paul with Bryant.

To say that the Lakers are in a state of flux is a vast understatement. Kobe is still recovering from a devastating Achilles tear, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol battled all sorts of injuries last season and Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) is reportedly on his way out via the amnesty clause. The team could potentially field an opening day starting lineup of Nash, Jodie Meeks, Young, Gasol, and Kaman. It’s not exactly box-office material for longtime season-ticket holders who continue to pay top dollar to attend games at Staples Center.

L.A. remains a popular destination for free agents, but it seems as though the pendulum has swung in the Clippers’ favor. Signing with the Clippers used to be a death sentence, an end to a basketball career. Nowadays, the Clippers look like gorgeous gal at the cool bar everyone is staring at while the Lakers have become a divorced diva sitting alone at the table waiting for a dry martini.

Chris Paul (30 points) and Kobe Bryant (38 points) were matched up for most of the night during the Lakers-Clippers battle Friday night at Staples Center. (GETTY IMAGES)

The marquee matchup Friday night between Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul definitely didn’t disappoint, as the two most competitive people in basketball went toe-to-toe in one of the more entertaining games this season.

Paul was ever bit as feisty as Bryant. Much like Kobe, CP3 hates to lose and will do just about anything to get a win.

The two Western Conference All-Star starters guarded each other for most of the night and the outcome of the game was put in their fingertips. Bryant won his share of battles, and Paul won his share of battles. Bryant threw the first major blow when he intercepted a Paul pass in the first half and took it all the way down for an emphatic dunk over his London Olympics teammate on the other end. Paul got the last laugh, however, as he buried a dagger step-back jumper over Bryant with under two minutes that gave the Clippers a six-point cushion.

It was a similar shot Paul beat Kobe at the end of the second quarter when Paul beat the buzzer for a 10-point Clipper lead at halftime.

Paul finished with 30 points on 11-for-25 shooting and scored the Clippers’ final eight points to fend off a furious Lakers rally in the fourth quarter. He also had a game-high 13 assists to lead the Clippers to a 107-102 victory.

“He’s very smart, he’s very crafty. To his credit, he made some pretty tough shots. Superstar players will do that,” Bryant, who had a game-high 38 points and five steals, said of Paul.

Bryant carried the Lakers in the fourth quarter when they closed to 99-97 on his 23-foot jumper with 1:29 left. But Paul made sure the Clippers didn’t falter in the end, taking the game over when the Clippers went to him exclusively down the stretch.

The Lakers continue to struggle under new coach Mike D’Antoni. They’ve lost three of their last four games and drop to two games under .500.

The Clippers shot 50 percent and outscored the Lakers 52-36 in the paint.

Bryant scored 16 points in the fourth, when the Lakers rallied from 19 points down. The Clippers fouled for much of the final 5:51, and the Lakers made 10 of 12 free throws. Howard missed two foul shots but then made two to get the Lakers within four before Bryant’s jumper got the Lakers the closest they had been since early in the game.

But Paul closed with a flourish, including a 6-for-6 stretch at the line, while Bryant’s 3-pointer went in and out with 43 seconds to go.

The first three quarters were punctuated with several highlight dunks from both sides. Paul fed DeAndre Jordan and Griffin on alley-oop slams that had the sellout crowd of 20,179 roaring.

The Clippers had dropped two consecutive road games earlier in the week, when their 17-game winning streak was snapped.

Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are two big reasons why the Clippers will be a force in the Western Conference. (GETTY IMAGES)

Los Angeles Clippers play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler has a rule. The first team to 100 points almost always wins. In nine of their 14 consecutive victories — the longest current streak in the NBA — the Clippers reached the century mark first.

These are heady days for the long-suffering Clippers. They’ve set a franchise record with their 14th straight win Tuesday, beating the Denver Nuggets 112-100 on Christmas Day.

Still, Chris Paul wants to keep the fans’ euphoria in check, saying, ”We’re not trying to peak now. We’re trying to build something.”

While the Lakers, their Staples Center co-tenants, continue to stumble with a losing record and an early-season coaching change, the Clippers are flying high led by All-Stars Paul and Blake Griffin. Bolstered by one of the league’s deepest benches, which was remade in the offseason, Paul and Griffin haven’t been seeing much playing time in the fourth quarter.

That’s when they become cheerleaders for free agent additions Jamal Crawford and former Laker Matt Barnes, along with Eric Bledsoe, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf, the latter two being the other former Lakers on the team.

The Clippers have shown they’re capable of winning without big numbers from Griffin. They are 14-3 in games when he scores less than 20 points. He’s averaging 18 points and 8.6 rebounds. Veterans Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill, another free-agent pickup, have been vocal with their leadership and support while rehabbing injuries.

”We’re all playing for one goal and not individual accolades,” Paul said.

The Pacific Division leading-Clippers have taken advantage of a soft stretch in their schedule to win those 11 straight games, with victories over some of the league’s worst teams, including New Orleans, Charlotte, Toronto, Detroit, Phoenix, and Sacramento, their next opponent on Friday night.

Before the streak began they knocked off some of the league’s best. They have wins over Memphis, the Lakers, San Antonio (twice), Atlanta and defending NBA champion Miami.

”They have a chance to win it all,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.

Paul and Griffin have clearly clicked on and off the court in their second season together. They frequently kid each other during their dual postgame interview sessions held in a separate room next to the locker room. Paul regularly rallies his teammates for outings on the road, including dinners and trips to a mall or movie theater. The team took in the new Tom Cruise flick ”Jack Reacher” on their last trip, a 4-0 venture as part of the current winning streak.

There’s a family feeling in the locker room, too, with Paul’s 3-year-old son and Barnes’ twins among the kids cracking up the players after games. Big man DeAndre Jordan has a drawing of himself done by Caron Butler’s 8-year-old daughter taped to his locker.

”I’ve never been on a team this close,” said Crawford, averaging 16.6 points off the bench. ”Everybody here is pulling for each other, whether it’s your night or somebody else’s night. Everybody has a role to play.”

Willie Green, who has started 22 games in place of Billups, sat when the veteran guard recently returned for three games before getting hurt again.

”He didn’t complain and he didn’t play a minute,” Paul said, giving an example of the attitude permeating the team.

The last Clippers team to win 11 in a row was the Buffalo Braves in 1974-75.

”Most of the guys weren’t even born then,” coach Vinny Del Negro points out. ”We want to make our own history and that’s only going to happen if we have the right mentality.”

Del Negro preaches defense first and the Clippers have bought into it.

”We can score on any given night,” Paul said. ”As long as we defend, we give ourselves opportunities to win.”

This story was written by Beth Harris of The Associated Press.

It’s time for Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers to make the leap into the upper echelon of the Western Conference. (GETTY IMAGES)

The Clippers are tired of being the other team in Los Angeles.

They traded for Chris Paul before last season, but it wasn’t enough. Not after Chauncey Billups was lost for the season with a serious injury when he tore his left Achilles tendon in February.

So, they went out and upgraded the bench and adding some scoring punch. Jamal Crawford was added to back up Billups and provide some insurance in case he continues to break down physically. The team acquired veterans Grant Hill and Lamar Odom to provide some frontcourt depth. In other minor moves, Ronny Turiaf and Ryan Hollins, as well as former Laker Matt Barnes, were added to the roster.

Barnes is expected to compete for minutes as a backup small forward, and Willie Green as a backup shooting guard.

Crawford was the best pickup as he gives the Clippers a talented shooter that will help Paul, so he doesn’t have to try and do too much offensively like he has had to do his entire career (mostly with the Hornets).

Paul should be able to focus on running the offense and scoring when he sees an opportunity. Billups gives them a second floor general at shooting guard who can pick his spots to launch his shots and also run the offense at times. But at his age, he needs to choose his spots more carefully. The man can still play some ball when healthy though.

Caron Butler has more help at SF and that should save wear and tear on him. Blake Griffin is recovering from an injury he suffered during the Olympics, but he should be ready for the start of the season. However, he needs to develop his offensive game in order for the Clippers to become a special team capable of taking over L.A. from the Lakers.

Center DeAndre Jordan, who was given a crazy $51 million contract before last season, provides defense and rebounding. If he could develop an offensive game, the Clippers would be a deadlier team with more offensive options than just Griffin, CP, Billups and Crawford.

So what does all this mean for the Clippers? They need to try and win so Paul is enticed to stay in Los Angeles and sign long-term extension (he turned down a three-year deal worth $60 million in July) rather than leave and go to another team. That’s the trendy thing to do lately and Paul isn’t above that. No elite player is.

The man on the hot seat is head coach Vinny Del Negro. The Clippers helped save his job by beating the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the postseason, but the pressure will be on to get better and to advance to the Western Conference finals.

That has to be the expectation with all the money Donald Sterling has doled out. Sterling is a Scrooge when it comes to handing out big contracts, but lately he has spent the kind of money that leads to high expectations. Del Negro has to be happy that they are adding depth, but it puts the pressure squarely on his shoulders to make this work. Owners find it much easier to fire a coach than the 12-15 players on the roster if they don’t perform up to the expectations.

Lets see how good of a coach you are, Vinny.

Projected finish in Pacific Division: Second.

Darren Jacks is a regular contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email at: djroxalot@hotmail.com.

Head coach Sergio Scariolo led Spain to a silver medal in the London Olympics. (GETTY IMAGES)

The U.S.-Spain titanic showdown in the gold-medal game lived up to all the hype. The game hung in the balance until the final quarter when Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James made crucial baskets to give the U.S. enough separation from a very game Spanish squad led by Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and Juan Carlos Navarro.

The United States held off Spain, 107-100, to win its fifth gold medal in men’s basketball in the last six Olympics.

Even though the U.S. was the better team and certainly deserved to be crowned Olympic champions, Spain has to feel incredibly disappointed in the outcome because it pushed Team USA to the limit only to watch the game slip away thanks to few curious decisions by Spanish head coach Sergio Scariolo.

With about six minutes left to play in the first half, Spain center Marc Gasol picked up his third foul. That usually leads to a quick substitution, but Scariolo inexplicably left Gasol on the court for another two minutes and the 7-footer — who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies — picked up his fourth foul while trying to grab a rebound. The game was close and there was no need for Gasol to be in the game. That mistake proved costly because Gasol was forced to sit the entire third quarter, in which the U.S. surged ahead and built a small lead, and did not check in until early in the fourth quarter.

Another questionable move came late in the fourth when Scariolo junked Spain’s 2-3 zone defense in favor of a box-and-one gimmick to try to slow down Kevin Durant. The move is not out of the ordinary, but Pau Gasol said Spain had never practiced that type of defense.

The confusion caused a breakdown on the back end, including a play when two Spanish players stuck with Durant and left LeBron with a wide open lane for an easy dunk.

Despite all of Scariolo’s questionable decisions, the Spaniards still had a chance to win the gold medal and it took some clutch baskets by Chris Paul and LeBron James to avert one of the biggest upsets on Olympic history.

Paul scored seven of his 11 points in the final quarter, including a tough scoop shot with 50 seconds left that even got Coach K off his chair. Paul’s layup gave the U.S. a 104-93 lead, and the 11-point cushion proved to be too much of a deficit for Spain, which has now lost to the U.S. in back-to-back gold-medal games in the Olympics.

Durant had a spectacular game for the U.S., leading all scorers with 30 points. His 156 total points in the tournament set a new Olympic record, moving ahead of American Olympic stars Spencer Haywood (1968), Charles Barkley (1992), and Michael Jordan (1984).

Durant was so good in the gold-medal game Spain paid him the ultimate compliment by junking their normal 2-3 zone defense and switching to a box-and-one scheme in the fourth quarter to try to cool down the Oklahoma City Thunder star, who had 27 points through three quarters.

But Durant also got plenty of help from LeBron (19 points) and Kobe (17 points). Kobe saved his best games in the knockout round while LeBron capped off a sensational summer by becoming the second player to win NBA regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA title and Olympic title in the same year, joining Jordan.

Mike Krzyzewski coached his final game for USA Basketball in the gold-medal game against Spain. (GETTY IMAGES)

Mike Krzyzewski got a well-deserved victory shower after the United States held off Spain 107-100 in the men’s basketball gold-medal game.

Instead of a Gatorade bath, Krzyzewski got doused with water courtesy of LeBron James. Krzyzewski announced that the 2012 London Olympics would be his last game coaching USA Basketball. He’ll only remain as adviser in the program, but his head coaching days for Team USA are over.

When asked if he was sure he was done, Krzyzewski said “yes” this was his last game as USA coach.

Krzyzewski, who has led Duke to four NCAA championships, took over the U.S. team in 2005. In the past seven years, he has restored the powerful American program, which was in disarray following a third-place finish at the 2004 Athens Games. However, led by Krzyzewski, the U.S. got redemption and a gold medal four years ago in China, won the world championships in 2010 and can win gold again by beating Spain.

Although he won’t take credit, Krzyzewski’s impact on the U.S. program has been immense.

“It goes beyond what has happened on the floor,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told The Associated Press.

“He’s been so important to me in everything we’ve done in building the infrastructure and philosophy and standards — all of it,” Colangelo said. “His legacy goes beyond the record on the court.”

USA Basketball is 62-1 (including exhibition games) under Krzyzewski and his staff that includes Jim Boeheim, Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan.

But beyond the wins and statistical records, the biggest thing Coach K brought to the USA program is stability and consistency. He jokes about his lone blemish — a loss to Greece in the 2006 World Championships — and instead of sinking his head in a tub and hiding from the criticism, Coach K admitted mistakes made against Greece and has used that game as motivation in Beijing (Olympics), Turkey (FIBA Worlds), and London (Olympics.)

He ran the same offense and defense concepts since taking over in 2005, and he was able to check all the egos at the door and found a way to keep everyone on the same page without ruining reputations. That alone is an incredible accomplishment considering Krzyzewski has zero NBA experience and he’s dealing with grown men instead of college kids, and multimillionaires instead of students on athletic scholarships.

“Coach K is more about relationships than X’s and O’s,” said Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins, whose son, Chris, is one of the assistant coaches at Duke.

The 2012 U.S. Olympic team has two core groups: Five players from the Beijing Olympics (LeBron, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Chris Paul) and five players from the world championships in Turkey (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Andre Iguodala). The last two roster spots went newcomers James Harden and Anthony Davis.

Coach K was able to take the Turkey team and incorporate it with the Beijing team and mold it into one super group. He pulled it off because the players trusted him and they formed a close relationship with him.

Krzyzewski and Henry Iba (1964, 1968) are the only U.S. coaches to lead the Americans to gold medals in consecutive Olympics. In seven years as head coach of the USA Basketball program, Coach K has returned USA back to where it belongs — No. 1 in the basketball world.