All-Star point guard Chris Paul led the Los Angeles Clippers to 56 wins in the 2012-13 season. (GETTY IMAGES)

The Clippers capped off one of their best seasons in a long time, winning 56 games and finishing fourth in the Western Conference. The last time the franchise won 49 games the team was still in Buffalo and John Wooden was still coaching at UCLA.

By firing head coach Vinny Del Negro after the team got bounced in six games by the Memphis Grizzlies, it paved the way for the hiring ex-Clipper Doc Rivers to run the team. There was speculation that All-Star guard Chris Paul wanted Del Negro gone, but management squashed that quickly.

Rivers who was able to get out of his contract with the Boston Celtics, and the move convinced Paul to re-sign with the team. Losing Paul would have set the franchise back yet again, and turned them back to the old Clippers.

OneManFastBreak.net examines the teams in the Pacific Division and where they’ll finish:

1-LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

Bringing in a championship-caliber coach in Rivers immediately paid dividends, as the Clips were able to acquire Darren Collison, Byron Mullens, J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley (they traded Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler to Phoenix in a three-team deal with the Suns and Bucks). Collison replaces Bledsoe as the backup point guard, Mullens will back up center DeAndre Jordan, and the team re-signed Matt Barnes and Ryan Hollins. They also added free agent Antwan Jamison who crossed the hall to sign with L.A.’s other team. They also added small forward Reggie Bullock in the draft.

Redick gives them a shooter they so desperately needed last season. He is a career 39% 3-point shooter and will help a team that made just 35.8% of their shots from behind the arc, which was 15th in the NBA. They made just 30.4% when it mattered most, in the postseason. Redick and Dudley (40.5% career shooter on threes) should upgrade that immediately. Dudley also gives them a much better starter than last year’s options: Butler and Grant Hill, who retired.

Collison may not be a starting caliber PG, but he’s more than capable of being a super sub that can provide 18-20 minutes per game and spot start on occasion if they want to rest Paul and keep him healthy for the playoffs. The Clippers could also use both Paul and Collison in certain situations. Collison may not be as athletic as Bledsoe, but the team played the Bob Barker role and thought the price was right when they signed him.

Mullens had a career season last year (10.6 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game and two assists per game), but he played nearly 27 minutes and it was for the lowly Charlotte Bobcats. Mullens is a better backup than Ronny Turiaf, but he shouldn’t play more than about 13-15 minutes. Hollins returns, but he’s really an emergency option since he doesn’t provide much in the way of production (3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds).

Bullock has talent, but he may have difficulty seeing much playing time with the additions the team made. He will likely see some time in the NBADL.

So, are the Clippers that much better?

Griffin needs to continue to develop and not just be interested in being an ESPN highlight reel. His rebounding needs to get better and he needs to work on developing a mid-range game so defenses can’t just pack the paint. Jordan needs to show he is still a good defensive player and improve his rebounding. His production took a dip after signing a huge contract. The Clippers got better on paper, but they need to show they are a true title contender. Despite some of their shortcomings, the Clips will win the Pacific and it shouldn’t be that close.

2-GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

Stephen Curry is the engine that runs the Warriors. He went from being a very good player to franchise player with a true superstar season (22.9 points, 6.9 assists, while making 45.3% of his threes). Curry had several memorable performances (a 47-point game against the Lakers and a 54-point game against the Knicks), and had 13 games where he scored at least 30 points.

Curry and Klay Thompson (16.6 points on 42.2% shooting and 40.1% on threes) form one of the best young backcourts in the league. They will be a great duo for a long time and the foundation of their offensive production.

Jarrett Jack (12.9 points and 5.6 assists) was a luxury they were able to enjoy last year as a backup PG, but as a free agent he wasn’t interested in sticking around. He left for the Cleveland Cavaliers, while dependable reserve forward Carl Landry left for the Sacramento Kings. In doing so, Golden State lost two crucial players who were instrumental in their playoff run.

They also dumped some salaries by trading Andres Biedrins, Richard Jefferson and Brandon Rush, plus two first-round and two second-round picks to the Utah Jazz for Kevin Murphy. They brought in Andre Iguodala as an upgrade at small forward. He gives them a solid defender and a player who can run the offense when Curry isn’t in the game.

The salary dump was made to clear up space needed to convince Dwight Howard to come to Oakland, but ultimately they struck out when he chose the Houston Rockets. However, they have salary cap flexibility by unloading the unwanted contracts.

In order to try and add some depth to the bench the Warriors signed Toney Douglas as the backup PG to try and replace Jack (Iguodala may also play some point), Marreese Speights to replace Landry as the backup big man and Jermaine O’Neal as a backup to often-injured big man Andrew Bogut.

The Warriors caught the NBA by surprise last season and that won’t happen again. In order for them to build on what they accomplished they’ll need to stay healthy. Bogut was the only starter who missed a lot of games, but Curry’s ankles are just a twist away from sidelining him for an extended period.

3-LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Well, the Dwight Howard experiment didn’t work out quite the way the Lakers planned it and now they move forward with a lot of uncertainty.

The Lakers were active in free agency, but they were limited to the bargain-basement talent because of limited cap room. They brought back backup guard Jordan Farmar (who was with them from 2006-10), and signed center Chris Kaman, small forward Wesley Johnson, swingman Nick Young, power forward Elias Harris and small forward Shawne Williams.

Kaman will most likely start at center while Gasol stays at PF, giving the Lakers two 7-footers in their frontcourt. Kaman had a disappointing year in Dallas (10.5 points and just 5.6 rebounds in 20 minutes per contest, while appearing in 66 games), but the hope is next to Gasol, he’ll be able to provide 14-15 points and 8-9 rebounds.

Farmar is more suited to Mike D’Antoni’s frenetic pace than the triangle offense he played under Phil Jackson. If Nash gets hurt, Farmar should be able to step in and run the offense, along with Steve Blake. That’s if they don’t tinker with the offense, and there is a possibility they will since they brought in assistant coach Kurt Rambis, a longtime assistant and one-time Lakers head coach.

Young, Johnson and Williams will try to replace Metta World Peace, who was released under the Amnesty clause and signed with the New York Knicks. Young provides scoring and could start the season at shooting guard if Kobe Bryant isn’t fully recovered from his torn Achilles’ tendon. Johnson, who could start at SF, finished the 2012-13 strong for the Phoenix Suns averaging 13.4 points in 21 starts. On March 18, 2011, Young scored a career-high 29 points against the Lakers.

Jordan Hill returns from a hip injury that caused him to miss 53 games, and he’ll provide relief to Kaman or Gasol. After the Lakers acquired Hill from Houston in 2012, he became their energy guy off the bench and had several good games that earned him a nice contract in the summer of 2012.

Steve Nash, Gasol and Kobe will be counted on to carry the bulk of the scoring, but the free agent signings should help provide a much better bench. Whether or not this could be a case of addition by subtraction, not having Howard will be interesting to see. They won’t have to deal with the Dwight drama.

4- SACRAMENTO KINGS

The Kings have been known the last few years for being the new Los Angeles Clippers, a team that just can’t compete night in and night out. But, that might be changing.

The Kings had a pretty good offseason as they traded Tyreke Evans (in a three-team deal for Greivis Vasquez) to the New Orleans Pelicans and replaced him with Kansas University shooting guard Ben McLemore, the seventh overall pick in the draft. It was amazing McLemore fell as far as he did and Sacramento benefited from it. They get the most NBA-ready player (by most scouts’ opinion) from this year’s rookie class.

Versatile forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was acquired from the Bucks for a pair of second-round picks, and they also brought back Carl Landry (he played 28 games for the Kings in 2009-10). Sacramento became more athletic with the moves and added a solid veteran in Landry.

McLemore and DeMarcus Cousins give the Kings a good 1-2 punch. Cousins is one of the most talented players in the league when he’s focused, and they brought in a highly respected coach in Mike Malone to take over the reigns.

The Kings have a long way to go before they become a serious playoff threat, but they certainly became more competitive.

5-PHOENIX SUNS

The Suns seem to be lost in the post Amare/Nash era, much like the Bulls were after Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen departed. There was no clear plan on how they want to go about rebuilding and it showed last season after trading away Steve Nash to the Los Angeles Lakers.

They made some moves that should improve them over the long haul, dumping the erratic Michael Beasley, trading hard-nosed defender and outside shooter Jared Dudley and veteran small forward Caron Butler for Eric Bledsoe in a three-team deal. Adding Bledsoe gives them an exciting and talented young player who should help sell tickets.

Goran Dragic played well in his first season as a full time starter (14.7 points, 7.4 assists and 1.6 steals).  Bledsoe and Dragic give the Suns a backcourt that can pass the ball and get everybody involved in the offense. And both players can shift between PG and SG. Archie Goodwin was added via the draft and could push incumbent backup Shannon Brown for playing time.

If healthy, center Marcin Gortat can provide 15 points and 9-10 rebounds. But, that’s no guarantee since he has averaged just under 60 games per year in six seasons. If he’s banged up, rookie Alex Len — the fifth overall pick in the draft — will see some playing time as the main backup after Jermaine O’Neal and Hamed Haddadi left for free agency.

Gerald Green continues his nomadic journey through the league (third team in three seasons) and he’ll have every opportunity to show he can play. He’s just 27 and has 50 career starts, but he’ll have some competition. P.J. Tucker is a talented defender (something Green isn’t) and could earn some minutes and starts.

Marcus and Markieff Morris will be the platoon tandem at PF with holdover Channing Frye providing the outside shooting (almost half of his attempts were from beyond the arc) at the position if the Morris twins struggle. Frye also provides a bigger option at 6-11.

The bench isn’t that strong so the starters need to play well. But, expectations are lowered since this is a basically a full rebuild operation with a new coach in Jeff Hornacek, who should be able to find success over the long term. Hornacek was a scrappy player and should be able to relate to his players. They should be in the Andrew Wiggins/Jabari Parker sweepstakes when the next draft rolls around. This is a team in transition and sorely in need of more talent.

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

Mike D’Antoni’s Suns teams averaged 110 points in four of his six seasons in Phoenix. (GETTY IMAGES)

So, the Lakers settled for Mike D’Antoni rather than caving to Phil Jackson’s demands to coach the team again. It caused a big Hollywood drama.

A lot of critics are saying DA’s offense can’t work with the older players in Los Angeles, and they point to his days with the Suns.

In Phoenix, the Suns averaged 94, 110, 110, 108, 110, and 110 points per game. Now, it would just be silly to think D’Antoni is going to run this team ragged with older players such as Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, and Pau Gasol. That would be foolish because they would be gassed once the playoffs start.

But D’Antoni made adjustments to his offense when he coached the Knicks because he didn’t have the same personnel he had in Phoenix.

In four years in N.Y., the Knicks averaged 105.2, 102.1, 106.5, and 97.8 points per game. They ran at times, but they never scored as much as his Suns teams did and there is a reason for that. Like any good coach, D’Antoni tweaked the offense and they ran a lot of halfcourt sets and pick-and-rolls with Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire.

Felton had a career-best season 17.1 points and nine assists. In 2006 with the Suns, they went 54-28 in the regular season and lost in six games in the Western Conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks. That team had Nash, Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw, and Raja Bell. Amare played in just three games all season due to microfracture surgery on his knee.

The Lakers also have more talent in L.A. with Nash, Kobe, Howard, and Gasol as a fourth option if he isn’t traded) than the Knicks or the Suns ever had. Sure, the Lakers will run when Nash sees the opportunity, but Nash being an extension of DA on the court will also slow it down to save wear and tear on the veteran players.

L.A. has a very good team and will be a team to be reckoned with come playoff time, especially with Oklahoma City missing James Harden and the Spurs getting older and fighting injuries. The team the Lakers need to watch out for is the other Staples Center tenant — the Clippers.

We could easily see a Lakers-Clippers matchup in the conference finals if the Lakers can adjust to the D’Antoni system.

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

Suns forward Jared Dudley (right) taunts Clippers forward Blake Griffin during the second half of the Suns-Clippers game in Phoenix. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Phoenix Suns are not known for being a physical team, and it’s even laughable seeing “Phoenix Suns” and “rough” in the same sentence.

But against the Clippers on Thursday night, the Suns flexed their muscles and took down the Clips, 93-90, to keep their playoff hopes alive and, at the same time, put a huge dent on the Clippers’ Pacific Division title hopes.

Phoenix made it a point to stop the Clippers’ aerial assault, which meant the Suns targeted Blake Griffin. On two separate occasions, Jared Dudley and Robin Lopez roughed up Griffin in an attempt to ground his high-flying game. Dudley even got in Griffin’s face to try to intimidate the Clippers star. Griffin finished with 16 points (four points below his season average) and shot 7-for-16 from the field.

Dudley’s tough-guy antics was all for show, but Lopez actually acted on the whole tough guy image when he pulled down Griffin on a breakaway and nearly injured him by grabbing him by his neck. A flagrant foul was called on Lopez and it got him tossed from the game. Watch the Lopez takedown:

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro called Lopez’s hard foul “dirty.”

“He is trying to take him down,” Del Negro told reporters after the game. ”The league has got to do something to protect this kid. We can only get so many technical fouls. We can only do so many things and guys are taking shots at him. It is getting bad. The kid is in pain right now.”

Lopez defended his play and insisted he was going for the ball. ”He got by me and I was just trying to go for the ball and he got a bit farther and I tried to go for his arms,” he said. “It was what it was. It is my job to protect the rim. I tried to go for his arms.

”People have kind of called Phoenix soft in the past. Tonight I think we showed we can do a good job of being the aggressor, especially near the end.”

The physical play lasted all the way to the final seconds as Channing Frye got tangled with Griffin going for a rebound after Mo Williams missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the fourth quarter. Griffin was called for the foul, and Frye knocked down two free throws to secure the win for Phoenix. Griffin had a chance to redeem himself in the final moments, but his desperation 3-pointer grazed the front of the rim.

The Clippers, down a game to the Lakers in the loss column, has three games remaining: New Orleans at home, and road games against Atlanta and New York. The Lakers close with the Spurs, Oklahoma City and Sacramento. The Lakers also hold the tiebreaker over the Clippers.

Ron Artest is surrounded by his teammates after hitting the game-winning shot in Game 5. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Ron Artest waited all season to make his mark as a L.A. Laker and his moment finally came Thursday night.

After the Phoenix Suns rallied from an 18-point deficit and tied the score at 101 with 3.5 seconds left on Jason Richardson’s bank shot from the behind the 3-point line, the Lakers drew up a play for Kobe Bryant to win the game but his shot from near the sideline fell way short. Fortunately for the Lakers, Artest never gave up on the play, grabbing the loose ball and beating the clock with a short, off-balance bank shot that gave the Lakers a 103-101 victory in Game 5 at Staples Center.

“I thought Kobe got fouled on his shot, so I figured it was going to be short,” Artest said of the final play. “I just thought I’d throw my weight a little bit, and let my weight work for me.”

The Lakers now lead the 2010 Western Conference finals, 3-2, with a chance to close out the series in Game 6 in Phoenix.

“It’s amazing you go through all this stuff, all the preparation, and it comes down to fundamental things,” said Bryant. “They knock down a 3-pointer because we didn’t box out, and they wound up losing a game because they didn’t box out. Little things like that are the difference between winning big playoff games and losing them.”

Bryant took the inbounds pass from Lamar Odom, but when he turned to shoot Steve Nash and Grant Hill converged on him and didn’t allow him to get a clean look at the basket.

“I felt I had a great look, but Grant Hill stuck his hand in there at the last second and forced me to double pump,” Bryant said. “Other than that I was gonna shoot over Steve. Once I release the ball I saw Ron sneaking in, and I was just hoping he got it off in time.”

It was easily Artest’s biggest play as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and it almost didn’t happen because Phil Jackson contemplated about taking him out of the game for taking an ill-advised 3-pointer with under a minute left in the fourth quarter and Lakers ahead by three. “I’ll have a substitute to get you next time, that’s what I said,” Jackson joked. “I don’t know why I left him in the game. I questioned it myself when I put him out there. But there he was made the key play.”

Artest was 1-for-9 from the field prior to the last play, but found redemption by being at the right place at the right time.

“It was a great moment,” said Lakers guard Derek Fisher, who has had his share of game-winning shots during his career. “We’re very happy for Ron because Ron has been asked to sacrifice a lot with his game to really try to fit in on what we do things. He has sacrificed a lot to get to where we’re trying to go. And that’s why we were so happy for him.”

The Lakers led for much of the game but had to withstand a furious Suns fourth-quarter rally led by Nash, who scored 29 points.

“We just didn’t quite finish the play,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. “They made a good play. You gotta give Ron Artest credit. He ran down the ball and put it in the basket.”

Gentry continued: “The only thing negative is the way we approached the game a little bit. We weren’t quite as aggressive and they got into us defensively and we struggled a little bit getting into our offense. But on the defensive side of the ball we did great. We’ve now gotten them down from 58 percent to 41 percent. They keep talking about the zone, and our zone has been fine.”

Artest’s last-second shot was the second game-winning putback for the Lakers in the 2010 playoffs. Pau Gasol made a similar play in the first round when he followed up Bryant’s miss to win Game 6 in Oklahoma City.

“It was a crazy game. It had a bit of everything,” Nash said. “We found a way to tie it up and we lost on a last-second putback. Just when you thought everything was OK, and we’re going into overtime, we lose. But that’s life. We take a lot of positives from tonight and we gotta home and play as well as we did in games 3 and 4.

“Everything’s OK. We came back obviously with a great effort,” added Nash. “Maybe we deserved this game, maybe we didn’t. We lost and they held homecourt. We’ll go back home and we’ll do the same, and we’ll come back here for Game 7.”

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net, an online journal for basketball fans around the world and a proud partner of SportsFanLive.com. To read more about the NBA playoffs, visit OneManFastBreak.net.

Video courtesy of NBA.com

Suns center Amare Stoudemire is sandwiched by 7-footers Pau Gasol (left) and Andrew Bynum. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

When you pick on the biggest bully on the block, you better be prepared to back up your talk.

Phoenix Suns center Amare Stoudemire first picked on Lakers forward Lamar Odom, dismissing his impact in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals saying that Odom got “lucky” despite scoring 19 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. Then Stoudemire turned his attention to Lakers centers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, saying he used to dominate Gasol when the 7-foot Spaniard played for the Memphis Grizzlies.

“It was total domination,” Stoudemire told The Arizona Republic of his 2005 first-round playoff matchup with Gasol. “But now he has a little brother (Bynum) with him so now he’s a little more confident because he’s got someone to help him in the post.”

Though Odom, Bynum and Gasol didn’t respond publicly to Stoudemire’s statements, they did their talking on the court as they took turns in punishing Stoudemire in the low post, combining for 59 points and 27 rebounds in the Lakers’ 124-112 destruction of the Suns in Game 2.

“Well, what can you say. We’re just having a hard time slowing them down,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry, whose team is averaging 109 points and shooting almost 50% from the field in the series but still find themselves down 0-2.

“We played well offensively, but every time we make an adjustment to slow them down they go somewhere else. You do a great job on Kobe [Bryant], which I thought we did, they to go to Pau. We go double team Pau and there’s Lamar; we get it out of Lamar’s hands and Jordan Farmar makes shots. They are the reason they’re the world champs.”

After the Suns tied the game at 90 after three quarters, the Lakers went back to their low post attack, which meant a whole lot of Gasol and that’s when the game turned into a rout.

Gasol scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and made 11 of 19 shots for the game.

He took advantage of Stoudemire’s inattentiveness on defense. On one play, Stoudemire totally misplayed a pick-and-roll situation and allowed Gasol to slip in for an easy layup. On another play, Stoudemire completely lost Gasol in a crowd and Bryant was able to spot him for another uncontested layup under the basket. And when he’s not embarrassing Stoudemire on pick-and-rolls, Gasol punished him on simple isolations on the low block.

“We had to try to play him straight up, and when we played him straight up Pau had some success,” Gentry said. “The one time we tried to double he turned it over, the next time we doubled he found the open guy and the guy makes a three. You really do have to pick your poison.”

Gentry added: “We just have to take a look at the tape tonight, and maybe we’ll decide we let Kobe score 80 and try to guard the other guys.”

Bryant, who lit up the Suns for 40 points in Game 1, scored just 21 points but had a team-high 13 assists.

The Lakers are making nearly 58% of their shots from the field and averaging 126 points through the first two games in the series. They enjoyed another big advantage in points in the paint (54-46) and, thanks to another stellar game by Odom (17 points, 11 rebounds) and timely contribution from Farmar (11 points), the Lakers bench outplayed the Suns bench for a second time.

Though his team initially didn’t target Stoudemire on the low block, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said it became a top priority once the Suns’ All-Star center got into foul trouble.

“He’s the initiator of their screen-and-roll offense because of what he can do off his roll activity,” Jackson explained. “We took the ball down in the low post because he had five fouls and we knew it would tough for him to play defense at that time.”

This series can’t end soon enough for Stoudemire, who finished Game 2 with 18 points and six rebounds. The Lakers are just too big, too strong and too talented for the Suns, who will need a lot of luck just to win a game in this series.

First, the Suns wore their “Los Suns” jerseys on Cinco de Mayo to show their support for the Hispanic community of Arizona, a strong political message from a NBA franchise that is in the middle of a controversial immigration issue.

Second, after winning Game 2, 110-102, the Suns jumped to a 2-0 series lead and sent a loud message to the Spurs – a team that has eliminated the Suns four times in five years – that they are determined to break the San Antonio spell and finally win a series against their playoff nemesis.

The first message was a public display of discontent with Arizona’s immigration bill, while the other was more unspoken. Either way, both were delivered with force and the Suns are not backing down from either stance.

In late April, the state of Arizona passed a sweeping immigration bill authorizing police officers to stop suspected illegal immigrants and demand proof of citizenship.

The law has sparked a national uproar, with politicians, pundits and citizens weighing in – including Suns All-Star and former two-time league MVP Steve Nash.

Steve Nash is defended by Tony Parker during Game 2 of the Suns-Spurs series. Nash scored 19 points and had six assists to lead Phoenix to a 2-0 series lead. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

“I’ll speak for myself. Our team was proud to wear the jerseys because we feel a sense of pride in our Latino community,” said Steve Nash, who along with Suns owner Robert Sarver have publicly questioned the new immigration bill.

In a statement, Sarver said: “The frustration with the federal government’s failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in passage of a flawed state law. However intended, the result of passing the law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question, and Arizona’s already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them.”

It was Sarver’s idea to have his team wear the “Los Suns” jerseys for Game 2 and he got the blessing from the NBA and the Players’ Association, and the Suns players were willing participants.

“Our Latino community is what makes this state great because it gives us a diversity and a lifestyle that is great. It’s important that we stand up sometimes for what we believe in,” Nash told reporters during a postgame news conference. “I don’t want to alienate anybody. Those people that disagree with me is fine. Discourse is what democracy is made on, and I think that it’s not something [people] should take personally.

“My beliefs, our team stood up for that part of our community because I think that’s the one targeted by this side of this bill that could open the door to racial profiling and racism. And I’m talking primarily about American citizens who are Latino. Now their quality of life and freedoms could change because of this bill. I think it also puts undo pressure on police officers, and unrealistic expectations.”

Nash added: “Having said that, the bill is continually changing and it seems it will continue to change. So, it’s impossible to have a stance. I’m proud of our owner for taking a stand, but we are not out there to alienate. We all want this to be about loving of our community. Regardless if people agree with us or not, we have love for everybody out there. We just like to get to a consensus that everyone can live with and it isn’t a possible infringement on human rights.”

Video courtesy of NBA.com