Chauncey Billups stars as Los Angeles Clippers rout Los Angeles Lakers 114-95 - NBA Preseason Recap
Los Angeles Clippers have never enjoyed the status of an elite team in the 35 years history of the franchise.
However with the current roster they have, including Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups, they have every chance to establish themselves as one of the dominant teams in the league in general and Los Angeles in particular
in the coming years.
Just few hours ago, the new, much improved looking Clippers humiliated one of the strongest teams in NBA, Los Angeles Lakers 114-95 in their preseason scrimmage, to prove a point that they will be a force to be reckoned with this
season.
The newly acquired duo, consisting of Paul and Billups took no time to settle in the new team and made an impact right away.
Chauncey marshalled the Clippers with a game high 23 points on a perfect 9 for 9 from the charity stripe and 4 for 6 from the downtown while Paul, putting up an all round show pounded 17 points, dished out 9 assists and forced
7 rebounds.
Griffin failed to shine tonight, but for once that did not hurt the Clips. He scored 12 points in the game, but looked erratic most of the time and committed many fouls. Overall though, it was a good team performance - one that
will take the confidence of the team to a whole next level.
The Clippers outclassed Lakers in every department be it, shooting from the free throw line (80.8 %), from downtown (13 for 28) or the assists (25). The Lakers committed 21 turnovers in the game in contrast to Clippers 10.
Kobe Bryant paced the Lakers with 22 points while Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum added 16 and 15 points respectively.
Both teams battled out the first half brilliantly and there was nothing much to differentiate by the end as Clippers were ahead by only 5 points 55-50.
It was the third quarter though, that decided the fate of the game.
The frame started at a rapid pace with Gasol drilling a jam in the third minute to bring Lakers within a striking distance at 60-63. However what followed in the next 7 minutes was complete carnage.
Paul and Billups combined forces to key off a magnificent 28-7 spurt and the Clips pulled away into the fourth quarter with an ominous 91-67 lead. The Lakers were never in with a chance after that and by the time, the night ended,
they were cut down to size, quite literally by 29 points.
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