Suddenly, the Clippers have won 3 out of their last 4 (all on the road) going into a 3 game homestand. Wish I could say the opponents were a bit more patsy like, but Utah, Washington, and then Houston is no cake walk. The Clips have been good at home, though, and none of the aforementioned teams are even close to unbeatable. The Warriors came an Ewok’s hair away from beating the Jazz on the road this week, and the Clippers have to be salivating a little over getting another shot at the Rockets after last week’s down to the wire heartbreak at the Toyota Center. As for Washington? They’re still an enigma, but they definitely go as Gilbert Arenas (and, to a lesser degree, Caron Butler) go, and if he’s on fire, they’re tough to beat. Should be fascinating viewing, and I’m thrilled to say the Wizards game is coming through on the KTLA telecast.

As for tomorrow’s Jazz game, well, the Jazz have lost their last 4 road games in a row, and as mentioned very narrowly beat Golden State at home in their last contest, so they should be ripe for the picking. Andrei Kirilenko is keeping his mouth shut on theories as to why he’s so far deep into coach Jerry Sloan’s doghouse. (media outbursts earlier in the season having seemingly only buried his bone deeper). You have to wonder if AK47 couldn’t provide a bit of punch in Utah’s sudden slump, but, hey, I ain’t complaining, keep him on the pine, if Paul Millsap throwing up a three at the end of the game is the plan, then I’ll take those odds every day. Getting a win tomorrow against these Mormons is key, and I think the Clips can sweep all three before heading back on the road. Knock knock.

Clips pull out the win at Milwaukee, 104-103.

Didn’t get to watch, and haven’t really pored over the numbers yet, but apparently it was a horrendously ugly road to the finish line, as Milwaukee outscored LA 32-14 in the 4th.

A win, though, is a win, and the Clips will most definitely take it, slopfest against an injury decimated squad as it may be.

By the way, looking at the pics from the game, is Milwaukee doing the same “lights out” thing that the Lakers are doing at Staples this season?

There was even apparently a Sam Cassell sighting, but the spotted owl association is reserving judgment until all the particulars have been verified.

Milwaukee, the Clippers’ road opponent tonite, is 2-0 under new coach Larry Krystkowiak. You may remember Larry from his playing career (9 years, most notably a stint with the Bucks from 87-92), or more recently as the hometown hero (he was born & raised in Missoula) University of Montana coach that shocked Nevada in the NCAA tourney last year. Well, after that season, he resigned and hooked on as an assistant with the Bucks, and here he is, head coach in the NBA. Is this like one of those conspiracy theory things where a mole gets in as the vice president cuz he knows that the president is gonna get shot by a guy dressed up like the Ace of Spades? Forget I said that. In any event, the writing was on the wall for Terry Stotts, and if Larry can keep it up you’d think he’d be the logical choice, especially as a former big time Buck, to continue on next season. But who knows anything about Milwaukee, besides the fact that Ronnie Cunningham and Laverne and Shirley lived there. Certainly not me. Oh, and beer. Lots of beer. Doesn’t sound all bad.

Amazing what a little research can do. Mr. Krystkowiak did in fact sign a contract not just for the remainder of this season, but for the next 2 seasons as well. The Grizzoulian is convinced, and elaborates for us unknowing and unwashed (I’ll speak for myself) the extent of the man’s qualifications and reasons to assume he’ll bring nothing but success and coronations and big baskets of rose petals to Bradley Arena. Time will tell, and I wish the guy all the best, just after tonite, and the hopefully inevitable asshanders award he’ll receive at clipper hands before going on to years and years of beard scratching distinction.

Anyway, that is the scene in which we are placed for the matchup of apparent yet possibly ephemeral antithesis of doom for the clippers tonite, a polar opposite expectation wise to last night’s supposedly dominant at home bulls, so don’t step in dog crap, fair clippers, avoid land mines laced in Schlitz malt liquor, any other cliché you can think up, sidestep those with care as well, because if there was ever a trap game, this is it, not that the Clips can stand to take ANY game, especially on the road, lightly, but they should definitely be able to win tonite, but keep that urgency that was on display last night (along with actual strategy and good play), and throw out at least half of those turnovers (you can’t always count on the other team’s best shooter to put up an abysmal brick yard display, God knows Michael Redd won’t look as horrible tonite as Ben Gordon did against LA last nite), and you might just be able to come back to LA having batted .500 on a 6 game road trip, and that ain’t bad, LA, that ain’t bad at all.

Yup, the Clippers won last night in Chicago, the suicide mission somehow didn’t end up like prognosticators across the globe well versed in such matters would have anticipated. Much like the kamikaze pilot from that episode of Curb your Enthusiasm, the man behind the controls is coming back home after grandma’s already rented his room out to the kind elderly gentleman that used to live in the studio over the liquor store down the street. Eerie. Of course, I watched the Tivo’d KTLA telecast at stately alf manor last night, turning it off around half past midnite grinning ear to ear.

Clipper Steve (who went to the viewing party & got harassed by cheerleaders, huzzah!) calls it the biggest win of the year, and so did Mike Smith on the telecast last night. Neither of them will I label as incorrect in this regard, especially in light of Golden State losing at Utah last night, putting our fair LA bastard stepchildren in that self same “virtual lock” for the 8 seed and a date with destiny care of Dirk Diggler and the Dallas Debutantes. Nice, nice. I will mos def have more to say on this matter as the day progresses, but for now, let me get back to what I was doing. (End scene)

According to the LA Times, the clippers still have a chance, and actually, they really do, as their remaining schedule, aside from playing two more games (which may help them, if they can WIN them) is just about identical, difficulty wise, to the Golden State Warriors. (Note, everything in italics below is from the linked LA Times article):

The Clippers are 2-7 this month. They have nine games left at Staples Center (they'll be the visiting team April 12 against the Lakers) and seven on the road. Of the Clippers' upcoming opponents, nine have winning records….

…Meanwhile, the Warriors have won three in a row and six of seven to bump the Clippers from eighth to ninth. Golden State has 14 games left (seven at home and seven on the road), nine against teams with records above .500.

I just wish I had a bit more confidence, er, that Kaman, Brand, Sam, et al had a bit more confidence. Sam finally admitted that his body is about as fit and fiddle as a model T jalopy left to rust in the Detroit plains:

"I know this basketball team needs me to do what I do, but my body just hasn't been right all year, my body is hurting," said Cassell, 37. "Each day, I'm compensating for one particular injury, and then something else gets worse.

"I really don't know how much longer I can keep doing this … how much longer my body can take this. I'm going to keep doing it as long I can because we're still in it. I'm not thinking about shutting it down as long as we still have a chance."

Well, Sam, the Times says drag that ass out of bed and onto the court. and so do I. I gotta say, though, if Sunday's game at New Jersey was any indication, Sam just ain't right, which I guess is confirmed as he's sitting out tonite's suicide mission, er, tilt, in Chicago against a Bulls team, that, despite dropping one on the road in MEMPHIS of all places, has been pretty dominant at home. The clippers beat them earlier this season, but that was with Ben Wallace out of the lineup.

I'll tentatively agree with the fine professional journalists of Southern California and refrain from TYING the beautiful red bow I've placed around this season of despair. I don't want to tie that bow, I really don't. Don't make me. I want to tear off that bow and let this cat out of the bag to play. The cat, though, is tired and sick, and needs milk. Whatever the hell that means.

Go Clippers.

I didn’t get to watch the Clippers win at Charlotte on Friday (no fox sports prime ticket at Stately Alf Manor) but I did catch, well after the fact, in the evening after a hard day’s work on said manor, a tivo’d edition of the KTLA telecast of yesterday’s matchup in the Meadowlands against the New Jersey Nets. Cutting to the chase, it actually ended up being a fun game to watch, not really a great game, although there were some well played moments, but the virtual shit exhibited by the Clips down the stretch kind of ruined the effect, and served to force ponderage on whether or not its time to pop a shiny red bow on this season and drop it off at the post office for delivery to Sasketchawan, hold until next year. More on that below.

To no surprise of clipper fan innernet haunters in the know, clipperblog breaks down succinctly & excellently some key moments. You want to say that when you go up to block a shot you should not swat it out of the park so it can stay in play, but you also want to say that one of your teammates might try & swoop in to grab the loose ball. I’m starting to think that unless Elton can actually grab the ball as he blocks it, he’s better off sending it into the stands.

Kidd had just an incredible day, for him, shooting the ball. Not known as an outside gunner, he was throwing it up with reckless abandon, especially in the first quarter, and sinking just about everything.

Cat Mobley had a great game, which ended up being totally wasted with a few bonehead clipper hijinx down the stretch that threw yet another very winnable game into the laundry hamper of destitution.

Sigh, at least the Clips won at Charlotte on Friday night. Small consolation though, as we’re now 1-3 on the road trip with stops still at Chicago and Milwaukee. Have to sweep those two to come home at .500. Charlotte and Milwaukee at the outset were the two most obviously winnable games, with New Jersey the other one you had to feel good about. Having let New Jersey slip away, tomorrow’s contest at the United Center in Chi Town looms large, but it’s getting harder and harder for me, with every loss down the stretch, especially with Golden State turning it on like they have, to like our chances of grabbing one of those last two spots. As of today, we’re in the 9 spot, one game back of the Warriors.

I mentioned that Cat Mobley had a nice outing shooting the ball, and so did Corey Maggette. As Clips Nation points out, though, those two were responsible for 13 of the clippers’ 18 turnovers yesterday.

Corey turned it over almost every way imaginable, and always at crucial points in the game. In the final 69 seconds of the first half, Corey had three turnovers and the Nets scored the last 5 points to take a 3 point lead into the locker room. With a little over 2 minutes to go in the game, Corey turned the ball over on consecutive possessions with the team done three and desperate for a hoop.

Ouch, and this from a blogger who’s season long motto has been “play corey.” Clipper Steve goes on to say:

This loss hurts. It hurts bad. It's one thing to play well enough to win in Houston but come up short. But to squander break out offensive efforts from Mobley and Maggette, because of carelessness with the ball and the inability to box out is inexcusable. This may well be the game that ends the Clippers season.

I have to say I was thinking the same goddamm thing as the seconds wound down on this one. If we can’t pull this game out, if we can’t get out of that building against that team, with the score that it was down the stretch, then what the fuck CAN we do? Perplexing at best, with a heavy lean toward mildly depressing.