Yes, It's true. Tonight is JamFan's birthday bash at Staples Arena for the Clippers game against the World Champion Miami Heat. JamFan and his buds have tickets behind the Clipper bench for the Game. This is two years in a row that I have had tickets for this game, and Shaq is injured an unable to play. Last year we beat the Heat easily at home by about 17 or so. I received a D Wade Jersey as a birthday present, so I am going to honor my brother who is flying down from Lake Tahoe just for this game, by wearing it. I hope I do not get to much flack from the local fans.
I think the Clippers will be able to handle the Heat who have not quite returned to their championship form. In the past when Shaq was hurt, they played better. But this season they were not playing all that good even before Shaq got hurt. So this is an opportunity for the Clips to win two in a row. It looks bad for them to be in a 3 way tie for last place. But with a win tonight they could be alone in third place in a division where every team is at 500 or better. Moreover, they would be only 3 games out of first, so with even a little win streak they could get back in the mix.
Contrast that to the Atlantic division in the East where even the first place team is 2 games below 500. Miami is only sporting a 7 -9 record, but that is good enough for 3rd place in the Southeast. There are only 3 teams over 500 in the entire Eastern conference. The West dominates.
It looks like it is going to be tough in the West this year so the Clippers need to get it going. The Lakers look like they are on a roll and we do not want our guys getting to far behind so early in the season.
Sunday nights win was certainly a step in the right direction. The chemistry was back and our Bigs started to get it going. Most importantly, if you look at box score, the shooting percentages were way up for most players. Elton Brand hit 10 of 12, Tim Thomas drilled 7 of 11, Aaron Willims hit both of his shots, and Chris Kaman was 5 for 10. A good night for our Bigs. Our shooters did alright as well. Corey hit 4 of 8, and Sam was 6 for 8. Overall, the Clippers hit 60% from the field, 56% from the 3 and 82% from the line. That.....will get it done. Let's hope this shooting streak continues.
Tonight's game in on a Fox Sports feed so I hope everyone has fun watching the game. I know I will. We have seats behind the Clippers bench and also across the floor looking into the bench. So I might move back and forth and half time. Just look for the only guy wearing a black D Wade jersey and that will be me. Heck, they might be short a player, get confused and put me in the game.
JamFan
