By Steve Perrin

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Jan 5, 2012 – Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Clippers demonstrated exactly what has the sports world so excited. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the Clippers high-powered offense was firing on all cylinders for the first time this season as L.A. blew out the Houston Rockets 116-89.

The Clippers were the story of the brief NBA offseason. Our national sports media loves nothing more than a compelling narrative, and this year the designated story is Chris Paul choosing to join the hapless Clippers, teaming up with Blake Griffin to turn the perennial doormat into the most compelling team in the league. Invariably, the narrative gets a bit ahead of itself – - many have decided the Clippers will be not just exciting, but also a title contender – - but why let a little reality get in the way of a good story?

Through four games, the Clippers were good, but nowhere near the hype that they had generated. Sure, Chris Paul was electric in the fourth quarter of the Christmas Day win over Golden State. Yes, there were enough highlight reel dunks to keep SportsCenter moving forward. But the team was 2-2, and had looked pretty ordinary in a couple of bad losses. It was all to be expected from a team with three new starters, including a backcourt that was acquired about a week before the first game, but it wasn’t satisfying to a basketball public looking to Lob City to help them forget the dark days of the lockout.

In their fifth game, the Clippers broke out the full Lob City arsenal. Straight out of the gate they hung 41 first quarter points on the Rockets and never trailed after taking a 12-10 lead. Paul was clinical in putting up 20 points on only 14 shots, along with 10 assists and 3 steals before taking the fourth quarter off — it was the first of many 20-10 games in his Clippers career no doubt. On back to back plays in the third quarter, Paul hit DeAndre Jordan with a lob from the pick and roll in the half court, followed by a halfcourt lob to Griffin in transition. They were Paul’s final assists of the evening, and the final nails in Houston’s coffin, as the lead stretched to 85-62 and the benches soon took the court.

The stat of the night for the Clippers isn’t 57 percent shooting or 62 points in the paint or 22 fast break points or scoring a season high 116 – - it’s seven turnovers. For a team that was 29th out of 30 in the NBA last season in turnovers committed, the new backcourt of Paul and Chauncey Billups is a godsend. We know they can score, and now they take care of the ball as well – - they didn’t have to play a lot of defense Wednesday night, but if they can figure that part out, they could be very good indeed.

For the Rockets, this is a game they’d just like to forget. On the second night of a back-to-back in L.A. after losing to the Lakers on Tuesday, they just ran into a buzzsaw. It happens in the NBA — you move on. Kyle Lowry continued his stellar early season play, and tried to keep his team in the game, nailing three long threes in the first half among his 17 points. In the end, though, while Lowry and Luis Scola did a decent job of scoring, Houston was wholly incapable of keeping the Clippers from running away with the game.

Welcome to Lob City.

For more on the Clippers, visit Clips Nation. For more on the Rockets, visit The Dream Shake.

Read More: Chris Paul (G – LAC), Blake Griffin (F – LAC), Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Clippers, Jan 4, 2012 10:30 PM EST

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LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin had 22 points and nine rebounds before sitting out most of the fourth quarter, Chris Paul added 20 points and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Clippers cruised to a 117-89 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Paul shot 9 for 14 and had three steals, extending his streak to 14 consecutive games with at least one. Reserve guard Randy Foye locked it up by scoring 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. And center DeAndre Jordan had eight rebounds and seven points in 28 minutes, while failing to block an opponents’ shot for the first time in his last 19 games.

Chauncey Billups returned to the lineup, playing his first home game with the Clippers after sitting out two games because of a sore groin. He scored 13 points in 22 minutes. The five-time All-Star, claimed from the New York Knicks in a waiver auction Dec. 12, averaged 16 points in his first two games with the club.

Kyle Lowry had 17 points and five assists for the Rockets, who won 25 of their previous 31 games against the Clippers and held them under 100 points in 14 of the previous 15 meetings. Houston’s two best defensive efforts last season – in terms of lowest field goal percentage by an opponent – were against the Clippers. Los Angeles shot 36.4 percent in a 96-83 loss, and 34.7 percent in a 99-78 defeat.

The Rockets played without reserve swingman Courtney Lee, who injured his right calf Tuesday night on a non-contact play in the fourth quarter of a 108-99 loss to the Lakers.

Paul, who averaged 20.6 points and 10.0 assists in his previous 16 games against Houston while playing for the New Orleans Hornets, had 11 points and six assists in the first quarter to help the Clippers build a 67-55 halftime lead. Los Angeles ended the half shooting 67.5 percent while committing four of its seven turnovers.

Reserve guard Ryan Gomes beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 17-footer from the left baseline for a 41-26 margin. The Rockets narrowed the gap to 47-40 on Lowry’s 3-pointer with 7:38 left in the second quarter, but got no closer the rest of the game as the Clippers pulled away in the third.

Griffin, who went to the bench for good with 10:17 remaining, finished with 16 points in the paint – including a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Paul to cap an 18-7 run and give Los Angeles a 85-62 cushion with 5:47 left in the third.

Houston coach Kevin McHale then emptied his bench during the ensuing timeout, and the Rockets scored the next four points. Moments later, Griffin and reserve center Samuel Dalembert nearly got into it under the Clippers’ basket before they were separated by Jordan.

The fourth quarter became a showcase for Foye, who scored 10 points in the first 3:42 to help the Clippers increase a 15-point lead to 102-76. He added a layup to make it a 30-point advantage with 5:07 to play.

Notes: Sitting in the second-row across from the Rockets’ bench were Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser, who are in a group that is trying to purchase the Dodgers from Frank McCourt. Among their competition is Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. … Rockets reserve F Marcus Morris, the 14th pick in the draft, has played only 17 minutes in the team’s first six games. Twin brother Markieff, drafted one spot ahead of him by Phoenix, has played 117 minutes through the Suns’ first six games. … This is the fifth time the Rockets have played the Clippers and Lakers back-to-back at Staples Center on the same trip since the building opened in 1999-00, and the first time they lost both. They came out with a split the other four times. … Griffin set a Clippers record for double-doubles last season with 63, including all four games against Houston – including a 24-point, 18-rebound effort the first time he faced them.

By Eric Stephen

– Managing Editor

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Jan 2, 2012 – The Los Angeles Lakers look to rebound from Sunday’s loss as they welcome the Houston Rockets to Staples Center on Tuesday night. The Lakers have split their first six games of the season, which were played in a span of eight days, including a weekend split against the Denver Nuggets with each team winning at home.

Kobe Bryant made just six of 28 shots in Sunday’s 99-90 road loss to the Nuggets, and has made just 12 of 46 field goals (26.1%) in the last two games. Bryant also had six turnovers on Sunday night and missed seven of his eight three-point attempts. Per the great Basketball-Reference, no Laker in the last 27 years has shot so many times and made so few as Kobe did on Sunday night, the only Laker to miss more than 20 shots in a game during that span.

The game was so bad it prompted C.A. Clark at Silver Screen and Roll to label Kobe’s effort “the culmination of every negative Kobe Bryant stereotype you’ve ever heard. It was one of the most actively selfish games you will ever see in the game of basketball, in part because if most any other player tried to get away with what Kobe did tonight, the coach would pull said player in a heartbeat.”

Andrew Bynum has been strong in his return to the Lakers after missing the first four games via suspension. After grabbing 29 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks in Saturday’s home win over Denver, Bynum followed it up the next night with 18 points, 16 rebounds, and one block. He has made 20 of his 30 field goal attempts in his two games.

The Lakers won their season series against the Rockets last season, and have won the season series against Houston in each of the last three years. The Lakers have beaten the Rockets in eight of their last 10 meetings. Kevin Martin leads the Rockets in scoring so far this season, averaging 19.3 points per contest. Perhaps Martin can pose for a photo with teammate Luis Scola (15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds per game) and Pau Gasol in a Chris Paul trade ‘what if’ stance.

The Rockets (2-2) have played just four games to date, winning both of their home games and losing both of their road contests. They have been off for two days after beating the previously unbeaten Atlanta Hawks at home on Saturday.

Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. PST game will be televised by Fox Sports West. For more Lakers basketball news and information, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.

Read More: Kevin Martin (G – HOU), Pau Gasol (C – LAL), Andrew Bynum (C – LAL), Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), Luis Scola (F – HOU), Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers, Jan 3, 2012 7:30 PM PST

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