What up. So after a long hiatus, I’m back with the second installment of my “Diary of a Los Angeles Clippers Fan” blog series. (Read part 1 here). Right off the bat I might as well make this clear, my hope was to hit up a decent amount of home games this season, but due to a lot of other commitments, I might not be able to go to as many as I’d like.
Now that we’re more caught up to speed, let’s talk about the game I just went to (November 29, 2009). I was pleasantly surprised with a phone call letting me know that I could scoop up a few free tickets to the early Sunday game against the Memphis Grizzlies. I know it might not sound like a fantasy scenario to most NBA fans (The Clippers vs. the Grizzlies? Really?) but I jumped at the chance to see all my favorite Clips and even get a good look at former LA star O.J. Mayo and the other crop of talented young players banished signed to Memphis.
Unfortunately, in a style that lives up to LA’s infamous fan stereotype, I arrived late to Staples center with my older brother, young nephew and the foolish excitement only a Clipper fan can have for a 7-10 win/loss record. The fact that my tickets were for a great section in the lower level made up for the late arrival and I was quickly inside making my way to my seats. Upon arrival though, most of my guarded optimism quickly vanished.
The second quarter was mostly awful, with the team down double digits, an embarrassing lack of defense or intensity from most of the Clippers players, foul trouble for Chris Kaman and the only real cheering coming from a large group of Iranian fans asking Memphis to put Iranian born Hamed Haddadi in the game. There was also a regular barrage of ‘Fire dun-leavy! Fire dun-leavy!’ chants that I can only imagine are a norm.
The Grizzlies Marc Gasol Looked Like an All-Star Against the Clippers 1st Half Defense.(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
By the third quarter Marc Gasol was scoring at will, the deficit rapidly ballooned deeper into the double digits and nobody on the LA side seemed to care, at least not enough to play tough defense. A quick glance at my 10 year old nephew and his Clippers hat made me wonder if watching fans at home games chanting for opposing players and their coach’s head on a platter was really the best he had to look forward to. In other words, everything seemed pretty bad. Welcome to the life of a Clippers fan right?
Well yes, but just when I was ready to chalk up yet another loss to a bevy of bad plays, confused coaching, and so much more, a new game was born. With the Clippers down 18 points to start the fourth quarter, the most I could fathom doing was waiting for the game to end and hoping my nephew could at least get to high five some players.
Staring at the scoreboard and realizing the less than happy history between some players and Dunleavy, I didn’t think there was a good chance any Clipper would be ecstatic to be all fan-friendly, but I sent my nephew toward the player exits anyway with about 4 minutes to go and a mini-run bringing the Clippers to within 10.
Cutting the Grizzlies lead nearly in half was definitely a good sign that had the crowd anxious, but it seemed most feared another comeback would fall short. Just then Rudy Gay missed two straight free throws, Baron Davis scored on a layup and Eric Gordon took over the game with an array of athletic drives to the basket. It was suddenly only a 5-point game (88-83) and the Staples center was rocking with enthusiastic fans eager to see LA pullout the win. Memphis was clearly rattled and never scored again, the comeback win punctuated by a Sebastian Telfair 3-point dagger with 36 seconds left.
The Clippers Turned up Their Defense in the 4th Quarter With Plays Like These Above.(AP Photos/Gus Ruelas)
And just like that, at least for one day, the agony of a Clipper fan was temporarily absent. High fives and screams were everywhere as the Clippers Nation celebrated a hard-fought and unexpected 98-88 win. Eric Gordon continued to mature into a star with 29 points, Baron came through with some key steals and the always reliable Marcus Camby played a key role with 14 rebounds, some huge tip-ins and defensive plays. We even got to see some nice high-flying dunks from Al Thornton. It wasn’t pretty, but before the game was over the Clippers had taken to jumping for every loose ball, fighting for any defensive advantage and believing they could win. The people at ClipperBlog.com have a nice video summary of the key 4th quarter turnaround.
The end result? An 8-10 (at the time) record that has them in a very early-season hunt for the 8th playoff seed and a glimpse of what the future may hold if everyone plays together and stays committed to doing whatever it takes to win. By the way, all of this has been done without number 1 overall draft pick Blake Griffin.
Sure it isn’t too glamorous, but it’s what we love. And best of all, as the team ran out and high-fived my nephew and other young fans, they showed him that his uncle isn’t that crazy for rooting for them.
-Will.
“Diary of a Clippers Fan” will be published Mondays and Thursdays during the regular season.
