Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy acknowledged that it is going to take Baron Davis' new teammates awhile to get used to his passes that seemingly come from any angle when he is penetrating the lane.
Well, it might take longer than Dunleavy hoped because Davis bruised his tailbone in the second quarter of the Clippers' loss to the Denver Nuggets. After being assisted to the locker room by athletic trainer Jasen Powell, Davis remained there for the duration of the game. That in essence took away the Clippers' drive and dish game that Davis is so effective in executing.
Already, the Clippers' new point guard was playing through a sprained left ring finger that he injured during the pre-season. This latest injury could affect him even more because it would limit his mobility.
This was a game that the Clippers needed to have, coming off a 38-point season-opening shellacking at the hands of the Lakers. That's because the Clippers have two games in a three-day period on the road and then back home against the Utah Jazz, a team that reached the Western Conference semifinal playoff round last season and are poised to be one of the conference's top-tier teams against this year.
And of course we need to mention the Clippers' history in Salt Lake City. They have lost their past 10 meetings on Utah's home floor and dating back to the 1989-90 season amazingly, the Clippers are 1-36 in Salt Lake City. During much of that time, the Jazz tortured the Clippers with the tandem of future Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone.
The lone victory in that span occurred during the 2002-2003 season, under Coach Alvin Gentry's watch. Under current coach Mike Dunleavy, the Clippers are 0-9 at Utah and 7-12 overall. Now it is Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer that are the Clippers' nemesis, although it is possible that an injured Williams might not be ready for the first meeting in Salt Lake City.
If not, the Clippers might run into a familiar face, point guard Brevin Knight, who spent last season with the Clippers. Knight not only led the team in assists but had one of the NBA's top assists-to-turnovers ratios.
NUGGETS 113, CLIPPERS 103 (OT): The Clippers led by as many as 18 points in the first half and still held an eight-point lead going into the fourth quarter. But in the final period and in the overtime, the defense was unable to contain Denver guards Allen Iverson and J.R. Smith. With Chris Kaman struggling to make shots, the Nuggets focused their defense on Tim Thomas and Al Thornton in the overtime session.
