With the month of February over, the Clippers can look ahead to March and their longest road trip of the year, a 10-day, six-city trip that includes a return engagement with the Boston Celtics, who without a doubt will be lying in wait for the Clippers and seeking redemption from a recent loss at Staples Center.
But before the Clippers embark on that trip, they play eight games, six of which are at home. At some point during the current homestand, the Clippers hope to get center Chris Kaman back on the court. Injuries have limited Kaman to 15 games this season, and questions have been raised about his durability, seeing as he missed 26 games last year, too. Disgruntled Clipper fans also have speculated about Kaman's desire to play, although the plantar fasciitis that Kaman has can be quite debilitating.
Prior to the injuries that cut short his season last year and the injury that has all but wrecked his 2008-09 season, Kaman seemed to have entered the upper echelon of centers in the NBA. At one point last season, only Tim Duncan had more points-rebounds double-doubles than Kaman, and there was growing support for a campaign to garner him All-Star consideration.
When healthy, Kaman is one of the more skilled centers in the league, and his deft footwork in the low post is outstanding. But now there are serious questions concerning whether Kaman can be a stabilizing force in the middle for the Clippers because he seems to be so injury-plagued.
During January, there were rumors that the Clippers were entertaining trade offers for Kaman, but in this downtrodden economy that has affected even NBA teams, the three years and $33.9 million that Kaman has left on his contract is downright scary to potential suitors.
Something that might have some effect on Kaman's persona is that in the six years that he has been with the Clippers, there never has been anyone brought to training camp to seriously compete with him for the starting job. Although Marcus Camby is playing center for the Clippers now in Kaman's absence, Camby was acquired last summer from the Denver Nuggets to play alongside Kaman, at power forward.
BOBCATS 100, CLIPPERS 95: Reminiscent of a game in which he stung the Clippers three years ago, Raja Bell went on a fourth-quarter scoring flurry to lead the Bobcats to a victory at Staples Center on Saturday.
It was in the 2006 Western Conference semifinals when Bell hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Game 5, rescuing the Phoenix Suns and allowing them to beat the Clippers in overtime.
Bell scored 21 points Saturday, nine of them in the final quarter.
