The Los Angeles Clippers came out with a vengeance on the backboards @ Staples Center. Every time a rebound was secured it was a player in a white jersey, it sure seemed like that on the offensive and defensive sides of the court the Clippers were ALL IN. Was it a lack of energy and fight by the Memphis Grizzlies or was it the Clippers turning on the Rebound Playoff Light?
The Clippers had 47 rebounds in the contest compared to 24 by the Grizzlies. It wasn’t one guy with 20 or another guy with 12; no Clipper player had double figure rebounds in the box score. It was a collective effort as shown below with leading rebounders from the Clippers win over the Grizzlies 112-91.
Leading Clipper Rebounders:
DeAndre Jordan: 8
Caron Butler: 7
Lamar Odom: 7
Eric Bledsoe: 6
Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe had the same amount of rebounds the as Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined. Randolph averaged 11.3rpg…Gasol averaged 7.rpg respectively. I’d be surprised to see the same statistic tonight as the Grizzlies face the Clippers in the 2nd game of the 1st Round of the NBA Playoffs.
Clipper Highlight of The Night:
THEY SAID IT:
On the approach to Game 2 after winning the series opener: Lamar Odom: “Our discipline is important, especially at this time of year. It’s easy to let your guard down, especially after a little bit of success. I think mentally right now we’re prepared and we’re up for the challenge. I’m pretty sure they are as well.”On what the team emphasized improving from Game 1 to 2: Eric Bledsoe: “We can give more defensive effort, run our offense better. There are a lot of areas we can get better, you know, giving 110 [percent effort] on hustle plays. It’s everything.” “We’ve beat them four out of five games, so they’re definitely going to want to come in here tonight and prove a point. We’ve just got to match that intensity.”
On what he expects from the Grizzlies in Game 2: Jamal Crawford: “This is an important game. This game here can kind of shift the series, either 2-0 or 1-1. We understand they’re a desperate team, but we have to play as a desperate team as well.”
VIA Eric Patten NBA.COM
