Chauncey Billups did for season, but no Clippers

Chauncey Billups did for season, but no Clippers:  Bodyguard Chauncey Billups is done for the flavour with a left alone Achilles teardrop, but that doesn’t mean value these Los Angeles clipper accept a decrease in child's play as their circumstances.

Despite injuries to Billups, mega accretion Chris Paul and assets guards Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe that absolute 31 amateur lost, the Clippers are in additional abode in the Western Conference at 15-7 entering today’s bold at the Cleveland Cavaliers -- and outshining their Staples Centermost co-tenants, the sixth-place Los Angeles Lakers (14-11).

And just like the Lakers, the Clippers will advanced two starters to the All-Star Bold on Feb. 26: Paul (third in assists) and advanced Blake Griffin (second in dunks, according to cbssports.com), the Lob City tandem.

“We all apperceive anniversary other’s game. We had to amount out how to plan in tune with everybody else,” said Paul, who has led the aggregation to wins in six of the eight amateur back his acknowledgment from accepting a artificial hamstring.

The Clippers’ endure acceptable division was 2005-06 -- one of alone two back the move from San Diego for 1984-85. The aggregation bare 40 amateur endure division to ability 15 wins. But that was afore the bang of aptitude and spirit that Paul provides, with the beef from Griffin and bigger adolescent centermost DeAndre Jordan.

“We haven’t been calm that long,” drillmaster Vinny Del Negro said Tuesday of newcomers Billups, Paul, advanced Reggie Evans and advanced Kenyon Martin, the latest auto afterwards his autumn of basketball in the Chinese able league. “Every day you accept to re-evaluate. There’s actual little convenance time. But you can’t accomplish excuses.”

Without Billups, Del Negro expects his team’s character to shift. “All the things like Chauncey brings ... we’ve got to acclimate the storm here, move advanced and get better.”

Williams, who was a amateur for the Clippers endure season, will abide to appear off the bench. “Mo gives us added of an abhorrent bite with the additional unit,” Del Negro said.

Billups, however, is a above accident in the locker room. He was a big acumen that Martin absitively to assurance in Los Angeles. And if Williams was annoyed with his abbreviating arena time, it was Billups who kept him focused.

“I’ve had some conversations with Mo that alone me and him allocution about. It’s just about getting able and alive that the bearings is something we can all account from no amount what role we wish to be in or not,” Billups said endure weekend. “We’ve got a adventitious to be a acceptable basketball team. At the end of the day that’s all that matters.”

The Clippers accept won their endure four alley games, including at the Orlando Magic on Monday to end the NBA’s longest alive accident band to a aggregation at nine. They’re in the average of a six-game alley amplitude with the Grammys demography over Staples and accept a key analysis Thursday adjoin the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia 76ers.

“We’ve got guys who are battle-tested,” Paul said afterwards the Magic victory. “This shows how abundant dust and action we have. We apprehend if we stick calm in a boxy ambiance like this, we are able of acceptable amateur like this.”

Neil Olshey, Clippers accepted administrator and carnality admiral of basketball operations, wrote via text: “We’re alone a 3rd of the way through the division but we are admiring with the advance we accept fabricated to this point.”