The Los Angeles Clippers have been off to a solid start this season, but that doesn't mean everything is great, as Chris Paul has been frustrated with the team defense and now the Clips get the chance to show improvement against the Memphis Grizzlies as they visit the FedEx Forum on Thursday night in a game that will start up at 8 pm and stream online from the NBA League Pass.
Paul has been playing very well as usual this season, but the team has had some bad defensive lapses and it has cost the team games and while they are first in the Pacific division, Doc Rivers and Paul know that defense will be key for making a championship run. The defense is allowing over 100 points per game and they are scoring 105 per contest to rank second in the league, but overall the points allowed is at 25th in the NBA and that won't be able to hold up in a tough western conference. The Clippers felt they could make a title run last season, but instead they were defeated by the Memphis Grizzlies and now they will get the chance for a bit of revenge on Thursday night and it comes after the team lost to the Atlanta Hawks on the road.
Check here for the Clippers and Grizzlies stream coverage.
Paul led the team with 11 assists in the game against the Hawks, while Blake Griffin was tops with 24 points and DeAndre Jordan had 13 rebounds and now the team has a 9-8 Grizzlies team that is tough to beat at home. The team continues their road trip into Saturday with a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and they come into the matchup on Thursday ranked 15th in the league in rebounds and second in assists per game and getting a win here will be key as the team moves into the latter part of the schedule in 2013. Blake Griffin is leading the team in scoring and Paul has been excellent dishing the ball, but Rivers needs to get the team working together on the defensive end.
The first round loss was disappointing last season for the Clippers, but the Grizzlies saw it as the start of something special and after making a run to the western conference finals, the team will be looking to beat the Clippers again. The team is coming off of a nice win at home against the Phoenix Suns and now they will play against the Clippers before hosting the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night and that should be another good matchup of western conference teams.
Mike Conley led the team in assists last game against the Suns and the team currently sits fourth in the Southwest division behind the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets as well as the Dallas Mavericks and they are just ahead of the Pelicans, who lost Anthony Davis for over a month to a broken hand. The team is 5.5 games back in the division and Conley comes in leading the team in scoring and assists, while Zach Randolph has been solid on the boards once again.