Clippers Week in Review

The Clippers won two of their three games last week to start the regular season.

They narrowly beat Oklahoma City and the Lakers, but lost to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

The Clippers didn’t play particularly well in any of those games, and each of them was decided in the final minute of play.

“We’re just not playing well right now,” Matt Barnes said after Sunday’s game. “We’ve been fortunate to get those first two wins not playing well. But overall, from head to toe, we’ve got to do a better job of playing 48 minutes, and playing our style of basketball for 48 minutes.”

Blake Griffin had a very strong start in his first two games. Not only did he lead the team in scoring both nights -- with 23 points and 39 points, respectively -- but he also made crucial free throws in the final seconds of both games that helped the Clippers win. He went from shooting a career-low 52.1% from the line in 2011-12 to 71.5% last season. And this season he’s already shown that not only is he a proficient free-throw shooter, but he’s also a clutch free-throw shooter.

Here’s what Chris Paul had to say about Blake: “I expected nothing less.”

Halloween came and went, and some celebrated the holiday more than others. Griffin definitely was on the lesser side of that equation. We learned that Griffin is a bit jaded around Oct. 31 because his mother never allowed him to go trick-or-treating, fearing it was too dangerous in their neighborhood.

The Clippers, of course, played Halloween night, and Griffin wasn’t exactly thrilled about leaving out candy.

“I guess I should put a bucket out, but, you know, kids these days are greedy,” he said.

The Clippers now have new advanced technology playing on their video board during home games. Check out this story and video to learn more about it.

This week, the Clippers play the Utah Jazz at home Monday. Then they go on the road to play the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. They cap off the week on Saturday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers.

Here’s what to look for: Will the Clippers start rebounding better? Will they learn to actually hold a lead instead of blowing it and having to scramble down the stretch? And how will Chris Paul’s sprained left foot and Jamal Crawford’s bruised ribs affect them this week?

Check back in with us next Monday to find out the answers to these questions.