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J.J. Redick calls Clippers’ extended break ‘weird’

Clippers guard J.J. Redick reacts after making one of his 11 shots during a 30-point performance against the Trail Blazers on Saturday.
Clippers guard J.J. Redick reacts after making one of his 11 shots during a 30-point performance against the Trail Blazers on Saturday.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
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Just seven games into the season, the Clippers have had an extended break in play, having to wait until Saturday to play again after their loss to San Antonio on Monday.

J.J. Redick is not so sure that’s ideal.

“It’s always weird to have this long of a break during the season,” Redick said. “It’s good on the body for a couple of days, good on the mind too to get away and have a couple of days off, but when you’re in season mode, and your mind’s wanting to play, your body wants to play, it’s a little weird.”

The break came after the Clippers lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 89-85. It was a particularly hard loss to to stomach because the Clippers outplayed the Spurs for most of the game -- until the end of the fourth quarter, when the Spurs used a 12-0 run to turn a 10-point deficit into a five-point advantage.

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“We’re not very good on either side of the ball,” Redick said. “So it’s not like we can rely on one thing right now. Our offense was No. 1 in efficiency last year, I don’t even want to know what we are this year. Defensively, like I said, we were top 10. I don’t even want to know what we are this year. We got to be able to rely on something. We can’t right now.”

Currently, their offensive rating, according to NBA.com, is 12th out of the 30 NBA teams. The website defines offensive rating as “The number of points scored per 100 possessions by a team.”

Their defensive rating, according to NBA.com, is 21st of the 30 NBA teams. The website defines defensive rating as “The number of points allowed per 100 possessions by a team.”

Redick said the Clippers have a long way to go from where they are now to where they want to be.

“We want to be better than last year,” Redick said of a Clippers team that was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. “The standard we’re judging is what the Spurs are doing, what the Warriors are doing, what the Grizzlies are doing, the Rockets, those are teams out West that are off to great starts. They’re in a different tier right now than us, for sure.”

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