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Teams Take Advantage of Zoning Ordinance

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Times Staff Writer

The NBA legalized zone defenses, or at least a variation of them, before last season. League coaches, reluctant at first to drop their players into a zone, have embraced the strategy this season.

Now, it seems hardly a game passes without one or both teams spending a good chunk of time in a zone, challenging opponents to beat them from the perimeter. Heck, even Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley has played a zone this season, a first in his 21-year coaching career.

“I just think people don’t like playing zone,” said Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry, who has nevertheless adopted a 1-2-2 zone on those occasions he opts for something other than a man-to-man defense. “I don’t think you can have a steady diet of it, where you try to play 35 or 40 minutes of it. Dallas probably does the best job of it.

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“We’ve been in a situation where it’s like a floating man-to-man. You don’t see a lot of pure zone.”

The Clippers often switch from man-to-man to zone and back during a quarter, banking that the changes will confuse the opposition once it figures it has solved one or the other.

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The best estimate the Clipper medical staff could put on small forward Corey Maggette’s return from arthroscopic knee surgery is early January, according to trainer Jasen Powell.

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Maggette had damaged cartilage removed from his right knee Nov. 29 and the timetable for his return was at least one month. He has not been cleared to practice.

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The Clippers played Monday without shooting guard Eric Piatkowski, who sat out his third game because of a lower abdominal strain. His status for Wednesday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers is uncertain.

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