Teams Take Advantage of Zoning Ordinance

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.

“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.

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.