LOS ANGELES – The Lance Stephenson experience isn’t the easiest thing to describe.
His first two two months with the Clippers have produced the following things:
• Lance knocking a protein shake out of Austin Rivers’ locker, spilling it all over the Clippers’ locker room carpet while J.J. Redick rolled his eyes.
• Lance declining to do postgame interviews – twice – before laughing and doing the interviews.
• Lance dancing in practice days after being demoted from the starting lineup.
None of that stuff happened on the court. There, things weren’t that notable for one of the Clippers’ biggest offseason acquisitions.
But Friday night in the Clippers’ 111-90 win over New Orleans , for the longest stretch this season, the Clippers and their fans got to see what Stephenson could be – a no-look passing rebound-grabbing, defense-playing part of the Clippers plans.
“I felt like myself today,” Stephenson said. “I just tried to make smart plays and not do too much.
The numbers might not look like Stephenson did all that much, really – 10 points, five rebounds and four assists is a nice night.
But it was how he played – not the amount or the production – that should have Clipper fans excited.
“A lot of the other games, I’ve tried to score. Instead of looking to score, I just have to play basketball – make sharp cuts and play team ball,” he said. “ … Everybody wants to score. If you don’t, you don’t really feel like you’ve done anything. But, I’m trying to find ways where I don’t have to score, where I can make hustle plays and get my teammates involved. We have a lot of scorers on this team so I don’t have to do much – just play defense and make sharp plays.”
The sharp plays included no-look and behind-the-back passes, an alley-oop dunk and a corner 3-pointer.
While the on-court stuff hasn’t gone smoothly, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan say the off-court stuff with Stephenson has been a breeze.
“I really wasn’t sure what to expect,” Griffin said. “ … But, Lance, I love Lance. I think he has a great spirit, and he wants to be great and he wants to help out. He wants to be a good teammate.
“He’s funny, always talking, always saying something.”
Griffin called Stephenson “so talented,” and said it’s partly on them to bring that out. Friday, it all seemed to work.
“We finally got to see what I can do,” Stephenson said. “ … I think it was my first decent game as a Clipper.”
And as he left the locker room, he stopped by Jordan’s locker. He stared at Jordan, who was doing an interview, making faces until Jordan cracked.
Then, Jordan was asked what he’d say to encourage Stephenson going forward.
“Just stay Lance,” he said with a laugh.
THE BIGGEST NEWS
New Orleans forward Anthony Davis and Clippers guard Chris Paul were involved in the game’s most interesting play, with Paul, who had the ball on the fast break, cutting off Davis and trying to draw a foul.
Davis and Paul banged knees, and Davis went to the floor hard, eventually being carried to the locker room by his teammates with what New Orleans called a “contusion.”
While some on the Internet called the play dirty, Clippers coach Doc Rivers and Paul defended it.
“I drew a foul,” Paul said plainly. “We knocked knees, and I hope he’s all right.”
THE BEST QUOTE
“Who knows? We could win tonight by 20.” – Clippers guard Austin Rivers pregame before his team won by 21.
THE BEST NOTE
– Entering Friday’s games, Blake Griffin had attempted the fewest free throws for a player with more than 350 points who had played more than 500 minutes. Friday, Griffin was 6-of-7 from the line.
AT THE BUZZER
• Jamal Crawford moved to No. 100 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, passing Juwan Howard. Crawford has 16,162 points, one behind former Clipper Andre Miller.
• Friday was the Clippers’ 200th consecutive home sellout.
• Austin Rivers scored 17 points off the bench against his former team. Griffin and Redick led the team with 20 each.
• Wesley Johnson struggled for the second game in a row, scoring only 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting.
UP NEXT
– The Clippers host the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
Contact the writer: dwoike@ocregister.com
