Bryant, Bynum, Paul and Griffin lead All-Star picks

It’s an L.A. All-Star team all right.

The NBA announced today on TNT the starters for its All-Star game and the West squad is full of Lakers and Clippers.

The West team’s starting five, based on fan voting, are: guards Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Chris Paul (Clippers), forwards Blake Griffin (Clippers) and Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City), and center Andrew Bynum (Lakers).

PHOTOS: Kobe Bryant through the years

This marks the first All-Star game for the 24-year-old Bynum, now in his seventh season with the Lakers, and the 14th All-Star selection for Bryant. Bynum is averaging 16.5 points and 12.1 boards a game this season, both career bests, while Bryant is leading the league in scoring with 30 points a game.

Meanwhile, Paul, in his first season with the Clippers, has led the team to the second-best record in the Western Conference. Paul was selected for his fifth consecutive All-Star squad. Griffin made the All-Star team last season as a reserve.

The East’s starters are: guards Derrick Rose (Chicago) and Dwyane Wade (Miami), forwards LeBron James (Miami) and Carmelo Anthony (New York), and center Dwight Howard (Orlando).

All-Star reserves are selected by NBA coaches and they will be announced Feb. 9. The All-Star game is in Orlando on Feb. 26.

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Photo: Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul embrace before a Lakers-Clippers exhibition game in December. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Blake Griffin vs. LeBron James: Watch, vote on the better dunk

Blake Griffin's monster jam on Kendrick Perkins during the Clippers' 112-100 victory over Oklahoma City on Monday night is being described by many as the dunk of the year.

The same phrase was being used all day on Monday after Miami's LeBron James electrified the NBA with his one-handed dunk while flying over Chicago's John Lucas III on Sunday night.

Clippers guard Chris Paul said of Griffin's dunk: "That's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."

And unless Paul was nowhere near a TV or computer all day Monday, he had probably already seen the clip of James literally jumping over Lucas many times before making that comment.

James himself weighed in on the subject via Twitter just after Griffin's big play: "Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I'm #2 now."

Which do you think is the dunk of the year (or at least the dunk of the first month or so of the season)? Vote in the poll, then leave a comment explaining why you voted the way you did.

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Blake Griffin discusses his monster dunk over Kendrick Perkins

-- Chuck Schilken

Clippers talk about scoring 4 three-pointers in under 2 minutes

In a dizzying display of excellence at Staples Center on Monday night, the Clippers may have one sequence that topped even Blake Griffin's already viral dunk over Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins.

It happened after the Clippers saw a sizable second-quarter lead diminish to six points with 1:35 remaining in the first half as Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 37 of the Thunder's 46 points.

Mo Williams, Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups answered by scoring four consecutive three-pointers in 76 seconds to give the Clippers an 18-point halftime lead, 64-46.

"Man, I just told Mo Williams that may have been the greatest exchange I've been a part of since I've been in the NBA," Clippers guard Chris Paul said.

"Not only did we make four threes, but it was how we did it. We swung the ball, it's good basketball."

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan said the sequence seemed like a fantasy.

"It really didn't look like it was real how many threes we hit before the half," he said, adding that the Clippers returned to the locker room saturated in that momentum, "on a high."

The Clippers won 112-100, beating a Thunder team that entered the game with the best record in the NBA, 16-3.

All five starters, and six Clippers total, finished in double-figures in what Griffin said was the best performance the team has had all season.

Not to mention, they did it on the tail end of a back-to-back, having beaten Denver, 109-105, on Sunday.

"I think it shows that we'll fight," Griffin said. "Even when we're a little tired, it's always going to be a game, and that's the way we plan to keep it the rest of the season."

-- Melissa Rohlin

Blake Griffin discusses his monster dunk over Kendrick Perkins

Blake Griffin saw an open lane in the third quarter of the Clippers' game against Oklahoma City on Monday. He charged to the basket. Thunder center Kendrick Perkins responded, bravely putting his body in front of the oncoming freight train.

Griffin elevated, and Perkins' face was up pressed against Griffin's body like a child sticking his face against a window.

DUNK.

Within moments, the Twitterverse was going crazy. So was the sold-out crowd at Staples Center. So were Griffin's teammates.

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan immediately hugged Griffin was such force that he practically knocked the wind out of his teammate. That was when Griffin said he knew something spectacular had occurred.

"By the crowd's reaction you can kind of gauge how it was," he said. "My second gauge is DJ's reaction.

"He came up and like arm-locked me. I couldn't breathe. I had to like pull him off."

Said Jordan: "I was shocked. I didn't know what to do, so I just grabbed him. ... I feel like I dunked it."

Said Clippers guard Chris Paul: "That's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."

The only player who wasn't in awe was Perkins, who fouled Griffin on the dunk. The Clippers star then went to the free-throw-line and converted the three-point play.

Sitting morosely by his locker after the Clippers' 112-100 win, Perkins acknowledged that Griffin got the better of him.

"It happens," he said. "At the end of the day, if you're a shot-blocker you're going to get dunked on. It was a great play he made. Obviously, I wish I wasn't in it."

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Final: Clippers 98, Memphis 91

 

Clippers 98, Grizzlies 91 (final)

Times Sports Editor Mike James tweeted it best:

"Both teams playing with playoff intensity, but Clippers-Memphis looks more like a Rucker Park game on extra caffeine than NBA."

Yes, their meeting at a sold-out Staples Center on Thursday night was physical, sloppy and short on "Wow, this is really quality basketball being played here" moments.

But after blowing a 16-point lead in the first half, the Clippers built a slim lead late and held on in a game that featured 19 lead changes to stave off the kind of loss they're accustomed to achieving. 

The Clippers also bounced back from their loss Wednesday to the Lakers and improved to 10-6 overall.

Memphis, which was paying its second straight game and fourth in five days, fell to 10-8. 

The Clippers owe Mo Williams plenty for this win. He had nine points in the previous three quarters, but he got hot in the fourth and scored nine quick points to put his team ahead by six with 5:17 left. 

That lead was cut to two before Caron Butler hit a driving layup with 58.7 seconds left to give the Clippers a four-point lead. 

Marc Gasol was called for his fourth personal foul on the other end, and Chris Paul sank down the ensuing free throws, putting the Clippers ahead, 95-89 with 45.9 seconds left.

Clippers' Blake Griffin responds to Matt Barnes' claim he flops [Video]

At the Clippers' practice facility on Tuesday, forward Blake Griffin was told by a reporter that Lakers forward Matt Barnes was still accusing him of being a flopper. 

Griffin laughed. 

"I don't really have much to say to him or to that," he said. "If he's mad that I tried to take a charge, then so be it. 

"I'm not even going to get into trash talking and going back and forth about it; if that's what he feels, then that's what he feels."

The incident in question occurred during an exhibition game between the teams Dec. 21. Barnes, annoyed by Griffin's high-flying dunks and perceived boasting, shoved Griffin to the floor. 

Griffin slid from inside the free-throw line to past the three-point line in what Barnes considered an Oscar-worthy performance.

"He's just an amazing athlete, can dunk, can do everything on the court -- he just flops and I don't understand; I don't get it," Barnes said of Griffin at a recent event at Staples Center.

The physicality continued when the teams played their first regular-season game against each other on Jan. 14.

The Lakers and Clippers combined for five technical fouls.

In one play late in the first quarter, Griffin pushed Lakers guard Darius Morris while he was attempting a dunk after the whistle was blown, sending Coach Mike Brown running onto the court screaming.

"I wasn't trying to hurt him," Griffin said Tuesday.

Who will be the biggest hoops star not to make the Olympic team?

Writers from around the Tribune Co. discuss who will -- and won't -- make the U.S. Olympic basketball roster, which needs to be pared down from 20 to a final 12 by June 18. Check back throughout the day for more responses and join the discussion with a comment of your own.

K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune

Wow, where do you start? All eight cuts will be big names with this talent pool. And don't forget: Six will remain as alternates and injuries could occur. That said, drum roll please, I see Blake Griffin standing when the musical chairs stop.

Yes, international basketball rewards athleticism, which Griffin owns, of course, in abundance. However, it also rewards defensive versatility. And this is where I see Team USA officials picking the less flashy LaMarcus Aldridge to back up Kevin Durant at power forward. (This assumes Chris Bosh plays center with Dwight Howard.) Aldridge may not be as flashy or athletic as Griffin but he's a better overall basketball player. He defends multiple positions, he rebounds, he's smart.

Plus, Team USA has an abundance of versatile guards so Russell Westbrook might sit because someone like Chauncey Billups might be kept because he can handle a reduced role plus play both guard positions. I know this: These will be tough decisions.

Todd M. Adams, Orlando Sentinel

Recently, USA Basketball took a different approach to choosing its roster. Instead of using the selection as an award for NBA greatness, team chairman Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski started giving more thought to building a cohesive team.

That means balancing the roster, which is why the biggest name left off this year’s team is bound to come from the NBA’s strongest position, point guard.

To illustrate, Boston’s All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo didn’t even make the roster cut down to 20. And a couple of guys who did, like the Clippers’ Chauncey Billups and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, really have no chance at making the team, either.

That’s because there are three phenomenal players at that position in the Clippers’ Chris Paul, New Jersey’s Deron Williams and Chicago’s Derek Rose. With no need for three point guards, probably only two will make the team, and my guess is Williams will be left off.

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Photo: Clippers' Blake Griffin and New Jersey's Deron Williams chase a loose ball. Credit: Paul Buck / EPA

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Surrounded by reporters following a 102-94 victory against the Lakers, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was asked if the scrappy, physical game had a playoff-like atmosphere.

"I've never been to the payoffs," Jordan said. "So I don't know what that will feel like."

The Clippers past shortcomings seemed hard to remember after Saturday's game, a showing in which Chris Paul had 33 points and six assists and Blake Griffin finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds to beat a streaking Lakers team that had won five in a row.

One of the keys to the game was rebounding.

The Clippers, who have the lowest rebounding average in the league (37), had a 50-42 rebounding advantage over the Lakers, who have the second-highest rebounding average (46).

"We definitely made strides in the right direction defensively and on the rebounding end of it but we've got to do it again," Paul said. "We've got to make it a habit and not just a one-time thing."

Though the Clippers had just beaten the 16-time champions and were still relishing in a victory just days earlier against the Miami Heat, a team projected to win the title, the players were quick to keep things in perspective.

"We're not going to get too high with these wins," Paul said. "And hopefully, if we lose, we're not going to get too low."

It's a smart attitude to maintain considering that whenever the Clippers realize any success, their critics are quick to delve into their previous failings.

"It's definitely going to take time to remove that label," Griffin said of his team's stigma.

"That's what people say after you beat them," Griffin added. "They're going to want to talk about the past. We're not talking about the past."

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Clippers gear up to play Lakers on Saturday

The next skirmish in the NBA's version of the "Battle of L.A." is Saturday night when the Clippers play host to the Lakers at the teams' shared home court, Staples Center.

The Clippers are coming off a 95-89 overtime win over the powerful Miami Heat on Wednesday. But Clippers point guard Chris Paul said his team couldn't rely on momentum from that victory when they face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

"We cant get too high with different wins this year and we cant get too low with different losses," Paul said after the Clippers practiced Friday at their Playa Vista training center.

"We just got to continue to take advantage of these days of practice and get better," Paul said. Against the Heat, "we fought hard, there were some good things we did in that game, but there were a lot of things that we didn’t do well."

The Clippers likewise don't expect a boost from the fact that they defeated the Lakers twice in pre-season games last month, he said.

"Pre-season is all good and well but it’s really not the intensity of a regular-season game," Paul said. The Lakers contest, he added, "is a division game for us, a big game for us."

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Photo: Kobe Bryant jumps over Brian Cook and Blake Griffin. Credit: Paul Buck / EPA

Clippers well-represented in All-Star voting

When the NBA announced the first results of All-Star voting Thursday the Clippers were well-represented.

Chris Paul had received 540,173 votes, the second highest total for guards in the Western Conference behind the Lakers' Kobe Bryant with 690,613.

Blake Griffin was second in voting for Western Conference forwards with 394,264. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant led the West with 633,538.

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (134,961) was second in the voting for West centers behind Lakers center Andrew Bynum (496,597).

Clippers guard Chauncey Billups, a five-time All-Star, was 10th in the voting for West guards with 42,637 votes.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard led all vote-getters with 754,737 and Miami Heat forward LeBron James (640,789) was third in total votes behind Bryant.

The NBA All-Star game will be in Orlando on Feb. 26.

Fans can vote for All-Stars at NBA.com or on any wireless carrier.

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Photo: DeAndre Jordan, left, Blake Griffin. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times.

DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin share a special connection [Video]

When Blake Griffin was getting slapped and fouled in the fourth quarter Wednesday night in the Clippers' game against the Miami Heat, his good friend and teammate DeAndre Jordan was there by his side when it seemed as though he was about to lose his cool.

"I just told him to calm down," Jordan said. "He gets hacked a lot and it's definitely frustrating, but he controls it and he knows how to deal with it.

Jordan and Griffin are close friends who constantly voice their support of one another. So when Jordan had an open lane during overtime against Miami, it wasn't surprising that he looked over at Griffin.

"He was like, 'DUNKKKKK ITTTTTT,'" Jordan said. "So I dunked it and, you know, he smiled at me and it just lifted my spirits.

When prodded by a reporter if the moment really slowed down and it seemed as though Griffin were truly speaking in slow motion, the always-affable Jordan joked about his buddy.

"It kind of sounded like, 'PASSSS ITTTTT' but I heard 'DUNKKKK ITTTTTT,'" Jordan said with a laugh.

Whatever was said, worked. The Clippers went on to beat Miami, 95-89.

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