Seeking the road to consistency
BOSTON — The Clippers tonight play their first game on a seven-game, 12-day trip to Boston, Toronto, New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Indiana and Detroit.
They’re scheduled to return to Los Angeles on Feb. 13, and things should become clearer for the team when their longest trip of the season is completed.
The Clippers are ready to make their move, players said.
“I thought we were turning a corner a lot of times, we seemed to be making progress, but then we slipped again,” Elton Brand said. “We’ve been playing better lately, playing like we thought we would play all year, so that’s encouraging.”
The Clippers (23-22) have won six of seven. They moved above .500 for the first time since Dec. 9 in Wednesday’s 110-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls at Staples Center and would be seeded eighth if the Western Conference playoffs began today.
The Clippers are only 6-14 as a visiting team but have victories in three of their last four road games.
“A lot of people had big expectations for this basketball team beginning the season, and we had big expectations of ourselves, but we just didn’t play the way we could for a lot of reasons,” Corey Maggette said. “But what you’re seeing lately is the things this basketball team can do.”
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No Clippers were among the Western Conference reserves for the Feb. 19 All-Star game at Las Vegas.
The Clippers had hoped that Brand, a two-time All-Star, would be selected as a reserve in balloting by the conference’s coaches.
Brand leads the Clippers in scoring with an average of 20.9 points, rebounding at 8.9 and blocked shots at 2.16. Last season, Brand averaged 24.7 points, 10 rebounds and 2.54 blocks.
TONIGHT
at Boston, 4:30 p.m. PST, FSN Prime Ticket
Site -- TD Banknorth Garden.
Radio -- 710.
Records -- Clippers 23-22, Celtics 12-33.
Record vs. Celtics -- 1-0.
Update -- The Celtics are a mess. The Lakers on Wednesday handed the Celtics their 13th consecutive loss, 111-98, matching a franchise record. Boston also has dropped 10 straight on its home court, is last in the Atlantic Division and has the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Paul Pierce is still out because of a foot injury.
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