Los Angeles Clippers (6-7) vs Denver Nuggets (6-8) Pepsi Center 6:00 p.m. PST November 24, 2015 Fox Prime Ticket 1. The Clippers are sub .500 and on a 3-game losing streak. Is it time to panic — at least a little? Charlie Yao, Roundball Mining (@CharlieCSY): I’m a little worried about the negative point differential through the first 13 games. The Clippers are a veteran team but they were rocked by change this offseason, starting with the DeAndre saga through the addition of a ton of bench veterans who aren’t really sure what their roles are. The good news is Blake Griffin has been awesome and when his teammates get hot they are going to start rattling off wins even with too many so-so guys getting sporadic minutes. The West is softer than expected so far so no panic, but it’s not too early to start thinking about possible moves or trades to shake things up. Michael Shagrin (@mshaggy): I mean, yeah kinda. This wouldn’t be so worrisome if the team had some coherent identity to fall back on during times of exigency. But they don’t. That means some honest self-evaluation is in order. Something a bit more substantive than “It’s on me, blah, blah, DOWNHILL! Blah, blah, blah“. I guess we can all continue enjoying Chris Paul channeling Napoleon and trying to take over the world by himself, but we all already know how that story ends. Law Murray (@LawMurrayTheNU): No, it’s not time to panic. Just because one Western Conference contender pulled the plug on a coach doesn’t mean it should start a domino effect of some sort. These are adverse times for the Clippers, for sure — they haven’t started this poorly through 13 games in 5 years. But all through media day and training camp and the preseason, the theme from the Clippers was consistent — all of the new players would need time. Doc Rivers knows how to turn things around — his lockout Celtics started 5-9 before winning the division and eventually making it to the Eastern Finals. 2. Out of the Ty Lawson trade pieces has anyone showed up in 2015? Yao: Nah. Nick Johnson and Kostas Papanikolau were cut in training camp, and K-Pap only came back as an emergency fix for Wilson Chandler going down for the whole season. Papa looks like a serviceable player but ultimately the Lawson trade was just about freeing up money and getting Houston’s protected pick. Rough trade but the Nuggets had no other move — it’s full steam ahead with Mudiay and hopefully, the added flexibility aids that process sometime down the line. Shagrin: I think what you’re asking is whether Pablo Prigioni (shipped to Denver from Houston and subsequently signed by the Clippers) has actually showed up to any formal Clippers events this season. Clipperblog forgives you if you’re just not sure. He’s been spotted on the floor in just four regular season games for a total of 58 minutes, which is a shame since his unselfishness could be a nice compliment to the tunnel vision associated with the Clippers second-unit gunners. If only he could go downhill! Murray: This year? No. Hate to bring the Rockets back into this, but the pick that they owe the Nuggets may not even show up in 2016 if they miss the playoffs (it’s lottery protected). The Nuggets got four players back in the Lawson deal, and all of them were released; the Clippers picked up Pablo Prigioni, while the Nuggets eventually brought back Kostas Papanikolaou. 3. True or False: Emmanuel Mudiay is the best rookie in the West. Yao: False, but we’re just three weeks in. Mudiay has the ball so much more than other rookies but he’s third in the league in turnovers and wasn’t even shooting 30% before the last game against Golden State. Emmanuel is learning the hard way on a team that has played pretty well, so it doesn’t look like a fairy tale season just yet. Considering the burden he’s carrying and the way the team is responding to him, things are very encouraging though. Shagrin: False. Karl-Anthony Towns deserves that honor. Still, Mudiay is no doubt somebody to keep an eye on. He’s putting up gaudy numbers for a high-volume rookie point guard, but he’s shooting .318% from the field and committing 4+ turnovers per game. Those infractions amount to a steaming pile of “he’s not the best rookie in the West.” Murray: Mudiay may not even be the best rookie on his own team! Nikola Jokic put up 23 and 12 at San Antonio Wednesday, and he’s coming off a double-double Sunday against Golden State. But really, Karl-Anthony Towns has been the best rookie in the league, averaging nearly 15-10-2 blocks. Mudiay has struggled so far with poor shooting (32.8 percent from the field) and turnovers (4.3 a game).
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