The Clippers, long the ugly step child of the city of Los Angeles, as well as a forgotten laughingstock, have a new look and image starting with superstar forward Blake Griffin, who is far and away their most recognizable star since Danny Manning played for them a generation ago.  Add Chris Paul to the equation and you can see why the Clippers are vastly becoming one of the most popular teams with the 2012 NBA betting lines.

Griffin led the Clippers with 21.4 points and 10.9 rebounds per game while Paul was an assist machine with a team high 8.9 per game.  The Clippers were the 4th highest scoring team in the NBA although their defense remains a concern as they ranked 24th in the league for points allowed. The Clippers were 14-7 to start the season although their schedule was front loaded with home games and that pace may be difficult to maintain on the road.

The Lakers were 14-10 which is mediocre by their standards and also quite alarming as it is becoming more apparent that coach Mike Brown simply lacks the stature and respect that Phil Jackson commanded before retiring last summer.  Jackson may go down as the greatest coach in professional sports history and his last tenure with the Lakers did much to cement his undeniable legend and success as a champion. Brown was last remembered as the coach his players quit on in the 2010 NBA Playoffs with Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On the positive, the Lakers ranked 5th overall for total defense but their offense was lethargic and ranked only 20th in the NBA.  Kobe Bryant had no problem scoring for Brown as he had a team best 29.4 points per game while Andrew Bynum was a capable Windex man with 12 rebounds per game.  The Lakers have not played with consistency or intensity and the lack of Jackson’s dynamic presence may be too much for them to overcome.  Another sign of Jackson being missed was the Lakers horrific road record of 3-8 which is a sure sign that they are not in championship form.

“Welcome to Cleveland,” fans chanted to their new savior.

It was visible on the clutch point guard’s face – and it couldn’t be refuted at that moment – that he is currently in the process of revitalizing this franchise. Irving finished with 20 points and and seven assists.

“I told him to just run this one play that we have been running,” head coach Byron Scott said of Irving’s strong finish. “Be aggressive and look to score for himself, or see if he can get it to his teammates…he was able to get it all the way to the basket.”

Half of a second remained on the clock as the Mavericks had the final possession of the game, but could not get a shot off in time to tie it up. With the exhilarating 91-88 victory over the defending World Champions, the Cavs extended the Mavericks’ (14-11) losing streak to three games as well as improved their own record to 9-13.

“Anytime you beat the World Champions, it’s a great win,” Scott said.

After seeing one of the best second quarters they’ve had this season with 28 points, Cleveland went into halftime trailing Dallas 51-43. The Cavs could not contain 2011 Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki (24 points, eight rebounds) as they gave him the space to shoot 5-of-5 from the field in the first half alone.

A different story was told in the third quarter.

As the defensive pressure picking up on Cleveland’s end in the third period, the offense followed suit. The Cavaliers went on a 13-0 scoring run thanks to Anderson Varejao’s “all-over-the-place” style of play. The big man did not give up on one possession on either ends of the floor, and in turn, had a double double on the night with 17 points and 17 rebounds.

Varejao’s aggression, as well as better defense played by Antawn Jamison (19 points, nine rebounds) cooled off Nowitzki’s hot hand in the second half – he was scoreless in the third quarter and had nine points in the fourth.

“He’s an animal,” Nowitzki said of Varejao. “He’s relentless…he’s got a great nose for the ball and he just keeps coming.”

Cleveland, who seems to be plagued with turnover syndrome this year, can also credit the win to taking better care of the ball. Cleveland turn the ball over nine times instead of their usual 20 or more, which resulted in only six points for Dallas. On the other end, they forced the Mavericks to turn the ball over 21 times, which converted into 19 points for Cleveland.

In the midst of dishing the ball and creating plays for his teammates, Irving had just one turnover on Saturday.

“I just feel my teammate’s confidence down the stretch,” Irving said. “…they have the confidence in me to make the right play, whether if it’s for myself or them.”

He couldn’t deny that the win over the defending champs was sweeter than usual.

“This win means a lot more, but it’s still just a win in our column,” Irving said. “We beat the defending champs and we gave a valiant effort. I’m happy. It feels good.”

The Cavaliers will travel to Miami to take on the Heat Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

The ever-popular basketball triumvirate featuring The Fan 590′s Zack Cooper, The Score’s Leigh Ellis and HOOPSADDICT.com‘s Ryan McNeill assembles to talk about the Raptors’ issues this season, the NBA in general, who the best shot-blocking small forward in the NBA is right now, and filling out the All-Star reserves.

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In between the match ups against Kansas and Baylor, Missouri goes on the road Monday to face an Oklahoma team with a losing league record (3-6). Kansas and Baylor duke it out on Wednesday while the Tigers rest up for the Bears.

Missouri and Kansas face each other today for the first time this season, but Missouri already holds a win over Baylor, just as the Jayhawks do.

No.1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament can be decided within these next three game days, so it comes as no surprise that ESPN’s “College Gameday” crew makes that trip to Columbia today.

“This hasn’t been a normal week,” first-year head coach Frank Haith told Mizzou’s student newspaper, The Maneater. “There’s been a lot of things going on. We’ve talked about not getting distracted in terms of us staying true to who we are and what we’ve done all year…”

“I don’t want to sound like (I’m saying) it’s just another game,” Haith continued. “I mean, I know it’s not just another game… It’s a big game for top teams in the country and you have a chance on the national spotlight to represent.”

They have a chance to do a lot of things, and the best chance to be on top of the Big 12 when the week is over. How special Missouri’s exit from the conference is sure to be fascinating, either way.

It’s exactly this kind of contradiction that is causing Raptors’ fans to yank out their hair this season while watching DeRozan play.

For his coach, Dwane Casey, it’s just a case of a young player falling in love with the outside shot and not attacking the rim and using his athleticism as often as he should.

“I was looking at his three-point shooting and I think he shot 52 games last year over 82 games and this year he has shot 44 already,” Casey told the media Friday evening. “My thing is he needs to continue to attack. He needs to continue to try to get to the rim and body hunt once he gets there so that he can get to the free throw line. Last year he averaged around four free throws a game and he’s right at that mark again this year. But he needs to get there more.”

The recent problem facing DeRozan is even though he has been attacking the rim with reckless abandon, refs have been slow to give him the benefit of the doubt and send him to the free throw line.

“He just needs to keep doing it,” Cased told me. “He’s eventually going to get the respect of the officials. He’s got to create contact and get in there and body hunt. He can’t avoid contact.”

The worst thing DeRozan can do right now is to sulk or fade into into the background on offense. Instead, he needs to barrel into the lane and dare defenders to get in his way and attempt to change his shot.

Sure, that is tougher with Andrea Bargnani out of action, but as Casey told the media before the game against Washington, when DeRozan’s outside shot is falling like it did in the recent win against Utah, it opens up enough space in the the lane for a “Mack truck to drive through.”

The key for DeRozan is to realize he will continue to get his touches even when his shot isn’t fall.

“I’m sure it’s human instinct if you’re not shooting the ball well to lose a little confidence,” Casey explained to the media. “But he’s got the most touches on the team besides Andrea (Bargnani). We run a lot of our plays – he’s second to Andrea – go to him. We’re going to keep feeding him and try to get his confidence back by putting the ball in his hands. This (slump) won’t be for a lack of touches or not having plays run for him.”

After his third straight “off” game, DeRozan was quick to admit to the media that he can’t dwell on the negatives.

“I just can’t think about it too much,” DeRozan reassured the media gathered around his locker. “I look at a lot of other players in the league who are great shooters and they’re struggling, too. I don’t know what has caused it. You can blame it on the lockout or whatever it is. It just is what it is right now. My shot is eventually going to fall and when it does a lot of things are going to change.”

For DeRozan, the key to getting out of the current shooting slump that he is mired in is staying positive and blocking out all the negative talk from fans and members of the media.

“You’ve just got to stay positive,” DeRozan told the media while chucking. “Everybody wants to criticize me and I don’t worry about it. You just can’t think about it too much and you have to go out there and play your game.”

For DeRozan, something that helps is having his head coach firmly in his corner whether he’s struggling or carrying the scoring load.

“It helps a lot,” DeRozan mentioned to me after the win against Washington. “He talks to me all of the time about how I shouldn’t feed into what people are saying or what the media may say. All of that hoopla. He reminds me that I just need to keep working and it’s going to come. Everybody has their ups and downs in this league. Everybody has had their struggles and it is just something you have to work hard to overcome. When I overcome it, it will be something I can look back on and laugh about.”

While his recent shooting struggles are no laughing matter, his approach to the situation is right on the mark. Why stress over a shooting slump that will eventually pass? It’s not like the past season and a half were mirages that can’t be duplicated and built upon. With a little more aggression attacking the rim it’s easy to see how this slump will end sooner rather than later.

Once DeRozan is able to escape from this mid-season shooting slump there’s no doubt this is something he will have learned from and be able to laugh about.

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The problem is that Davis’ natural position, power forward, is being occupied by Toronto’s best player in Andrea Bargnani.

According to Casey, the creative solution to that problem is to play Bargnani some of his minutes at small forward.

“It’s going to be a challenge for him to get minutes when (Bargnani) comes back,” Casey admitted to me. “He’s going to have to play some five for us. There’s also a possibility that Andrea (Bargnani) can play some three. That is something we will have to look to as far as an unconventional offensive set. There are some three’s in the NBA he can guard. Not a lot, but there are some. That would be an out of the box kind of situation.”

Now, this isn’t set in stone, but the possibility raises an interesting situation where Toronto’s lack of rebounding could be offset by having three big men on the court at the same time.

Regardless if this actually happens or not once Bargnani is healthy, it was an interesting glimpse into Casey’s thought process as he tries to secure additional minutes for Davis this season.

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