2011–12 Los Angeles Clippers season
The 2011–12 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 42nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), their 34th season in Southern California, and their 28th season in Los Angeles. Following the 2011 NBA lockout each team only played 66 games instead of the usual 82. The Clippers finished 40–26, their best winning percentage in franchise history at the time.[1] They finished the season as the #5 seed in the Western Conference, returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
2011–12 Los Angeles Clippers season | |
---|---|
Head coach | Vinny Del Negro |
General manager | Neil Olshey |
Owner(s) | Donald Sterling |
Arena | Staples Center |
Results | |
Record | 40–26 (.606) |
Place | Division: 2nd (Pacific) Conference: 5th (Western) |
Playoff finish | Conference semifinals (lost to Spurs 0–4) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Local media | |
Television | |
Radio | KFWB |
It marked the first season with 3x All-Star and 2008 All-NBA First Team selection Chris Paul, following the completion of a trade in December with the New Orleans Hornets.[2] Originally thought to be heading to the Lakers, Paul would make the All-NBA Third Team and lead the "Lob City" era of the Clippers for the next six years.[3][4]
In the playoffs, the Clippers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the First Round in seven games, but were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Semifinals in four games.
Key dates
edit- June 23: The 2011 NBA draft took place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.[5]
Summary
editNBA Draft 2011
editDraft picks
editRound | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 37 | Trey Thompkins | PF | United States | Georgia |
2 | 47 | Travis Leslie | G | United States | Georgia |
Roster
editPlayers | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster |
Roster notes
edit- Forward Caron Butler becomes the 17th former Laker to play with the crosstown rival Clippers.
- Forward Bobby Simmons makes his second tour of duty with the Clippers. He played for the team from 2003 to 2005.
- The first year of the "Lob City" Clippers trio - Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan - who remained together until 2018.
Pre-season
editDue to the 2011 NBA lockout negotiations, the programmed pre-season schedule, along with the first two weeks of the regular season were scrapped, and a two-game pre-season was set for each team once the lockout concluded.
2011 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pre-season: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)
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2011–12 season schedule |
Regular season
editStandings
editPacific Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-Los Angeles Lakers | 41 | 25 | .621 | – | 26–7 | 15–18 | 9–5 | 66 |
x-Los Angeles Clippers | 40 | 26 | .606 | 1.0 | 24–9 | 16–17 | 7–7 | 66 |
Phoenix Suns | 33 | 33 | .500 | 8.0 | 19–14 | 14–19 | 9–5 | 66 |
Golden State Warriors | 23 | 43 | .348 | 18.0 | 12–21 | 11–22 | 7–8 | 66 |
Sacramento Kings | 22 | 44 | .333 | 19.0 | 16–17 | 6–27 | 3–10 | 66 |
Western Conference | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
1 | c-San Antonio Spurs * | 50 | 16 | .758 | – | 66 |
2 | y-Oklahoma City Thunder * | 47 | 19 | .712 | 3.0 | 66 |
3 | y-Los Angeles Lakers * | 41 | 25 | .621 | 9.0 | 66 |
4 | x-Memphis Grizzlies | 41 | 25 | .621 | 9.0 | 66 |
5 | x-Los Angeles Clippers | 40 | 26 | .606 | 10.0 | 66 |
6 | x-Denver Nuggets | 38 | 28 | .576 | 12.0 | 66 |
7 | x-Dallas Mavericks | 36 | 30 | .545 | 14.0 | 66 |
8 | x-Utah Jazz | 36 | 30 | .545 | 14.0 | 66 |
9 | Houston Rockets | 34 | 32 | .515 | 16.0 | 66 |
10 | Phoenix Suns | 33 | 33 | .500 | 17.0 | 66 |
11 | Portland Trail Blazers | 28 | 38 | .424 | 22.0 | 66 |
12 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 26 | 40 | .394 | 24.0 | 66 |
13 | Golden State Warriors | 23 | 43 | .348 | 27.0 | 66 |
14 | Sacramento Kings | 22 | 44 | .333 | 28.0 | 66 |
15 | New Orleans Hornets | 21 | 45 | .318 | 29.0 | 66 |
Game log
editPlayoffs
edit2012 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 4–3 (home: 2–1; road: 2–2)
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Conference semifinals: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
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2012 schedule |
Injuries and surgeries
editPlayer | Injury Date | Injury Type |
---|---|---|
Chauncey Billups | February 6, 2012 | Torn left Achilles tendon (out for the season) |
Caron Butler | April 29, 2012 | Broken bone in left hand (out for 1 game) |
Player statistics
editGP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
Regular season
editPlayer | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blake Griffin | 66 | 66 | 36.2 | .549 | .125 | .521 | 10.9 | 3.2 | .8 | .7 | 20.7 |
DeAndre Jordan | 66 | 66 | 27.2 | .632 | .000 | .525 | 8.3 | .3 | .5 | 2.0 | 7.4 |
Randy Foye | 65 | 48 | 25.9 | .398 | .386 | .859 | 2.1 | 2.2 | .7 | .4 | 11.0 |
Caron Butler | 63 | 63 | 29.7 | .407 | .358 | .813 | 3.7 | 1.2 | .8 | .1 | 12.0 |
Chris Paul | 60 | 60 | 36.4 | .478 | .371 | .861 | 3.6 | 9.1 | 2.5 | .1 | 19.8 |
Reggie Evans | 56 | 0 | 13.8 | .472 | .507 | 4.8 | .3 | .6 | .1 | 1.9 | |
Mo Williams | 52 | 1 | 28.3 | .426 | .389 | .900 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 1.0 | .1 | 13.2 |
Kenyon Martin | 42 | 0 | 22.4 | .441 | .231 | .370 | 4.3 | .4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.2 |
Eric Bledsoe | 40 | 1 | 11.6 | .389 | .200 | .636 | 1.6 | 1.7 | .8 | .4 | 3.3 |
Ryan Gomes | 32 | 2 | 13.3 | .326 | .138 | .727 | 1.9 | .4 | .5 | .0 | 2.3 |
Bobby Simmons | 28 | 0 | 14.9 | .311 | .333 | .571 | 2.0 | .4 | .5 | .1 | 2.9 |
Trey Thompkins | 24 | 0 | 5.0 | .393 | .308 | .714 | 1.0 | .1 | .1 | .1 | 2.4 |
Nick Young† | 22 | 3 | 23.5 | .394 | .353 | .821 | 1.6 | .5 | .6 | .3 | 9.7 |
Chauncey Billups | 20 | 20 | 30.4 | .364 | .384 | .895 | 2.5 | 4.0 | .5 | .2 | 15.0 |
Brian Cook† | 16 | 0 | 7.6 | .224 | .185 | 1.000 | 1.4 | .1 | .1 | .3 | 1.9 |
Solomon Jones† | 10 | 0 | 9.6 | .125 | .800 | 1.7 | .2 | .4 | .5 | .6 | |
Travis Leslie | 10 | 0 | 4.5 | .357 | .444 | .9 | .5 | .2 | .2 | 1.4 | |
Courtney Fortson† | 4 | 0 | 11.5 | .417 | .250 | .667 | 2.0 | 1.3 | .0 | .0 | 4.3 |
Playoffs
editPlayer | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Paul | 11 | 11 | 38.5 | .427 | .333 | .872 | 5.1 | 7.9 | 2.7 | .1 | 17.6 |
Blake Griffin | 11 | 11 | 35.7 | .500 | .000 | .636 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 1.8 | .9 | 19.1 |
Randy Foye | 11 | 11 | 26.5 | .392 | .438 | .846 | 2.0 | 1.5 | .5 | .3 | 7.5 |
DeAndre Jordan | 11 | 11 | 22.6 | .525 | .333 | 5.3 | .4 | .6 | 1.6 | 4.5 | |
Mo Williams | 11 | 0 | 20.8 | .436 | .364 | .923 | .8 | 1.4 | .5 | .5 | 9.6 |
Nick Young | 11 | 0 | 18.2 | .433 | .515 | .889 | 1.1 | .3 | .3 | .4 | 8.3 |
Reggie Evans | 11 | 0 | 18.0 | .533 | .425 | 7.3 | .1 | .8 | .5 | 3.0 | |
Kenyon Martin | 11 | 0 | 17.5 | .524 | .625 | 3.2 | .3 | .4 | 1.7 | 4.5 | |
Eric Bledsoe | 11 | 0 | 17.2 | .587 | .429 | .625 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.2 | .4 | 7.9 |
Caron Butler | 10 | 10 | 26.8 | .359 | .258 | .750 | 3.0 | 1.0 | .6 | .2 | 8.6 |
Bobby Simmons | 4 | 1 | 8.0 | .556 | .250 | .3 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.8 |
- † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Clippers only.
Transactions
editTrades
editDecember 14, 2011 | To Los Angeles Clippers Chris Paul Two future second-round draft picks |
To New Orleans Hornets Al-Farouq Aminu Eric Gordon Chris Kaman 2012 first-round draft pick |
March 15, 2012 | To Los Angeles Clippers |
To Washington Wizards Brian Cook 2015 second-round draft pick |
Free agents
editRe-signed
editPlayer | Signed | Contract |
---|---|---|
Brian Cook | July 1, 2011 | One-year deal (Player Option) |
DeAndre Jordan | December 12, 2011 | 4-year deal (Matched offer by Golden State Warriors) |
Additions
editPlayer | Signed | Former Team |
---|---|---|
Caron Butler | December 9, 2011 | Dallas Mavericks |
Chauncey Billups | December 12, 2011 | New York Knicks |
Reggie Evans | December 22, 2011 | Toronto Raptors |
Solomon Jones | January 4, 2012 | Indiana Pacers |
Courtney Fortson | January 16, 2012 | Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League) |
Kenyon Martin | February 3, 2012 | Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers (CBA) |
Bobby Simmons | February 27, 2012 Contract expired March 20 Re-signed March 24 |
Reno Bighorns (D-League) |
Subtractions
editPlayer | Reason left | New team |
---|---|---|
Ike Diogu | Renounced, December 9 | San Antonio Spurs |
Jamario Moon | Renounced, December 9 | Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League) |
Craig Smith | Renounced, December 9 | Portland Trail Blazers |
Willie Warren | Waived, December 19 | Rio Grande Valley Vipers (D-League) |
Courtney Fortson | Waived, January 27 | Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League) |
Solomon Jones | Waived, February 7 | New Orleans Hornets |
References
edit- ^ Markazi, Arash. Report cards: Del Negro. ESPN. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Clippers get All-Star Paul in trade with Hornets". ESPN.com. December 15, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ "Why the NBA killed the Chris Paul trade to Lakers and preferred the Clippers". Los Angeles Times. December 13, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ Buha, Jovan. "The 2010s: Lob City stars lead the Clippers' team of the decade". The Athletic. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ "Report: NBA draft moving to Newark". ESPN.com. October 27, 2010. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2010.