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Rivers: I'm pleased with the way we're playing

The rivalry between the Warriors and the Clippers is probably the most interesting one in the past few years, with dirty moves and players getting suspended being frequent sights in their duels

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The competition in the West is so ruthless that a few defeats do not go unpunished, which the LA Clippers are currently experiencing. They recently enjoyed a nine win series, but then went on to lose five of the next eight, allowing an average of 106.1 point along the way. The reason for somewhat worse results is the dense schedule that forced Doc Rivers' team to play eight games in 13 days, playing back-to-back games on three occasions during that period.

- I actually like the way we're playing. I think we're very close to starting a big winning series, I can see it and feel it happening. It may not be going on right now, so we have to keep building. Keeping in mind the fatigue and heart of the guys, I can live with it all. I don't know when, but the series will happen, and when it does it will be great to watch- said Doc Rivers, whose team slipped to sixth position in the Conference.

The Clippers returned to their Staples Center after a disappointing mini-tour, which they opened with a 125-118 defeat in San Antonio on Tuesday, and had a similar outcome the very next evening in Atlanta where they were defeated 107-104. The LA team pulled a 17-0 series in the second quarter of their duel with the Hawks, but the home team managed to come back and got a +7 lead (90-83) with a good opening in the last period, which they managed to defend to the very end, despite the Clippers' siege.

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- I'm pleased with the way we're playing. It was a tough tour, and I don't want to panic right away. The guys are tired, but they kept fighting and were in the game to the very end in most of those defeats. I have no illusions that we can win every time- commented the coach for the Clippers, who allowed each of their last five away opponents to score triple-digit scores.

Not even Blake Griffin's great performance, with 21 point (9/17), eight rebounds and eleven assists, could help them in Atlanta.  Chris Paul ended up with 19  (7/18), six rebounds, seven assists and five steals, while DeAndre Jordan added 15 points (7/11), 22 rebounds (11 on offense) and four blocks.

The Clippers are obviously struggling on defense, especially on the flanks, which they'll have a hard time dealing with without some reinforcements. Several names were thrown around, but it all remained just talk, and a few shooters coming in from the bench would not hurt either, since apart from Jamal Crawford the bench isn't contributing much.

Tonight will not be much easier for them, as they're meeting the Golden State Warriors, who will be particularly motivated after suffering only their fourth defeat this season against the Lakers on Tuesday. It was supposed to be a routine game for the top team of the Western Conference, but they obviously underestimated the yellow-purple team, who managed to win 115-105 even without Bryant.

- They kicked our buts, they were much better than us. We were not ready to play, having too many turnovers from the very start. We did not have enough energy, which sometimes happens in this league- said coach Steve Kerr, whose team had 20 turnovers.

The most efficient of the Warriors was Steph Curry with 22 (10/14) points and 6 assists but seven turnovers too. Clay Thompson scored 18 points (6/15), and recovering David Lee added another 13 points and 7 rebounds.

The rivalry between the Warriors and the Clippers is probably the most interesting one in the past few years, with dirty moves and players getting suspended being frequent sights in their duels. The first duel they had this season was won by the Oakland team, who were led to victory by Curry with 28 (9/18) points, while Paul and Griffin on the other side stayed at 15 and 14 points respectively.