Batum, Clippers are more redeem team than dream team
He converts a slick pass from Vilardi in overtime after L.A. erases 3-0 deficit.
Waived by Charlotte last November, Nicolas Batum wondered what was next.
He believed he was closer to the version of himself who had once helped elevate All-Stars, not the 6foot-8 forward made dispensable after career-low productivity in his 12th NBA season.
Batum believed in himself. Waiting by the phone, he just didn’t know who else agreed.
“I came from being released and don’t know what to do, to choosing between five or six contenders,” Batum said. “In an hour. After 18 months of not playing.”
The first call came from Rudy Gobert, his French compatriot and the Utah Jazz center, who implored his friend to “come with me; let’s do it together.”
But Gobert had competition. Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Toronto also called, among other suitors. The Clippers wanted Batum badly enough to set up a de facto phone bank: Batum heard from coach Tyronn Lue, team President Lawrence Frank, and stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Their vision for his passing, shooting and defense aligned with his own. It wasn’t the only pull.
“We had the common story from last year,” Batum said. “My story is their story.
“What happened to them last year is what happened to me last year. I think it’s pretty similar: People are expecting stuff from us and things didn’t work out. So I was like, why not go with that team and make sure we both redeem ourselves?”
Hope of redemption remains a goal with no guarantee at the season’s halfway mark for the Clippers. After losing four of their last five games before the break, the Clippers (24-14) are fourth in the Western Conference; in the last decade, the lowest an eventual champion has sat in the standings at the All-Star break is second.
Those who remain bullish on the Clippers point out only 1½ games separate fourth place from second, that a season played amid a pandemic will remain unpredictable, and that the Clippers have hovered among the NBA’s best in net ratings all season. There is also the thought that this roster might be better suited to weather ups and downs and gain strength as the postseason nears because of the steps taken after last season fell apart.
Two such moves were the offseason signings of Batum and Serge Ibaka, who won a title in 2019 with Leonard. Both are lockerroom stabilizers and veterans.
After shooting 28% on threepointers and 43% inside the arc last season, Batum has made 43% from
deep — a career high should it continue — and 54% inside the arc. Teammates say he keeps to himself. Others were amazed when he arrived at Staples Center in January to play only hours after the birth of his daughter, still wearing a hospital tag around his wrist.
George called him “the ultimate glue guy that just kind of keeps everything together for us.”
Batum, in turn, calls the season a joy.
As he sat the final 19 games of his fifth and final season in Charlotte, with his minutes allotted to the Hornets’ younger players as part of the team’s pivot toward the
future, Batum still arrived hours early on practice days and didn’t want to be disruptive, he told the Charlotte Observer one year ago. With an apology to fans, he acknowledged underperforming during his five-year, $120-million contract.
“They put so much faith in me, and it didn’t go well,” he said.
He sensed a comfort with the Clippers, whose star duo of George and Leonard reminded him of the dynamic from his NBA start in Portland, playing off of fellow starters LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard.
“I knew I could join a team with talent like that and make sure to be the glue guy,” he said. “I’ve been like that since I’ve played my whole career, in different ways, but the base of my game has been doing that.”
Batum slid into the starting lineup in December while projected starter Marcus Morris recovered from knee tendinitis. Batum fit so well that Morris agreed to return as a reserve so as to not disrupt the starters’ groove. Of the 46 lineups across all teams this season who have played at least 100 minutes together, the Clippers’ starters own the second-highest plus-minus rating. On their first day practicing together, backup center Ivica Zubac said the new forward was “one of the best basketball IQ players that I ever played with.”
The arc of Batum’s season has traced that of his team, whose redhot start has leveled out. Batum scored in double figures 11 times in his first 21 games but just three times in his last 14. On Feb. 15, the Clippers were 21-8. Since, they’re 3-6.
The Clippers have half a season left to ramp up toward their championship goal. Batum wouldn’t have joined if he didn’t believe it was possible.
“I don’t think we ever really talk about what happened last year,” he said. “Just, why? It’s over, move on, focus on this year. Let’s win it.”
Adrian Kempe scored 1:45 into overtime and Anze Kopitar had two goals and an assist as the Kings rallied for a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
Kempe scored off a crossice pass from Gabriel Vilardi that went through the legs of Blues defenseman Torey Krug to cap a three-on-one rush and end a four-game losing streak after trailing 3-0 in the first period.
Matt Luff scored and Jonathan Quick made 22 saves for the Kings, who had not overcome a three-goal deficit to win since Dec. 18, 2014.
David Perron had a goal and an assist for the Blues, whose four-game winning streak ended. Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.
The opening period looked as if it would encapsulate how the Blues and Kings had been trending in opposite directions. St. Louis came into the game with the NHL’s best road record, while the Kings had been in free fall since a six-game winning streak made their stated goal of reaching the playoffs seem possible.
But the Kings fought back, starting with Kopitar’s goal at 13:08 of the first. He scored on the power play at 18:09 of the second and set up Luff ’s goal to tie it 3-3 with 10.5 seconds left in the period.
The Blues blitzed the Kings with three goals in 11:05 of the first period. Perron scored on a one-timer from the left circle after he and Brayden Schenn caught the Kings in transition 25 seconds into the game.
Nathan Walker made it 2-0 at 4:38, finding himself alone at the right post for a tap-in score from Sammy Blais off another St. Louis rush. Ryan O’Reilly then scored on the power play.
Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko was a minus-2 and played 15:51 in his first regular-season game since Oct. 24, 2019, when he dislocated his left shoulder against the Kings. Tarasenko returned to play in two seeding games and two playoff games when the NHL season restarted before aggravating the injury, leading to surgery last August.
The Santa Anita Handicap thought it had some star power when undefeated Maxfield shipped in for a race that was once worth $1 million but dwindled to $400,000. Yet it was a late charge by a lightly raced 4year-old that ended Maxfield’s five-race streak.
Idol, who had five starts and never won a stakes race, went from fifth at the top of the stretch to win by a halflength over Express Train. Maxfield finished third.
Idol was the fourth betting choice and paid $12.80 to win.
Idol is now the only horse eligible for a $1-million bonus if he also wins the Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 31 and the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 21. The bonus was added to attract better horses to the race.
“It’s unbelievable, I’ve been coming here since I was a 13-year-old,” said Richard
Baltas, the 59-year-old winning trainer. “Before I even got to be a horse trainer, I saw all the greats run here in the Big ’Cap, but you never think that you’re going to be here but you keep working hard and God blessed you.”
Joel Rosario was the winning jockey.
The other Grade 1 race on the card was the $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile for older horses running on the turf. It was one of the best races of the day with three horses crossing the line in close formation. It was Hit The Road ($10.40 to win) who sneaked through on the inside to win by a neck under jockey Florent Geroux, who was at Santa Anita to ride Maxfield.
The win was a milestone for trainer Dan Blacker, who won his first Grade 1.
“I gave myself 10 years to win a Grade 1 and I got it done in year nine,” Blacker said. “I don’t want to make this about me. It’s all about the horse, he’s such a professional animal, a true racehorse.”
The Grade 2 $200,000 San Carlos was won easily by a Cal-bred. Brickyard Ride ($12.00) went to the front and stayed there to win the seven-furlong race by four lengths for trainer Craig Lewis and jockey Alexis Centeno. Tigre Di Slugo finished second.
“He’s blessed with a lot of natural speed obviously and he’s learning how to relax,” Lewis said. “He reached for ground like a horse that could run forever. He’s starting to look like he could be the goods.”
In the $100,000 China Doll Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going a mile on the turf, Going Global ($4.00) had a strong finishing kick to win by three-quarters of a length.