Gallinari will be cramming for chemistry
Not only was Danilo Gallinari unable to play in many preseason games with new teammates Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, but the Clippers’ new starting small forward was unable to get in many practices with the two.
A strained left foot put Gallinari down in the second exhibition game in Hawaii against the Toronto Raptors, and the injury kept him from practicing until last Sunday.
So when Gallinari started against the Lakers on Thursday night at Staples Center, he found himself still trying to figure out how best to operate with Griffin and Jordan.
“I think we did a pretty good job as far as chemistry with us three,” Gallinari said. “But everybody is trying to learn how to play with each other. Everybody is new so it’s going to take a while. It’s going to be a learning process the whole season.”
Gallinari is a 6-10 forward with a smooth shooting touch. He can also play some power forward. Now it’s just a matter of finding his spots on the court in support of Griffin and Jordan.
“It’s something that we are working on,” said Gallinari, who scored 11 points in the opener. “It’s something we kind of figured out already a little bit. But like I said, it’s something that every game we’re going to get better with that.”
They were open
The Clippers believe they are a far better shooting team than the 39.3% they shot against the Lakers.
They believe Gallinari is better than the three for 12 he shot, Austin Rivers is better than one for 11, Patrick Beverley is better than four for 12 and Milos Teodosic is better than two for nine.
The Clippers believe this because the shots they got were with very little pressure from the Lakers. For the most part, the Clippers got wide-open looks.
“We shot 39% and had 30 just point-blank, wide-open shots at the rim, wide-open threes,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “So that was good news, that you can get those shots. Now you have to make some of them, which would be nice.”