No. 11 still suits Crawford

By Lisa Dillman Word-association time. Buffalo Braves? “I know Bob McAdoo,” said the Clippers’ Jamal Crawford.

On Friday, he was being asked about his knowledge of the place where it all started for this Clippers’ franchise years ago, in Buffalo. The Buffalo Braves established a franchise-record 11game winning streak in 1974, which the Clippers broke later Friday with a 97-85 win over Sacramento.

It’s hard to expect the Clippers to know that much about the achievements of the franchise 38 years ago. Especially when Crawford was born in 1980.

“He wore No. 11, that’s for sure,” Crawford said of McAdoo, the league’s most valuable player in 1975. “Scoring supreme. He was unbelievable.”

After all, the guys in the No. 11 club have to stick together, right?

Wearing No. 11 was so important to Crawford that he once paid then-Portland Trail Blazers teammate Luke Babbitt a reported $12,000 to get his number, after days of “negotiations.”

Crawford has a way of getting what he wants. If one way doesn’t work, there are other methods.

“You’ve got to be more aggressive,” he said. “It’s a good thing to be able score different ways, so you just don’t have to rely on your jumper,” he said. “I’ve never viewed myself as just a shooter.”

Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro discussed the adaptability of Crawford, who had a season-high eight assists at Charlotte.

“We need him to score, but he’s making the right play . . . because other guys can score when they put two guys on him.” Billups update

There still is no scheduled date for the return of guard Chauncey Billups, who has sat out nine games because of an injured left foot. But he says it’s different from his Achilles’ tendon tear last season.

“Last year there was just no hope,” he said. “This year I know I’ll be playing.”