Clippers at Suns
The Carmelo Anthony trade rumors keep lurking around the Los Angeles Clippers and their recent swoon isn't going to do anything to halt the speculation. The Clippers dropped four of their last five games entering Tuesday's road contest against the Phoenix Suns and the latest loss was an embarrassing 144-98 beat down at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.
Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers regularly boasts about how much he likes his team but that hasn't stopped him from looking into the possibility of acquiring the New York forward. The Knicks seem intent on moving Anthony prior to the trading deadline and the Clippers certainly are considering adding him even as Rivers maintains the 46-point whipping doesn't concern him. "It's not like I'm thinking we're not going to get it back or anything like that," Rivers told reporters. "We're going to be fine -- and I keep saying that. Right now we're going through a lot of stuff but we'll be fine. I have no doubt about that." Phoenix suffered its fourth straight setback when it fell 115-96 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday and is allowing 119.3 points during the stretch.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (30-18): Los Angeles has been without point guard Chris Paul (thumb) for the last five games and just recently got power forward Blake Griffin (knee) back from an 18-game absence. Griffin scored 20 points in 23 minutes on Saturday against the Warriors in his second game back and is attempting to keep the trouncing in perspective. "You look at it and you realize what you can correct and what you could have done better," Griffin told reporters. "And hopefully, there's one thing we did well for one small period of the game. After that, you're got to throw it away. You have to clear your mind of that because it doesn't stop."
ABOUT THE SUNS (15-33): Second-year guard Devin Booker suffered through a porous 6-of-20 shooting night against Memphis but still scored 22 points for his 13th consecutive 20-point outing. Booker is just 1-of-11 from 3-point range over the past three games after knocking down 12-of-19 over his previous three contests. Backcourt mate Eric Bledsoe had an even tougher time against the Grizzlies by scoring 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting after putting up a career-best 41 against the Denver Nuggets two nights earlier.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers won this season's first two matchups with the Suns by an average of 14.5 points.
2. Phoenix rookie F Marquese Chriss scored a season-high 20 points against Memphis for his fifth double-digit outing of the month.
3. Los Angeles G Austin Rivers, who is part of the Anthony trade talk speculation, scored just 10 points against the Warriors after tallying 20 or more in three of the previous four.