2011–12 Los Angeles Clippers season explained

Team:	Los Angeles Clippers
End Year:	2012
Wins:	40
Losses:	26
Division:	Pacific
Division Place:	2
Conf Place:	5
Coach:	Vinny Del Negro
Gm:	Neil Olshey
Owner:	Donald Sterling
Arena:	Staples Center
Playoffs:	Conference semifinals (lost to Spurs 0–4)
Bbr Team:	LAC
Television:	Prime Ticket Fox Sports West
Radio:	KFWB

The 2011–12 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 42nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), their 34th season in Southern California, and their 28th season in Los Angeles. Following the 2011 NBA lockout each team only played 66 games instead of the usual 82. The Clippers finished 40–26, their best winning percentage in franchise history at the time.^[1] They finished the season as the #5 seed in the Western Conference, returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

It marked the first season with 3x All-Star and 2008 All-NBA First Team selection Chris Paul, following the completion of a trade in December with the New Orleans Hornets.^[2] Originally thought to be heading to the Lakers, Paul would make the All-NBA Third Team and lead the "Lob City" era of the Clippers for the next six years.^{[3] [4]}

In the playoffs, the Clippers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the First Round in seven games, but were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Semifinals in four games.

Key dates

• June 23: The 2011 NBA draft took place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.^[5]

Summary

NBA Draft 2011

See main article: 2011 NBA draft.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Team
2	37	Trey Thompkins	PF		Georgia
2	47	Travis Leslie	G		Georgia

Roster

Roster notes

• Forward Caron Butler becomes the 17th former Laker to play with the crosstown rival Clippers.
• Forward Bobby Simmons makes his second tour of duty with the Clippers. He played for the team from 2003–2005.
• The first year of the "Lob City" Clippers trio - Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan - who remained together until 2018.

Pre-season

Due to the 2011 NBA lockout negotiations, the programmed pre-season schedule, along with the first two weeks of the regular season were scrapped, and a two-game pre-season was set for each team once the lockout concluded.

|- bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| December 19| @ L. A. Lakers| | Chauncey Billups (23)| Chris Paul (7)| Chris Paul (9)| Staples Center| 1–0|- bgcolor="ccffcc"| 2| December 21| L. A. Lakers| | Blake Griffin (30)| DeAndre Jordan (7)| Chris Paul (10)| Staples Center| 2–0

Regular season

Game log

|- bgcolor=#cfc| 1| December 25| @ Golden State| | Blake Griffin (22)| Caron Butler (10)| Chris Paul (9)| Oracle Arena
19,596| 1–0|- bgcolor=#fcc| 2| December 28| @ San Antonio| | Blake Griffin (28)| Blake Griffin (9)| Chris Paul (9)| AT&T Center
18,581| 1–1|- bgcolor=#fcc| 3| December 30| Chicago| | Blake Griffin (34)| Blake Griffin (13)| Chris Paul (14)| Staples Center| 1–2

|- bgcolor=#cfc| 4| January 1| Portland| | Blake Griffin (20)| DeAndre Jordan (11)| Chris Paul (7)| Staples Center
19,060| 2–2|- bgcolor=#cfc| 5| January 4| Houston| | Blake Griffin (22)| Blake Griffin (9)| Chris Paul (10)| Staples Center
19,060| 3–2|- bgcolor=#cfc| 6| January 7| Milwaukee| | Blake Griffin (22)| Blake Griffin (14)| Chris Paul (7)| Staples Center
19,229| 4–2|- bgcolor=#fcc| 7| January 10| @ Portland| | Caron Butler (20)| Blake Griffin (12)| Chauncey Billups
Mo Williams (4)| Rose Garden
20,381| 4–3|- bgcolor=#cfc| 8| January 11| Miami| | Chris Paul (27)| Blake Griffin (12)| Chris Paul (11)| Staples Center
19,341| 5–3|- bgcolor=#cfc| 9| January 14| L. A. Lakers| | Chris Paul (33)| Blake Griffin (14)| Chris Paul (6)| Staples Center
19,895| 6–3|- bgcolor=#cfc| 10| January 16| New Jersey| | Blake Griffin (23)| Blake Griffin (14)| Randy Foye (10)| Staples Center
19,060| 7–3|- bgcolor=#fcc| 11| January 17| @ Utah| | Caron Butler (14)| Blake Griffin (11)| Chauncey Billups (6)| EnergySolutions Arena
19,371| 7–4|- bgcolor=#cfc| 12| January 18| Dallas| | Mo Williams (26)| Blake Griffin (17)| Blake Griffin (7)| Staples Center
19,252| 8–4|- bgcolor=#fcc| 13| January 20| Minnesota| | Mo Williams (25)| DeAndre Jordan (11)| Mo Williams (5)| Staples Center
19,492| 8–5|- bgcolor=#cfc| 14| January 22| Toronto| | Mo Williams (26)| DeAndre Jordan (16)| Chauncey Billups (14)| Staples Center
19,060| 9–5|- bgcolor=#fcc| 15| January 25| @ L. A. Lakers| | Blake Griffin (26)| Blake Griffin (9)| Chris Paul (12)| Staples Center
18,997| 9–6|- bgcolor=#cfc| 16| January 26| Memphis| | Blake Griffin (20)| Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan (9)| Blake Griffin (8)| Staples Center
19,275| 10–6|- bgcolor=#cfc| 17| January 29| @ Denver| | Chauncey Billups (32)| Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan (13)| Chris Paul (7)| Pepsi Center
19,495| 11–6|- bgcolor=#cfc| 18| January 30| Oklahoma City| | Chris Paul (26)| DeAndre Jordan (11)| Chris Paul (14)| Staples Center
19,404| 12–6

|- bgcolor=#cfc| 19| February 1| @ Utah| | Chris Paul (34)| Blake Griffin (14)| Chris Paul (11)| EnergySolutions Arena
19,637| 13–6|- bgcolor=#fcc| 20| February 2| Denver| | Blake Griffin (18)| DeAndre Jordan (9)| Chris Paul (9)| Staples Center
19,223| 13–7|- bgcolor=#cfc| 21| February 4| @ Washington| | Blake Griffin (21)| Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan (11)| Blake Griffin
Mo Williams (8)| Verizon Center
19,419| 14–7|- bgcolor=#cfc| 22| February 6| @ Orlando| | Chris Paul (29)| Blake Griffin (10)| Chris Paul (8)| Amway Center
18,846| 15–7|- bgcolor=#fcc| 23| February 8| @ Cleveland| | Blake Griffin (25)| Blake Griffin (15)| Chris Paul (12)| Quicken Loans Arena
17,100| 15–8|- bgcolor=#cfc| 24| February 10| @ Philadelphia| | Chris Paul (24)| Blake Griffin (11)| Three players (4)| Wells Fargo Center
20,539| 16–8|- bgcolor=#cfc| 25| February 11| @ Charlotte| | Blake Griffin (21)| DeAndre Jordan (12)| Chris Paul (14)| Time Warner Cable Arena
19,110| 17–8|- bgcolor=#fcc| 26| February 13| @ Dallas| | Caron Butler (23)| DeAndre Jordan (9)| Chris Paul (9)| American Airlines Center
20,436| 17–9|- bgcolor=#cfc| 27| February 15| Washington| | Blake Griffin (23)| Blake Griffin (15)| Chris Paul (9)| Staples Center
19,135| 18–9|- bgcolor=#cfc| 28| February 16| @ Portland| | Blake Griffin (21)| Blake Griffin (14)| Randy Foye (4)| Staples Center
20,665| 19–9|- bgcolor=#fcc| 29| February 18| San Antonio| | Blake Griffin (22)| Blake Griffin (20)| Chris Paul (6)| Staples Center
19,217| 19–10|- bgcolor=#fcc| 30| February 20| @ Golden State| | Chris Paul (24)| Reggie Evans (12)| Chris Paul (6)| Oracle Arena
19,596| 19–11|- bgcolor=#cfc| 31| February 22| Denver| | Chris Paul (36)| DeAndre Jordan (16)| Chris Paul (9)| Staples Center
19,163| 20–11|- bgcolor=#fcc| 32| February 28| Minnesota| | Blake Griffin (30)| DeAndre Jordan (14)| Chris Paul
Mo Williams (6)| Staples Center
19,243| 20–12

|- bgcolor=#cfc| 33| March 1| @ Sacramento| | Chris Paul (22)| Blake Griffin (9)| Chris Paul (9)| Power Balance Pavilion
15,512| 21–12|- bgcolor=#fcc| 34| March 2| @ Phoenix| | Blake Griffin (17)| Caron Butler
Kenyon Martin (8)| Chris Paul (5)| US Airways Center
18,091| 21–13|- bgcolor=#cfc| 35| March 4| @ Houston| | Chris Paul (28)| Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan (11)| Chris Paul (10)| Toyota Center
16,646| 22–13|- bgcolor=#fcc| 36| March 5| @ Minnesota| | Blake Griffin (26)| Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan (12)| Chris Paul (5)| Target Center
19,509| 22–14|- bgcolor=#fcc| 37| March 7| @ New Jersey| | Blake Griffin (28)| Blake Griffin (17)| Chris Paul (10)| Prudential Center
18,711| 22–15|- bgcolor=#cfc| 38| March 9| @ San Antonio| | Chris Paul (36)| Reggie Evans (13)| Chris Paul (11)| AT&T Center
18,581| 23–15|- bgcolor=#fcc| 39| March 11| Golden State| | Blake Griffin (27)| Reggie Evans
Blake Griffin (12)| Chris Paul (5)| Staples Center
19,183| 23–16|- bgcolor=#fcc| 40| March 12| Boston| | Blake Griffin (24)| DeAndre Jordan (13)| Chris Paul (5)| Staples Center
19,464| 23–17|- bgcolor=#cfc| 41| March 14| Atlanta| | Mo Williams (25)| Reggie Evans
Blake Griffin (210)| Chris Paul (9)| Staples Center
19,060| 24–17|- bgcolor=#fcc| 42| March 15| Phoenix| | Blake Griffin (25)| DeAndre Jordan (9)| Chris Paul (11)| Staples Center
19,060| 24–18|- bgcolor=#cfc| 43| March 17| Houston| | Chris Paul (23)| DeAndre Jordan (11)| Chris Paul (5)| Staples Center
19,060| 25–18|- bgcolor=#cfc| 44| March 18| Detroit| | Chris Paul (19)| Blake Griffin (11)| Chris Paul (15)| Staples Center
19,060| 26–18|- bgcolor=#fcc| 45| March 20| @ Indiana| | Blake Griffin (23)| Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan (10)| Chris Paul (8)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
14,901| 26–19|- bgcolor=#fcc| 46| March 21| @ Oklahoma City| | Randy Foye (23)| Blake Griffin (7)| Chris Paul (10)| Chesapeake Energy Arena
18,203| 26–20|- bgcolor=#fcc| 47| March 22| @ New Orleans| | Blake Griffin (21)| Blake Griffin (11)| Chris Paul (9)| New Orleans Arena
17,209| 26–21|- bgcolor=#cfc| 48| March 24| Memphis| | Blake Griffin (20)| Blake Griffin (10)| Chris Paul (13)| Staples Center
19,060| 27–21|- bgcolor=#cfc| 49| March 26| New Orleans| | Chris Paul (25)| Blake Griffin (7)| Chris Paul (10)| Staples Center
19,060| 28–21|- bgcolor=#cfc| 50| March 28| Phoenix| | Blake Griffin (27)| Blake Griffin (14)| Chris Paul (15)| Staples Center
19,060| 29–21|- bgcolor=#cfc| 51| March 30| Portland| | Three players (20)| Blake Griffin (13)| Chris Paul (14)| Staples Center
19,060| 30–21|- bgcolor=#cfc| 52| March 31| Utah| | Chris Paul (26)| DeAndre Jordan (10)| Three players (6)| Staples Center
19,060| 31–21

|- bgcolor=#cfc| 53| April 2| @ Dallas| | Randy Foye (28)| Blake Griffin (16)| Chris Paul (10)| American Airlines Center
20,479| 32–21|- bgcolor=#fcc| 54| April 4| L. A. Lakers| | Caron Butler (28)| Blake Griffin (9)| Chris Paul (8)| Staples Center
19,819| 32–22|- bgcolor=#cfc| 55| April 5| @ Sacramento| | Randy Foye (20)| Blake Griffin (14)| Chris Paul (16)| Power Balance Pavilion
14,411| 33–22|- bgcolor=#cfc| 56| April 7| Sacramento| | Blake Griffin (27)| Blake Griffin (14)| Chris Paul (15)| Staples Center
19,060| 34–22|- bgcolor=#fcc| 57| April 9| @ Memphis| | Chris Paul (21)| DeAndre Jordan (14)| Chris Paul (6)| FedEx Forum
17,219| 34–23|- bgcolor=#cfc| 58| April 11| @ Oklahoma City| | Chris Paul (31)| Blake Griffin (12)| Blake Griffin (7)| Chesapeake Energy Arena
18,203| 35–23|- bgcolor=#cfc| 59| April 12| @ Minnesota| | Blake Griffin (19)| Blake Griffin (13)| Chris Paul (8)| Target Center
16,016| 36–23|- bgcolor=#cfc| 60| April 14| Golden State| | Chris Paul (28)| Blake Griffin (9)| Chris Paul (13)| Staples Center
19,060| 37–23|- bgcolor=#cfc| 61| April 16| Oklahoma City| | Nick Young (19)| DeAndre Jordan (12)| Chris Paul (10)| Staples Center
19,516| 38–23|- bgcolor=#cfc| 62| April 18| @ Denver| | Chris Paul (21)| DeAndre Jordan (9)| Chris Paul (8)| Pepsi Center
17,219| 39–23|- bgcolor=#fcc| 63| April 19| @ Phoenix| | Chris Paul (19)| Blake Griffin (11)| Chris Paul (10)| US Airways Center
14,644| 39–24|- bgcolor=#cfc| 64| April 22| New Orleans| | Chris Paul (33)| Blake Griffin (15)| Chris Paul (13)| Staples Center
19,060| 40–24|- bgcolor=#fcc| 65| April 24| @ Atlanta| | Blake Griffin (36)| DeAndre Jordan (9)| Chris Paul (8)| Philips Arena
18,223| 40–25|- bgcolor=#fcc| 66| April 25| @ New York| | Blake Griffin (29)| Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan (10)| Blake Griffin (6)| Madison Square Garden
19,763| 40–26

Playoffs

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| April 29| @ Memphis| W 99–98| Nick Young (19)| Reggie Evans (13)| Chris Paul (11)| FedExForum
18,119| 1–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 2| May 2| @ Memphis| L 98–105| Chris Paul (29)| Blake Griffin (9)| Chris Paul (6)| FedExForum
18,119| 1–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 3| May 5| Memphis| W 87–86| Chris Paul (24)| Reggie Evans (11)| Chris Paul (11)| Staples Center
19,060| 2–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 4| May 7| Memphis| W 101–97 (OT)| Blake Griffin (30)| Chris Paul (9)| Griffin, Paul (7)| Staples Center
19,167| 3–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 5| May 9| @ Memphis| L 80–92| Mo Williams (20)| Blake Griffin (11)| Chris Paul (4)| FedExForum
18,119| 3–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 6| May 11| Memphis| L 88–90| Blake Griffin (15)| Reggie Evans (10)| Chris Paul (7)| Staples Center
19,060| 3–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 7| May 13| @ Memphis| W 82–72| Chris Paul (19)| Kenyon Martin (10)| Chris Paul (4)| FedExForum
18,119| 4–3|-|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 1| May 15| @ San Antonio| L 92–108| Eric Bledsoe (23)| Griffin, Jordan (9)| Chris Paul (10)| AT&T Center
18,581| 0–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 2| May 17| @ San Antonio| L 88–105| Blake Griffin (20)| DeAndre Jordan (7)| Chris Paul (5)| AT&T Center
18,581| 0–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 3| May 19| San Antonio| L 86–96| Blake Griffin (28)| Blake Griffin (16)| Chris Paul (11)| Staples Center
19,060| 0–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 4| May 20| San Antonio| L 99–102| Chris Paul (23)| DeAndre Jordan (8)| Chris Paul (11)| Staples Center
19,060| 0–4|-

Injuries and surgeries

Player	Injury Date	Injury Type
Chauncey Billups	February 6, 2012	Torn left Achilles tendon (out for the season)
Caron Butler	April 29, 2012	Broken bone in left hand (out for 1 game)

Player statistics

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
	66	66	36.2	.549	.125	.521	10.9	3.2	.8	.7	20.7
	66	66	27.2	.632	.000	.525	8.3	.3	.5	2.0	7.4
	65	48	25.9	.398	.386	.859	2.1	2.2	.7	.4	11.0
	63	63	29.7	.407	.358	.813	3.7	1.2	.8	.1	12.0
	60	60	36.4	.478	.371	.861	3.6	9.1	2.5	.1	19.8
	56	0	13.8	.472		.507	4.8	.3	.6	.1	1.9
	52	1	28.3	.426	.389	.900	1.9	3.1	1.0	.1	13.2
	42	0	22.4	.441	.231	.370	4.3	.4	1.0	1.0	5.2
	40	1	11.6	.389	.200	.636	1.6	1.7	.8	.4	3.3
	32	2	13.3	.326	.138	.727	1.9	.4	.5	.0	2.3
	28	0	14.9	.311	.333	.571	2.0	.4	.5	.1	2.9
	24	0	5.0	.393	.308	.714	1.0	.1	.1	.1	2.4
^†	22	3	23.5	.394	.353	.821	1.6	.5	.6	.3	9.7
	20	20	30.4	.364	.384	.895	2.5	4.0	.5	.2	15.0
^†	16	0	7.6	.224	.185	1.000	1.4	.1	.1	.3	1.9
^†	10	0	9.6	.125		.800	1.7	.2	.4	.5	.6
	10	0	4.5	.357		.444	.9	.5	.2	.2	1.4
^†	4	0	11.5	.417	.250	.667	2.0	1.3	.0	.0	4.3

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
	11	11	38.5	.427	.333	.872	5.1	7.9	2.7	.1	17.6
	11	11	35.7	.500	.000	.636	6.9	2.5	1.8	.9	19.1
	11	11	26.5	.392	.438	.846	2.0	1.5	.5	.3	7.5
	11	11	22.6	.525		.333	5.3	.4	.6	1.6	4.5
	11	0	20.8	.436	.364	.923	.8	1.4	.5	.5	9.6
	11	0	18.2	.433	.515	.889	1.1	.3	.3	.4	8.3
	11	0	18.0	.533		.425	7.3	.1	.8	.5	3.0
	11	0	17.5	.524		.625	3.2	.3	.4	1.7	4.5
	11	0	17.2	.587	.429	.625	2.4	2.1	1.2	.4	7.9
	10	10	26.8	.359	.258	.750	3.0	1.0	.6	.2	8.6
	4	1	8.0	.556	.250		.3	.0	.0	.0	2.8

Transactions

Trades

December 14, 2011	To Los Angeles Clippers Chris Paul Two future second-round draft picks	To New Orleans Hornets Al-Farouq Aminu Eric Gordon Chris Kaman 2012 first-round draft pick
March 15, 2012	To Los Angeles Clippers Nick Young	To Washington Wizards Brian Cook 2015 second-round draft pick

Free agents

Re-signed

Player	Signed	Contract
Brian Cook	July 1, 2011	One-year deal (Player Option)
DeAndre Jordan	December 12, 2011	4-year deal (Matched offer by Golden State Warriors)

Additions

Player	Signed	Former Team
Caron Butler	December 9, 2011	Dallas Mavericks
Chauncey Billups	December 12, 2011	New York Knicks
Reggie Evans	December 22, 2011	Toronto Raptors
Solomon Jones	January 4, 2012	Indiana Pacers
Courtney Fortson	January 16, 2012	Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League)
Kenyon Martin	February 3, 2012	Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers (CBA)
Bobby Simmons	February 27, 2012 Contract expired March 20 Re-signed March 24	Reno Bighorns (D-League)

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Ike Diogu	Renounced, December 9	San Antonio Spurs
Jamario Moon	Renounced, December 9	Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League)
Craig Smith	Renounced, December 9	Portland Trail Blazers
Willie Warren	Waived, December 19	Rio Grande Valley Vipers (D-League)
Courtney Fortson	Waived, January 27	Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League)
Solomon Jones	Waived, February 7	New Orleans Hornets

References

1. Markazi, Arash. Report cards: Del Negro. ESPN. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
2. Web site: 2011-12-15 . Clippers get All-Star Paul in trade with Hornets . 2023-08-04 . ESPN.com . en.
3. Web site: 2021-12-13 . Why the NBA killed the Chris Paul trade to Lakers and preferred the Clippers . 2023-08-04 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
4. Web site: Buha . Jovan . The 2010s: Lob City stars lead the Clippers’ team of the decade . 2023-08-04 . The Athletic . en.
5. Web site: Report: NBA draft moving to Newark. ESPN.com. October 27, 2010. October 27, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101030154621/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5733121. 30 October 2010 . live.