Game Thread: Knicks vs. Clippers- 2/10/13

Good day! Snow be damned, the Knicks and Clippers have found their way to New York to play a basketball game this afternoon. While the Knicks are coming off a win that was...well, a win, but well short of a bounce-back from the Wednesday loss in DC, the Clippers are recovering from some injuries. This game is the penultimate stop on a loooooong road trip in the Clippers, most of which has been spent without Chris Paul and part of which missed Blake Griffin, too. Not until Friday's game in Miami did the Clips have anything even resembling a full lineup. Paul played pretty poorly in that one-- his first game back-- and L.A. got blown out by the Heat.

So, it's hard to know what to expect from these Clips. They've been playing pretty poorly for a few weeks, but that was without Paul. In their first game with Paul back, things still didn't go so well. If ever there was a stage for a quick, creative point guard to get back on track, it's the Knicks perimeter defense. On the other hand, the Clippers have proven susceptible to three-point shooting. Clipper Steve:

The Clippers have allowed their opponents to make more than 10 three pointers while hitting better than 40% from deep on 11 occasions this season, and they are 0-11 in those games. In case you hadn't figured it out, that means they are 35-6 in the 41 games when they don't get lit up from deep.

So, ya know, today would be a good day for Jason Kidd to break out of his slump and for J.R. Smith and Steve Novak to have big games off the bench and so forth. Oh, and here's a thing:

Woodson said Shumpert will start out on Chris Paul #Knicks

After a long stretch filled with not-quite-satisfactory wins, this marks the first of many chances coming up to make a bit more of a statement against quality competition. Will the Knick defense awake against an elite offensive opponent? Can they move the ball and execute consistently, without massive stretches of stagnation? Can I think of a third thing on which the Knicks' prospects hinge?

Tip-off today is at 1 PM on ABC and ABC alone. No MSG. Here's your thread and here's Clips Nation. Please don't post large photos, .gifs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. C'mon now, Knicks. Show us something.