Mike Dunleavy and Corey Maggette have shared an up-and-down relationship during their time together with the Los Angeles Clippers, each having difficulties with the other.
The relationship has appeared to improve of late, and it took another positive step Monday when the coach was happy to have the player back from a hamstring injury.
Dunleavy did not actually say he was happy or ecstatic or giddy, but it was obvious he felt Corey Maggette's return would help the Los Angeles Clippers.
Over the four games that Corey Maggette missed, the Los Angeles Clippers averaged 89.2 points. With him, the team averaged 99.8 points.
Corey Maggette's absence from the starting lineup meant that Dunleavy had to fiddle with his starters, leaving a lack of firepower on the bench.
"We just haven't had the same pop, the same ability to run up some numbers in spurts," Dunleavy said. "That was the one thing in the preseason that I thought we did so well was that our second group coming in put up some big numbers on some second units."
Oddly, Dunleavy tried to put some type of veil of mystery over Corey Maggette's return before Monday's game against Houston, an 88-71 loss. The coach did not say the player would be back or that he would start. Instead, he said all of that would be determined less than an hour before game time, even though Corey Maggette said the previous day that he'd be ready to play.
Corey Maggette did come back, after being out four games and nine days.
His return was much quicker than the originally released two to three weeks he was expected to be out.
Corey Maggette often returns ahead of schedule from injuries because of a mixture of hard work during therapy and a body that heals quickly.
His injury, a strained right hamstring, also was a little more serious than how a "strain" sounds.
"It's like a pull," Corey Maggette said. "It's like a sharp pain."
On Monday night, Dunleavy used yet another starting lineup, his ninth different lineup in 13 games. Corey Maggette did not start as Aaron Williams got his first start of the season.
Williams started because the Los Angeles Clippers went with a larger lineup to counteract the size of Houston's 7-foot-6 center Yao Ming.
Although the Los Angeles Clippers had all of their active players back from injuries, that didn't last long as Sam Cassell went down with 8:18 left in the first quarter. He strained his left calf and did not return. No further information was available.
The Los Angeles Clippers did have Brevin Knight, who missed the two previous games with a strained right groin. Knight, though, still appeared ailing. In the first half, Knight played four minutes, and Dan Dickau played 16 minutes.
The NBA has had some early issues with its Western Conference All-Star ballot. At first, Tim Duncan was listed as a center, but then, he was moved back to the position he has been at throughout his career - forward.
The move should allow Duncan to be voted to the All-Star team, and he probably wouldn't have otherwise because Yao Ming typically earns huge numbers of fan votes and is expected to be the starting center in the West this season.
Dunleavy, however, lobbied for Chris Kaman to receive votes.
"If he continues to play the way he's playing, he should be voted in," Dunleavy said of Chris Kaman. "I don't see anyone at the center spot playing better than he is."
Heading into their meeting on Monday, Yao was averaging 22.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. Chris Kaman was averaging 18.3 points and 13.8 rebounds.
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