Revenge Games - Marcus Camby vs Clippers, Steve Blake vs Blazers

(Photo from Yahoo)
First off, I love revenge games. There are a couple different kinds of revenge games - There's the Championship Finals Rematch the following season (Lakers vs Boston- Christmas Day 2008), A team that knocked off another team out of the playoffs (Washington vs Cleveland 06-07 first round of the playoffs, 07-08 first round of the playoffs after the 05-06 first round of the playoffs - this of course lost its steam when it was concluded that the Cavs had the Wizards' number, and forever would). But my personal favorite is the "Take a look at what you traded away" revenge game, one game of which I saw personally at tonight's Clipper game when Marcus Camby took on his old team, the Clippers and Steve Blake went up against his old team, the Blazers.

As far as revenge games go however, this wasn't as noteworthy as others, given the fact that (1) the Clippers are playing for nothing, (2) the Blazers are obviously the superior team, (3) Steve Blake and Marcus Camby don't dominate the ball/ball hog to really exact revenge on their former teams, and (4) Blake can Camby aren't killer instinct players. But let's go through a brief rundown of the game:

Marcus Camby: Pre game introductions, when Marcus Camby is announced, the crowd gave him a well deserved applause and cheer. Before tipoff, Camby exchanged high fives with the starting lineup of players he'd played with on the Clippers (Butler, Davis, Kaman, Gordon). During the opening minutes, he fouls Kaman who falls to the floor and Camby lends a hand to help him up. Later on during the game, coming out of a timeout, he shares a laugh with DeAndre Jordan. And that's pretty much it! He got 2 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 2 blocks in 26 minutes, which is pretty much, give or take, his Portland averages.

(Photo from Yahoo)
Steve Blake: I have a totally rational fascination and admiration of Blake's play with the Clippers, and he was looking for his shot a little more than usual tonight while bodying up Andre Miller's fat ass on defense when he tried to post up (I counted 3 post ups by Miller, one resulted in a Blake foul, one in a 3 second violation on Miller, and one missed jump shot by Miller. Steve Blake is going to make whatever team he signs with very happy this summer). Blake ended with 14 points on 6-10 shooting, 2 three pointers, 1 rebound, 6 assists, a steal and a block in 28 minutes. His Clipper season averages are: 6 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, less than a steal, less than a block in 24 minutes.

Fun Fact - Andre Miller, Steve Blake and Marcus Camby have all played for the Clippers, Blazers and Nuggets!

And the Clippers made a little run at the end to make things interesting but the Blazers pulled away. It's been a long season for Clipper fans. But it was nice to see Baron Davis hustle back on defense not once but TWICE: one time he forced a missed layup, and later on in the game, he drew a charge on Andre Miller! I was stunned!

Here's a bonus video of more reason why I love Steve Blake:



Homie don't play dat!