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Before playing shooting guard/small forward for the Los Angeles Clippers at the Wachovia Center Dec. 19, Rasual Butler played prognosticator.
“We’ve lost a few close games this year, but I know we’ll pull out some of those tight games soon,” the former resident of 20th and Manton streets said.
He did not have to wait long. Butler’s Clippers beat his hometown Sixers, 112-107, in overtime all while 23 inches of snow blanketed the region.
In his eighth NBA campaign, Butler serves as an occasional starter for coach Mike Dunleavy Sr.’s Clippers, unaffectionately known as “the other team in Los Angeles,” owing to the success of defending champs, the Lakers. The Point Breeze native and 1998 Roman Catholic High School alumnus, Butler attended La Salle University and entered the NBA in 2002 as a member of the Miami Heat. Following three seasons in Florida, he spent four more as a New Orleans Hornet, one of the most accomplished teams in the league at that time.
He joined the Clippers via an August trade, giving Dunleavy another perimeter threat to complement guards Baron Davis and Eric Gordon.
“There isn’t much I haven’t seen in the NBA,” Butler said, “so I am looking forward to helping this team to make a playoff push.”
Butler’s expectations are lofty, considering the Clippers have registered only one winning season this decade. The 30-year-old does not let history faze him.
“The guys on this team trust one another. The sky’s the limit for us,” he said.
This night, the Sixers almost grounded Butler and his colleagues. The hometown squad toppled the mighty Celtics in a thriller in Boston the night before, while in New York, the Clippers had blown a 20-point lead in a loss to the Knicks. The defeat came in Butler’s 500th NBA contest, a personal milestone of which he had been unaware.
“I wish we would have won; that would have been nice,” he said.
The Sixers nearly made Butler repeat himself. The Clippers may have arrived in Philadelphia by train at 1:30 a.m., but they showed no signs of fatigue as they raced to a 60-47 halftime cushion. Butler, who said returning to the City of Brotherly Love will always be special for him, secured 35 passes for family and friends in the audience, who also watched him log six minutes and score two points in a well-played first half.
The paid attendance was nearly 14,000, but tons of empty seats told a different story. The arena was so barren players could easily hear every plaudit and insult. The Clippers, gunning for their 12th win against 14 losses, outhustled the Sixers in the first 24 minutes. Set to embark on a six-game road trip, the Sixers seemed restless and took shots too early in their possessions. Contrarily, the Clippers stayed patient.
The second half featured a reversal. With guard Lou Williams back after missing time with a fractured jawbone, the Sixers began to impose themselves, hoping to craft a two-game winning streak. The Sixers were absent sparkplug Allen Iverson, who missed his second-straight game with left knee arthritis and a left shoulder contusion. Marreese Speights and former Clipper Elton Brand made up for Iverson’s absence by muscling themselves inside for key buckets that helped to erase a 16-point third-quarter deficit.
Butler’s role increased in the second half, as he enabled his team to stay within two points once it relinquished the lead. Butler, who revealed before the tip he applauds Iverson’s return to Philadelphia, gave his own fan base chances to cheer, as he collected 11 second half points. This season, Butler is averaging 9.3 points, a full point higher than his career average. This evening, however, he left both averages behind.
Referees declared a shot by Sixer Andre Iguodala did not leave his hands in time to beat the fourth-quarter buzzer, sending the game into overtime. In the extra frame, Butler and his mates proved mightier.
The Sixers rank last in the 30-team NBA in three-point defense and the Clippers exploited that, converting six of 16 shots. Butler, a solid perimeter presence, drained a “three” in overtime to put the Clippers ahead for good and later added another basket. As the committed Clippers outscored the Sixers, 13-8, in the five-minute session. The loss dropped the Sixers to 7-20, a mark that figures to worsen on the road trip that will include a rematch New Year’s Eve.
For the game, Butler made seven of 11 shots, including two “threes” in 28 minutes. He added two free-throws to give him 18 points, his fourth-highest season total, along with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Most importantly, though, the Clippers left town with a win that propelled them to 11th in the 15-team Western Conference, just below Butler’s former New Orleans teammates.
As eight teams make the playoffs, the Clippers have work to do if they want to continue playing into late spring. They will need to play tremendous ball to remind Los Angeles it has two credible teams.
“We have the talent to make it in as the seventh or eighth seed,” Butler said. “I fully expect us to be there.”
He also expects to play in the league for many more years.
“They’re probably going to have to drag me out of here,” he said.
He has aspirations to play overseas, too.
“Any location will be great, but I prefer somewhere pretty, like the south of France. Somewhere warm,” he said with a smile any Philadelphian would love to point right at the snow.
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