L.A.'s NBA All-Stars value chemistry

HOUSTON ? For the two most important players on the court, it takes time.

The guy with the ball and the guy who is going to get the ball have to be on the same page. They have to know when to cut, when to screen, when to take over and when to defer.

Clippers' Blake Griffin, left, and Chris Paul, right, seem to working well together. Meanwhile, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant (24) and Dwight Howard (12) seem to be a work in progress.

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And they have to know what the other guy is doing, even before it happens.

Sunday, Los Angeles' top duos will be on the court for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game. And while Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are attached in basketball bliss, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard still have a ways to go.

"It's one of those things that might be overlooked, but it's huge," Griffin said. "The better rapport you have and the better you relationship have, the better you're going to be on the court.

"When you have two guys that dominate the ball a lot and are looked to a lot, the better relationship they have, the better off you're going to be."

Griffin and Paul are in their second season together, and the pairing has helped the Clippers own the fourth-best record in the NBA heading into the All-Star break.

While things were never as rocky as they are down the hall in Staples Center, Paul and Griffin had to learn how to play with each other.

Paul said it took him a few months to get used to playing with Griffin, and Griffin said the process took even longer.

"I have a lot better feel for his game and what he's thinking," Griffin said. "I was kind of learning the game through his eyes last year and am putting that to use this year.

"There are still times when I'm thinking one thing and he's thinking another, but we've closed that gap. We've gotten better."

The results have impressed Griffin and Paul's peers.

Philadelphia 76er guard Jrue Holiday got a first-hand look at the Clippers' last week, and while his team lost ? badly ? he enjoyed the up close look at one of the NBA's best combos.

"They definitely click," Holiday said. "It's different playing against them. You definitely see the chemistry. Watching them, you can see it as well, but playing against them, hearing their conversations and everything, it's a beautiful thing."

There hasn't been as much beauty in the Bryant-Howard combination, though.

Complicating matters, Howard has to also be on the same page with Steve Nash in addition to Bryant.

"It's tough," Howard said. "All of us have been the primary guys on our teams since we've been in the NBA. We have to really learn how to play together, share, and kind of sacrifice a part of our game to help the team.

"A lot of that takes time."

Howard knows that the process can seem like it's moving slow at times because he went through it in Orlando with Jameer Nelson before the two locked in with one another.

"That took time. We had to develop that," Howard said. "We didn't have that right away. Over the years, it got better. As we got older and wiser, it started to work for us.

"When we first got together, the pick and roll didn't work. None of that stuff worked. As we grew, we got better at it."

The Lakers, in serious danger of missing the playoffs for just the third time in the last 34 years, know that they need to figure things out quickly.

"Hit the reset button," Bryant said of his All-Star plans. "And hopefully there's an 'Easy Button' like in the (Staples) commercials."

But Howard knows there isn't a button that accelerates the process of clicking with Bryant, Nash and the rest of his teammates.

There's no question the Lakers haven't meshed the way they expected to this season.

"Unfortunately, we've paid the cost for it by losing some games," Howard said. "We've got to figure out a way to do it and do it fast."

Contact the writer: dwoike@ocregister.com

Source: http://www.ocregister.com/sports/better-496197-griffin-howard.html

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