At the point in the NBA season when some players are beginning to hit the so-called rookie wall, Eric Gordon is beginning his ascent.
The Los Angeles Clippers guard has scored career highs the past two games, going for 31 points Sunday against Detroit and 32 Tuesday in Dallas.
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"He's very explosive,"
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy told reporters after Tuesday's game. "He's a terrific scorer, a very good defender, and now he's getting a chance to start playing more point guard. And he's been doing a pretty good job at that, too."
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said Gordon is "learning how to be a great offensive player."
"He just comes at you with strength, explosiveness,"
Carlisle said.
Those two performances gave the former Indianapolis prep standout 129 points the past five games, the best stretch for a Clippers rookie in 26 years. The last Clippers rookie to score that many points in five games was Terry Cummings in March 1983, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"The more games you play, the more confident you get,"
Gordon said. "It's all about having fun for the most part."
"The rookie wall is all about when you're playing so much basketball you get tired of it. If you just keep on learning and doing the things you need to do, everything will be good."
The former North Central High School star who led the Big Ten in scoring as an Indiana University freshman last season joined Memphis' O.J. Mayo as the only NBA rookies to score 30-plus points in consecutive games this season.
Gordon started his five-game surge with a 24-point effort at Sacramento. Two of his points came on a drive-and-dunk that had teammates talking.
"Oh man, he shocked me with that one,"
Al Thornton told reporters. "I knew he could dunk, but I didn't know he could dunk like that."
The so-called rookie wall normally comes when an NBA team reaches the number of games in two months that a player played in five months of a college season. The Clippers (8-26) already have played more games than IU (33) did last year.
The past five games, Gordon is averaging 25.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He shot 49%, including 41% from three-point range, and made 38-of-41 free throws in that stretch.
"The main thing is trying to play team ball,"
he said. "The best thing to do when there's a situation where you don't have too many players playing is to make good decisions."
Due to injuries, roster moves and Ricky Davis' suspension, the Clippers had only eight players in their 107-102 loss to the Mavericks and only nine in their 88-87 loss to Detroit.
Gordon, who turned 20 on Christmas, has been strong for nearly three weeks. Over the past 10 games, he has averaged 19.6 points while shooting 46%.
His 31- and 32-point outbursts are his first consecutive 30-point games since his third and fourth games at IU.
Gordon, the only player in franchise history to score 24 or more points in his first two starts, is sixth among rookies in scoring at 11.9 points per game. He came off the bench early, then became a fixture in the starting lineup after the Clippers traded Cuttino Mobley on Nov. 21.
Thursday night's game reunites Gordon and the Spurs' George Hill, who have known each other since elementary school. Hill, averaging 7.9 points per game, scored 15 in the Spurs' 91-84 victory over Miami on Monday.
"To see him on this level, in the NBA, it's fun because you're seeing a guy who had his dreams come true and is playing professional basketball,"
Gordon said. "It's good for anybody you know who has made it at this level."
