Bledsoe helps soften loss of Billups

--While the Clippers won't have Chauncey Billups for the rest of the season, the team is close to getting another guard back at full speed.

Second-year guard Eric Bledsoe came off the bench to play a season-high 12 minutes in the Clippers' 111-86 win over Charlotte Saturday night. It was just the second game Bledsoe's played this season after undergoing knee surgery last October.

"I didn't want to play him, but we had a good enough lead. He has been out for a while, so it is going to be a process," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "When we have a lead like we had tonight I want to put him in and get his confidence level up and see how he feels condition-wise."

Bledsoe was set to return two weeks ago, but he re-aggrevated his knee in a three-on-three game, slowing his return to the rotation. Saturday, Bledsoe showed off what he brings to the table.

"He has great athleticism," Del Negro said. "He fought a lot. He is still a very young player and he is trying to get back to the level he was last year."

-- Both teams wore throwback uniforms Saturday night. The Clippers wore Los Angeles Stars jerseys and Charlotte wore Carolina Cougars uniforms.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"Any time we draw up an alley-oop play it seems to not work, and any time we're just out there and there's eye contact that's normally when it works. I think that's the way we like to play, freely and everybody moving around the screens, and that's what worked for us tonight." -- Clippers forward Blake Griffin on how the team handles alley-oops.

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