And so I expect more than what I got from them Thursday in a rather flat 12-point loss to Memphis in Game 3.  The Clippers played a step slow, as if hesitant to go on the attack, even though that's just a way of life here if you want to survive.  True story, and I shouldn't be trashed for reporting the facts:  They just put up billboards at the Memphis city limits that read: "Danger: Enter at Your Own Risk. This city does not support public safety."  They were paid for by the Memphis Police Assn.  I hope you're not planning your next vacation here without a body guard.  "This is one of the most dangerous cities in the nation," Michael Williams, president of the Memphis Police Assn., told a TV reporter. And I've got to walk back to my hotel.  It's so violent here they showed a fan dressed in a Clippers T-shirt on the Jumbotron trying to buy a ticket, only to be slapped hard in the face when confronted by the Grizzlies' mascot.  A fan held up a sign inside the arena: "Welcome home Grizz, we got your backs," and I guess folks here are even worried about the safety of the Memphis players.  When the Grizzlies faithful arrived they were given "growl towels," which read "Believe Memphis." You know, as in believe there just have to be better days ahead, Memphis.  Or, as the local columnist who wrote about the towels, and that's what they write about here, put it: "In Memphis the towels have become a symbol of something larger, of belief in the broader community."  I thought it was just a basketball game and a towel just a towel. But I guess it's Memphis' hope the towels will somehow make this a better place to live, although I might suggest handing out bulletproof vests for the next game.  Whatever the decision, we know this: The towels worked in stopping the Clippers cold.  If you want to insist on remaining positive, this game proved only one thing: The value of the home-court advantage. And the Clippers still have it.  OK, so maybe it also demonstrated what a difference former Clipper Zach Randolph can make when he's aggressive and free of early foul trouble.  Randolph scored 27 points and had 11 rebounds, while his wrestling mate Blake Griffin had 16 points but only two rebounds.  "It was probably my fault," said Chris Paul when asked what went wrong. And no reason to argue.  He had eight points but also five turnovers, and the other Clippers followed his lead.  "I think [the Grizzlies] played desperate," said Chauncey Billups, after the announcement that for their own security, all players must take the bus to the hotel, which is located across the street from the arena.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. &mdash;  I've put my life on the line to be here in this rathole with our  Clippers .