Nov 19, 2012; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (20) drives to the basket as Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes (right) defends during the second half at the AT

The Clippers 8-2 start has the entire league shaking its collective head. With their last two victories firmly establishing their talent and maturity, the Clippers have evolved into a scary opponent. Here are five take aways from their last two impressive victories over the Bulls and Spurs…

1. Matt Barnes: who could have predicted Barnes would be picked up off the Lakers scrap heap as an unrestricted free agent, report for veteran’s minimum in the best shape of any player on the Clippers squad, then contribute in big wins over top tier competition (he even guarded Kobe Bryant effectively in the team’s first meeting with his former team). His 14 points on 5 for 8 shooting, 4 for 4 from the line, and 9 rebounds in 35 minutes (due to Caron Butler’s shoulder injury increasing his playing time) against the Spurs in their arena, following up 13 points and 6 rebounds against Chicago on Saturday night – to say nothing of his tough defense – makes one wonder just what the Lakers were thinking in letting him walk in the offseason.

2. The Clippers tough defense: Last year’s Clippers team ranked close to last in virtually every category, defensively, especially vulnerable to perimeter baskets on failed rotations. This year, the Clippers are a respectable top 15 and rising, with a top 5 ranking in field goal percentage. The Bulls shot only 39%, with the Spurs a full 10 percentage points under their average at 35%. Diondre Jordan is one of the main reasons as he’s matured and doesn’t commit silly fouls attempting ill-advised blocks. Jordan’s ability to hold down the middle allows the rest of the team to guard the mid range and get out on 3 point shooters quicker. Eric Bledsoe in the second unit is simply a defensive force, disrupting oppositions’ entire offensive sets the entire length of the floor. An effective strategy has been to pair Bledsoe and Paul on the floor simultaneously, resulting in steals and quick transition baskets.

3. Diondre Jordan and Blake Griffin’s foul shooting: OK, so they’re not Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford at the charity stripe; however, it is no longer a given that teams can simply foul the two big men at will (a-la Mark Jackson’s Warriors). Jordan’s entire mechanics have been retooled and his stroke is smooth and the ugly hitch from last year gone. After missing his first million attempts, his percentage has steadily climbed and will probably be over 60% or better by mid-season. It will only get better as he gains confidence. Blake has also improved his shot somewhat and is hitting them at a decent clip.

4. Blake Griffin’s mid range jumper: We saw hints of this facet of his game late last season and it’s obvious he worked hard in the off season pulling up for the 20 footer when defenses cheat and lay off to deny him a path to the basket. Indeed, he is now confident pulling up and firing (mostly at the urging of Chris Paul) and hitting them with enough regularity to pull his man further from the entry lanes. This results in Blake blowing past slower defenders for layups and dunks, as well as collapsing other defenders for kick outs to shooters on the perimeter. Jamal Crawford (and Caron Butler) is a huge beneficiary of Blake’s improved outside shooting as he will continue to get open looks from long range as Blake draws double or triple teams on drives.

5. Coaching: After getting the Clippers to the second round of the playoffs last year (and winning a bruising opening series against the Grizzlies), there were still Vinnie Del Negro skeptics who felt he didn’t deserve a chance to return. This year, he is proving them wrong with a vengeance. His disciplined, well-coached squad is now firmly among the NBA’s elite and has faced a brutal schedule to jump out to 8-2 and first place in the division. The two losses to inferior teams is still mentioned in interviews, meaning Del Negro is using those losses to motivate and improve his team’s energy and effort levels, resulting in 48 minutes of fight each and every night. Chicago offered a tantalizing trap opportunity, which the Clippers brushed off with a thoroughly dominating performance, followed up by a gritty, hard fought victory over the Spurs for a second time in 14 days.

Nov 19, 2012; San Antonio, TX, USA; \San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) and Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (left) exchange words during the second half at the AT

“I don’t know if the Clippers are that good. They haven’t played on the road yet. Have them play some tough games on the road and then we’ll see how good the Clippers really are.”

That became a huge talking point about the Los Angeles Clippers’ early season play. Because of scheduling, the Clippers hadn’t had as many road games as other teams, instead having seven of their first nine games of the season be at home.

Despite having won both of their road games, the Clippers had only traveled on one of those games (they played against the Lakers as the away team).

That’s why this four-gamer is going to be a great litmus test to see how good these Los Angeles Clippers really are.

It’s much easier to win when the fans are cheering for you. It’s much easier to make free throws when the fans aren’t doing all they can to have you miss.

Good teams win at home, great teams win on the road. The Clippers were out to make a statement tonight in San Antonio, with the Spurs having some early-season revenge on their mind.

After having of a rude of awakening following back-to-back losses to the Warriors and Cavaliers, the Clippers dismantled the Spurs 106-84 in their next game, spurring the Clippers on to five straight wins – four of them by double figures.

The Spurs shot 41 percent from the field, turned it over 20 times and were outrebounded by 17. The Clippers absolutely had their way with the Spurs back on November 7th and you just know the Spurs wanted to put the Clippers in their place tonight.

Early on, that looked like it would be the case.

The Spurs would jump out to a 7-2 lead, but the Clippers would respond by outscoring them 20-9 during the remainder of the first quarter.

After a sloppy first quarter (six turnovers), the Clippers found themselves trailing 28-18.

But after the opening quarter, the Clippers began to buckle down on both ends.

After Gary Neal made the Spurs’ first shot of the second quarter at the 11:18 mark, they wouldn’t score a bucket for another eight minutes and 14 seconds. You read that right.

Backed by excellent bench play yet again, the Clippers would go on a huge 25-6 run and end up outscoring the Spurs by 15 in the quarter. The Clippers were halfway through their first big road test; holding a five-point edge at 47-42 going into halftime.

Then in the second half, the game really got good.

It was physical. The refs let them play. The fans were loud and heavily invested into the game.

It was a playoff-like atmosphere in mid-November and to put it simply, the game was just plain fun to watch.

It was the Western Conference’s best team from a year ago pitted against one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

The two teams would teeter-totter back and forth in the third quarter, but right toward the end, the energy ramped up another notch on one play.

This one.

DeAndre Jordan’s priceless reaction says it all. Chris Paul never goes up for a dunk and that’s what made this play so big.

It would be the final bucket of the third quarter and would prove to be a huge momentum shift. The Clippers were more than energized after Paul’s slam.

One guy who was energized that wound up being a huge difference-maker in the game was Ronny Turiaf.

Turiaf came in for the first time in the game following Ryan Hollins’ sixth foul at the 9:47 mark. Turiaf would have back-t0-back critical put-backs for the Clippers to help salvage four points out of missed shots. They may have just been the most important four points of the game and considering Turiaf was coming off the bench stone cold, it’s incredible how big his play ended up being in the grand scheme of the game.

However, as expected, the Spurs just would not go away.

After trailing by as many as 10 in the quarter, the Spurs would cut the lead to two with two and a half minutes to go. Matt Bonner started doing what he does best, go bombs away from beyond the three-point line. The Red Rocket started launching and the Clippers didn’t have an answer at the time.

Then under two minutes still nursing a two point need, the Clippers were in need of a bucket to thwart the Spurs’ comeback bid.

So who better to give the ball to than Chris Paul?

Paul would take a 14-footer, right in his bread and butter range… but have it clang off the iron.

But lo and behold, Eric Bledsoe would come from out of nowhere to corral the miss, go up strong and lay in the second-chance bucket.

Manu Ginobili would cut the lead back to two points on a beauty of a well-defended running left-handed layup that left Matt Barnes shaking his head.

But with half a minute to go in the game, Chris Paul would hit his signature dagger shot.

Paul would start his move with six seconds on the shot clock, take two hard dribbles to the right elbow, go between his legs toward the middle of the key to create an inch of separation from Tony Parker, take one dribble with his left hand, spin right, gather himself and off two feet, nail an absolute beauty of a game-closing bucket from 12 feet away.

But words just don’t do Chris Paul’s play justice… see for yourself.

A play like that is the exact reason why the Clippers went out and traded for Chris Paul. There’s no other way to put it.

At the end of regulation, the Clippers would walk out of the AT&T Center as five-point winners, 92-87 being the final.

The Clippers have now won a half dozen games in a row and are off to a historically good 8-2 start.

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Kawhi Leonard being inactive and Stephen Jackson exiting the game a few minutes into the game with a finger injury definitely helped the Clippers en route to their victory, but a win is a win, and a road win like tonight’s is huge for the team’s confidence moving forward.

All in all, as well as Chris Paul played, I wouldn’t exactly say he was the reason why the Clippers won this game.

You can make a great case that Matt Barnes was the reason.

Caron Butler decided to give his strained right shoulder a try in tonight’s game but had to leave early after it began to act up on him.

Cue in Matt Barnes.

Barnes had a ridiculously active and efficient stat line Monday night, going for 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting while grabbing nine rebounds and forcing three steals on the Spurs.

His most telling stat? He led the Clippers in individual +/- ratio, finishing as a +19 in his 35 minutes of play.

Barnes did a little bit of everything tonight, with his most memorable stretch coming in a one minute and nine second stretch halfway through the second quarter.

On three consecutive plays, Barnes would establish great post position, haul in a rebound from a missed jumper and power up strong for two.

Chris Paul even said it himself after the game on Fox Sports West that the game ball belonged to Barnes.

Who would have thought that in an offseason where Grant Hill and Lamar Odom come to town, Matt Barnes would be the one stealing all the small forward headlines for the Clippers. The man has earned 100 percent of every minute he’s played so far this year, and I can’t envision Vinny del Negro shifting away any of his minutes to another player at this point in time.

Barnes has been such a factor off the bench to start the season and he is truly beginning to emerge as an extremely important role player for the Clippers.

In short, Monday’s win was a one for the Clippers, and it starts their four-game road trip off on the right foot.

Five Clippers finished in double figures scoring the ball (Paul-19, Griffin-16, Barnes-14, Jordan-13, Crawford-11) and they again won the battle on the boards by outrebounding the Spurs 52-42.

Despite missing 11 of their 12 three-point attempts, the Clippers shot a rock-solid 47 percent from the field, while holding the Spurs to under 36 percent.

The Clippers’ bench was yet again a catalyst in a Clippers win, accounting for 42 of the team’s 92 total points.

However, the Clippers did turn the ball over a whopping 17 times. The turnovers have been a recurring theme this season, but it may be due in large part to the continual jelling that this Clippers’ roster is still working through.

The Clippers certainly passed their first true road test with flying colors tonight, but the trip will only get tougher from here.

Up next, the Clippers head to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder on Wednesday at 4:30, and end the road trip on a back-to-back with games at Brooklyn on Friday and at Atlanta on Saturday.