Baron Davis and Marcus Camby are back in the lineup for the Clippers, and Zach Randolph was upgraded to questionable for Monday's game in Miami against the Heat. L.A. is no doubt happy that they are starting to get healthy, but all of those games that their stars missed had at least one unintentional benefit, which was rookie Eric Gordon getting a ton of playing time -- something he's definitely made the most of.
In the month of January, Gordon averaged over 41 minutes per game, and he used that time productively: he put up a rookie-best 21.9 points per game, and that was good enough to earn him the NBA's Rookie of the Month honor in the Western Conference.
He bested such big names as Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, and O.J. Mayo for the award, and it's hard to argue that any of them were better than Gordon in January. Besides leading all rookies in points per game and minutes played for the month, he finished first in free throw percentage, and fourth in assists. He also put up a career high 41 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 23rd, which was the most by a Clippers' rookie since Al Thornton dropped 39 in his first year with the team last season.
