Paul: Clippers need to be tougher at home

The Los Angeles Clippers may be fishing around for new arena options down the road, but they'll continue to call Staples Center home until at least 2024, and in the meantime Chris Paul wants his team (and, perhaps, its fans) to make it a more daunting venue for opponents.

"One of the biggest things for us is our home court hasn't really been a home court," Paul told reporters Saturday, according to ESPN's Jovan Buha. "I don't know - for some reason we haven't made it a tough place to play."

The Clippers were 29-12 at home last season, which is a strong mark, but not particularly impressive for a team as good as they are. The Charlotte Hornets, for example, won five fewer games than the Clippers, but finished with a better record at home. The Portland Trail Blazers won nine fewer games, but just one fewer at home.

Whether it's because they have to share their digs with the Lakers, or because their fans don't get rowdy enough, or because of some other inexplicable factor, the Clippers' home-court advantage has been far less pronounced than that of many other teams. Just don't blame owner Steve Ballmer.

The Clippers will get a chance to change that early in the season, with nine of their first 15 games coming at Staples.

"We've talked about it a lot," Paul said. "The very first day of camp, our team meetings, we talked about getting off to a good start."