The death of Scott Sterling, son of Los Angeles Clippers' owner Donald Sterling, was ruled accidental on Monday.

The report suggests that Sterling injected an "oral narcotic medication" that was intended to be taken orally.

Sterling was found dead in his Malibu apartment on New Year's night. 

Sterling was arrested in 1999 in Beverly Hills in connection with the shooting of childhood friend Philip Scheid.

Eric Bledsoe had 15 points and six rebounds in just 18 minutes on Saturday when the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1. The 23-year-old guard shot seven of seven overall and helped the Clippers pull away in the fourth quarter.

Chris Paul is a free agent at season's end but is sounding more and more positive about re-signing with the Clippers. Even so, Paul knows the Clippers will have a difficult time keeping Bledsoe long-term -- much less past this season.

"There’s no way he can be here next year because we probably won’t have enough money to pay him," Paul said.

Bledoe has one season left on his contract.

"He should be a starting point guard in this league next year," Paul said of Bledsoe.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Chauncey Billups practiced Monday and expects to play on Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Billups has missed the past eight games with a right groin strain.

"I feel good," Billups said. "I practiced and the whole thing. The last three days I've been doing everything that the team is doing and practicing and the whole thing. Barring anything crazy I expect to be out there."

According to Elias Sports, the 2012-13 NBA season is the first in which five different teams have enjoyed win streaks of at least twelve games.

The New York Knicks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, extending their current run to 12 straight wins.

The Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Thunder also had streaks of at least 12 wins this season.

Vinny Del Negro doesn't think the Los Angeles Clippers have an issue with tension between their players.

"There's always things that -- the frustration builds. There's no question. And Blake (Griffin) and Chris (Paul) especially are two of our All-Stars and our biggest pieces," he said before Sunday's game with the Lakers.

"I think it's also a good thing because there's some frustration there because we need to play better. If the frustration is everyone pulling in the same direction, it's a positive thing. And I feel that's the case. But it comes down to, enough talking. Go out and perform, go out and get the results that we expect. You have to be able to work together. The chemistry is very important. They have that. It hasn't been as consistent as any of us would like, lately. But it's something that I think the character in the locker room, and the people you're talking about, know that it's very important for everybody to be on the same page."

When pressed a bit further, Del Negro said: "There's not this big friction thing going on that everyone thinks."

The Los Angeles Clippers are intrigued by the availability of Stan Van Gundy, according to sources.

In five seasons with the Orlando Magic, Van Gundy compiled a .657 winning percentage while winning three Southeast Division titles and one Eastern Conference title.

Vinny Del Negro is operating on the final year of his contract and hasn’t been offered an extension by the Clippers.

The Los Angeles Clippers have never won a division title, but they are just a win, or loss by the Golden State Warriors, away from one.

Blake Griffin is looking forward to making franchise history, but he doesn't want the Clippers honoring the achievement by hanging a banner at the Staples Center.

"I kind of have bigger goals than that for the team," Griffin said. "I think the team has bigger goals than that. We expected to win the division. We didn't come into this season thinking, 'Oh, it would be great if we could win the division.' We expected it. It's something to be proud of and maybe there's a banner that goes up (in the training facility), but it's not something that needs to go up in Staples [Center], and we don't need to hang our hat on that."

Every NBA team hangs division championship banners except for the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.

Grant Hill, who has appeared in 27 games for the Los Angeles Clippers this season, is leaning towards retirement.

The 40-year-old signed a two-year, $4 million deal prior to the 2012-13 season.

He began the season on the inactive list after suffering a bone bruise to his right knee. He likely will not make it to that second contract year.

"Strong chance," Hill said of retirement. "I'm leaning toward it. I want to get to the end of the year and off-season and think about it but I'm pretty confident that's where my mind is right now. I've enjoyed it."

A day after the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Indiana Pacers, Blake Griffin was still upset with his team's effort.

"The effort by the starters was pretty bad," Griffin said after Tuesday's practice. "It was embarrassing for us."

Griffin didn't address reporters after the 109-106 loss, bypassing the postgame news conference.

The Clippers were trailing by 24 points in the third quarter Monday when Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro benched his starters and went with the team's second unit. The bench made it a game again before the Pacers pulled out the victory.

"You'd love to sit here and say it's a wake-up call and things will be different," Griffin said. "That's the idea and that's what we talked about and that's what we want to do moving forward but we have to prove that. I'm tired of saying that we got to do this and we got to do that, and then say we will and go back and forth. I kind of want our actions to speak for ourselves."

The Los Angeles Clippers have been impressed with the job Vinny Del Negro has done this season managing the lineup despite many injuries, according to sources.

But whether or not Del Negro returns next season is largely tied to how the Clippers perform in the playoffs.

The Clippers' top offseason priority is to re-sign Chris Paul and all moves will be funneled through that situation.