The NBA was full of intriguing story lines this season, ranging from individual players to teams as a whole. The dominance of the Golden State Warriors, the resurgence of the Cleveland Cavaliers via LeBron James, the injuries of the Oklahoma City Thunder, etc, etc, etc. Plenty of drama to go around. Late in the season, the focus of many turned to the playoff seed race in the Western Conference, with much of the attention directed to the San Antonio Spurs’ late season push, during which they won 11 of their last 12 games.
Fair enough.
Houston, Dallas, Portland, New Orleans, and Memphis also hold plenty of interest for a number of reasons, but it seems that the only thing people think of when the L.A. Clippers come up is a combination of “They’re better than the Lakers, Blake Griffin was hurt for awhile, something-something-Donald Sterling.”
The reality is that the Clippers have quietly waltzed through a rather uneventful season, and could very well find themselves in the Finals for a variety of reasons.
Late Season Surge/Healthy Roster
The Clippers were a respectable 33-19 when Blake Griffin went out with his elbow issues, and managed to tread water during his 15 game absence, posting a 9-6 record. Sure, Chris Paul was still running the offense in true Chris Paul fashion, and DeAndre Jordan continued to do what he does down low, (rebound at an astounding rate while making over 70 percent of his field goal attempts,) but the Clippers’ offense seemed a little off without Griffin lurking around the paint as well. Since Griffin returned, the Clippers picked up the pace, compiling a 15-2 record upon his arrival to end at 56-26, good enough for the third seed in a volatile Western Conference.
And nobody has really seemed to notice.
Griffin is obviously comfortable again and playing at his normal level, but there is another player who just returned from his own 17 game absence, and that’s Jamal Crawford, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year from 2014, who just came back with three regular-season games remaining after nursing a calf injury. He hasn’t returned to form as quickly as Griffin did in March, but he should benefit with the extended break over the last several days before the series begins Saturday.
https://vine.co/v/Ox9L1YrguQh
With Crawford back, the Clippers again have the league’s assists leader in Paul, rebounds leader in Jordan, and leading reserve back and healthy again, with a top five power forward in Griffin to boot.
It’s all coming together at the right time.
Doc Rivers’ Opportunistic Approach
Much attention was given to Rivers last season, and for good reason. He had recently arrived from across the country after his time had more or less expired with the Celtics, tasked with pushing a resurgent Clippers team over the hump, something that previous coach Vinny Del Negro failed to do despite impressive regular season records. Rivers got as far as Del Negro ever did last season, falling to Oklahoma City in the second round, only a month removed from the Donald Sterling saga that was still hanging heavy over the team’s heads.
This season, the Clippers have continued their usual winning ways in the regular season, and they are doing it with offense, something that Rivers isn’t exactly known for. Their 106.7 points per game ranks 2nd in the entire league, and their 100.1 points allowed per game ranks about the middle of the pack. Not great, but good enough. Still, players such as J.J. Reddick, who averaged a career-highs of 16.4 points per game and 47 percent field goal shooting, benefited greatly from the improved offensive attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_967vGYzAc
Rivers has made the most of his resources, realizing the offensive potential and talent at his disposal, and with great results. Besides, it’s not like he hasn’t had great success in the past with a dominant, defensive-minded center, pass-first point guard, and sharpshooting perimeter player — Rivers won the 2008 NBA title with Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen in his starting lineup, in case you forgot.
Still, Rivers is aware that nobody seems all that impressed with what the Clippers have done this season.
“It means a lot to have the record that we have,” Rivers said to ESPN’s Arash Markazi last week. “We’ve kind of hung in there. I’ve said this to our guys: For a team that has this record, we’ve been criticized all year. Our guys don’t care because we get that the regular season is the regular season. We just want to be great, and we want to keep working at it. We’re not there yet, and we know that, but we just have to keep pushing towards our goals, and that’s all we can do.”
Those goals now stand squarely in front of them, starting with a tough matchup against defending NBA champions San Antonio on Saturday, who are very familiar with peaking at the end of the season themselves. Perhaps a series victory would provide some validation for a team buried underneath bigger story lines this season. Finally making it past the second round? Well, now that would be a story, which could very well continue into June, if Rivers and Co. have their way.
They certainly have all the pieces to do so…not that anyone has really noticed.
