The Los Angeles Clippers entered the year with aspirations of growing into an NBA title contender. However, as we approach the All-Star break, their performance this season has made fans and bettors sour on their championship chances. Sure, they’re talented but there are rumors of chemistry issues, they’ve been sliding down the standings and now they have to deal with superstar Blake Griffin being out a month.
The Clippers stopped the bleeding on Monday, ending a four-game losing streak with a big win in Dallas. However, with Griffin out, they’ll need a number of things to go right – as they did on Monday – to tread water in the ever-challenging Western Conference standings.
DeAndre Jordan Has To Go Beast Mode
This is an important need. Jordan is a productive player but he’s going to have to be even more productive now that the frontcourt is shorthanded. On Monday night against the Mavericks, he certainly was. Jordan scored 22 points and grabbed 27 rebounds – 11 of them on the offensive glass – to power the Clippers to a 115-98 win over the Mavs. If Jordan can be that good and that powerful during the time that Griffin is out, the Clippers won’t lose too much in terms of their low-post scoring and rebounding. Jordan was 8-of-12 from the field and was a decent 6-of-9 from the free throw line. This is about as good of a game as he’s had all season long and if this isn’t a one-night aberration – as often is the case with his up-and-down outings – then the Clippers will be in good shape.
Spencer Hawes Has To Step Up
It is odd that Hawes scored just four points and had just one rebound against Dallas, and that the Clippers were able to win by 17 anyway. The team can’t rely on that convergence of statistics. Hawes and the team both know that he has to be able to pick up some of the scoring load in the absence of Griffin and he’s capable of doing that. Like Griffin, he can knock down medium-range jump shots and they’ll need that from him over the next few weeks. Griffin has a strong face-up game and while Hawes doesn’t bring that same type of intensity and ferociousness to the table, he needs to display some level of a threat from the power forward position – not just the occasional jumper – to keep defenses honest.
J.J. Redick’s Sharpshooting
The Clippers’ investment in Redick has not adequately been paid back to this point in time. Redick was supposed to be the jump shooter who would make it very hard for defenses to throw all their resources at stopping Chris Paul on the perimeter. He was supposed to space the floor and make the Clippers a lot harder to defend. Well, we’ve yet to see him fill that role consistently and we’ve seen the team introduce Austin Rivers as a potential replacement. Redick perked up on Monday, hitting three of four 3-point shots against Dallas. He must be able to do that a lot more often if this team is to survive the next month.
Overall Efficiency
Although the Clippers will be down one player, there isn’t one guy that can fully replace Griffin. It has to happen as a team and that means they have to be efficient and not cough up the freebies. We saw it Monday when Los Angeles made 24 of 29 free throws on Monday against Dallas but they’ve had foul-shooting problems crop up in the past. They are just 23rd in the NBA in free throw percentage but they simply can’t afford waste free points at this time.
The other area where the Clips must be efficient is with the basketball. They had only six turnovers on Monday and that’s not uncommon for them. They are second in the NBA with just 11.6 turnovers per game.
While the free throws are typically a weakness that needs to improve whiel Griffin is out, this is an area of strength that must maintain. That kind of efficiency will give the Clippers the added possessions and points they need to win at the rate they hope to with Griffin sidelined.
