Checking in with the Los Angeles Clippers
We're about a month into the NBA season, and even though it’s early, let’s take a look at what’s happening so far with the Los Angeles Clippers 2020-21 season. I’ll be going over every NBA team in the next few weeks, which you can read in our series below.
The Los Angeles Clippers finished the 2019-20 regular season with a 49-23 record and ended up with the second seed in the West. However, they had an extremely disappointing end to their 2019-20 season after blowing a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals to the Denver Nuggets.
The Clippers then made some changes this past offseason.
They replaced head coach Doc Rivers with assistant Tyronn Lue, acquired free agents Serge Ibaka from Toronto, Nicolas Batum from Charlotte and traded for Luke Kennard from the Detroit Pistons.
They also lost a few role players in Montrez Harrell, Landry Shamet and JaMychal Green.
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The Clippers have gotten off to a great start this season with a record of 12-4.
They lead the league in offensive rating and are 3rd in NET rating. The Clippers are also the best three-point shooting team in the league, shooting 43.3% from the three-point line.
They are led by their stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who are two of the best two-way players in the league.
Leonard is averaging 25.4 points per game and is shooting 49.8% from the field, while George is rebounding at a solid rate, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game, while putting up 24.7 points per game with a career-high in assists at 5.5. He is doing all this while shooting a remarkable 51.5% from the field.
Ibaka, their newly acquired center, has been a decent veteran presence for this team. He’s made his career on his ability to protect the rim and shoot from distance. His ability to stretch the defense and make the defense guard him at the three-point line is huge for the Clippers' offense.
Marcus Morris is a versatile, tough veteran presence who’s done a really good job knocking down threes, shooting an efficient 47.4% from behind the arc.
Batum has been known for his ability to handle the ball and distribute it from the forward spot this year, and is shooting a career-high 47.1% from three this season. While many of the key Clippers role players have been performing great this season, former 3-time 6th man of the year winner Lou Williams is having a down year, scoring just 9.1 points per game.
Luke Kennard is an excellent shooter and can make some plays out of the pick and roll.
Patrick Beverley brings toughness and quality on-ball defense to the guard spot and Ivica Zubac, who is a very good free-throw shooter for a big man at 81.6%, provides a large, physical presence in the middle. There has been a lot of hype surrounding Zubac’s outstanding play, especially from John Hollinger from the Athletic, who posed the question of whether Zubac may be the league's “most underrated player.”
The Clippers are an extremely talented team, led by their two stars in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. They have plenty of depth and are definitely a top-two team in the West.
With the star power and efficient shooting, watching them the rest of the year is going to be very interesting. They have some different pieces from last year’s team, but still remain the team with the best shot to take down the Los Angeles Lakers.
Golden State Warriors - 1/17
Sacramento Kings - 1/23
