Clippers Win Five in a Row

Five games at home, and 5 wins for the Clippers. In a week amid much speculation that Coach Vinny Del Negro’s job was in question, the Clippers have steadied the ship to keep them only one game behind the Lakers for first in the Pacific Division and third in the Western Conference, with a pending showdown against the Lakers this Wednesday. Both teams have been the subjects of criticism and speculation of late, but are in very different mindsets today. The Lakers shooting woes, benchings, and overall deficiencies have been well documented of late. But amid the discussion of the Clippers faults and successes, where does the team stand now?

This week saw wins over Memphis, New Orleans, Phoenix, Portland, and Utah.

The Clippers deserve a congratulations. Lets’s not get ahead of ourselves with the praise, because it is 5 wins in a row, but they were at home, and the competition was not the most elite teams. They played 1 playoff team, and 3 teams in contention for playoff spots, but no top teams. In the next two games they play at Dallas, and then back home for the Lakers.

The Clippers bench production is the focus of the Clippers problems. The bench was outscored in all 5 of these victories, but they made contributions. The scored over 25 points each game but Thursday’s against Portland. Balanced scoring is a key recipe for the Clippers success. That way defenses will be forced to play more straight up, or at least be punished for only keying on Griffin and roughing him up as has been the case recently. Additionally Chris Paul is at his best facilitating first, and scoring second. With inconsistent bench production, the Clippers wins have been in games where Chris Paul is a scorer (he averages 5 points more a game in Clippers wins versus losses)—but that’s not Chris Paul at his best.

This is an important stretch for the Clippers bench to gain confidence and improve their effectiveness while Mo Williams, the team’s most consistent and capable scorer off the bench, is out with a sprained left toe. Adding Williams offense to an improving bench would really key a strong run down the final stretch of the regular season, and ideally into the playoffs.

Defensively, the Clippers allow too many easy shots. It will come back to who the compeition is, but in the last five games the Clippers allowed under 90 points 3 times, and in the mid 90s twice. That is imrovement. If the Clippers have balanced scoring, then they can play with a higher intensity level on the defensive end. Coach Del Negro can give the starters a rest as needed because they have a productive second unit at both ends of the floor.

Despite having the personnel to be a defensive rebounding team, they only rank 20th in the league in rebounding. That is a matter of intensity on the defensive end. The Clippers were below their season average in 4 out of the 5 game homestand, and that is a sign that they are not there yet.

Balanced scoring and intensity on the defensive end at the very least get the Clippers in the game, and then they have to close the game out. Winning results from coaching and experience. The Clippers are 11-9 in games decided by 5 points or fewer this year. With Chauncey Billups early in the season, the Clippers were on the winning end of those close contests. That’s when the expectations for this team got out of hand. Without Chanucey Billups’ leaderships, free throw shooting, and decision making, the Clippers franchise’s gravitational force brought them back to earth.

The Clippers can help themselves the best by playing loose, exciting basketball. And when it comes down to close out the close games, just look at Fridays win vs Portland. All Star Chris Paul dished the ball to Randy Foye for a three with one minute remaining, and made the game winning layup through and over three defenders as time expired. Chris Paul is a young veteran capable of those types of plays, the rest of the team needs to help him get there—and for the last five games they have.