The Los Angeles Clippers are better than you’re being told
By Joey Linn
The Los Angeles Clippers are good already
“The Clippers have been awful defensively and I said this before the season started that they needed a defensive anchor!” This was the Tweet from ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins on Monday morning following the Los Angeles Clippers’ 135-132 win over the New York Knicks.
Such a take solidifies the case that if one were to solely rely on mainstream outlets for their NBA content, they would be grossly misguided on the true level of play that this Clippers team is at.
After play completed on Sunday and the Clippers headed into their longest break of the season, their defensive rating (DRTG) sat at 107.0 which was good for 8th in the NBA. It is worth noting, that this is after back to back games where at least one First Team All-Defense level player was on the bench, leading to the Clippers surrendering 140 and 132 points respectively.
Before these two poor defensive efforts, the Clippers had ranked 3rd in DRTG and questions surrounding their defensive capability were nowhere to be found.
Rather than looking at the Clippers from where they were before their two defensive breakdowns, let’s analyze them from right where they’re at. Those adamant on hating will likely look at the DRTG numbers and wonder why the Clippers are only 8th best when the noise in the offseason suggested they would be the league’s best defensive team.
Whoever that person may be, and unfortunately I did not make them up, they either do not know how to find the stats, or they are choosing to ignore them.
Those crowning the Clippers the league’s best defensive team in the offseason were correct for doing so, and those who continue to do it are also correct for doing so. The preseason assumption was reliant on the fact that Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverley, Paul George, and Montrezl Harrell would be the stifling defensive unit that the clippers would finish games with. Come playoff time, that will undoubtedly be the case; however, injuries have allowed that unit to step on the floor in just 14 games together.
In those 14 games, the unit of Kawhi, PG, Bev, and Trezz boasts a 99.5 DRTG. Where would that reside in the NBA ranks? Right at the top. The Milwaukee Bucks currently hold the league’s best DRTG with an impressive 102.26 mark.
That four-man lineup for the Clippers has that beat by nearly three whole points. Now granted, the sample size is small, but that is hardly by design. When fully healthy, and they’re getting there, those are the guys who will be on the floor when it matters for the Clippers. That is the league’s best defensive group, and they have proven that in the chances they’ve been given.
A bigger, and perhaps even more accurate sample size, is simply looking at the numbers when both Kawhi and PG play. Analysts such as Kendrick Perkins cannot wait for a stretch of games that the Clippers are battling health, so they can fire off their takes supported by skewed stats that are a product of one or both of the Clippers’ superstars missing time.
Once again, the summer predictions that ranked the Clippers at the top were contingent on Kawhi and PG both being out on the floor. Because of PG’s shoulder recovery, and Kawhi’s knee management, that tandem has only graced the floor together in 18 of the team’s 38 games. In that time, they have gone 14-4 which is a 64-win pace when adjusted to an 82-game season.
The wins have been no fluke, as the superstar pairing has dominated both ends of the floor, most notably the defensive end. In their 18 games together, the Leonard-George pairing has posted a DRTG of 102.0, which once again would be the NBA’s best clip.
The offense has been among the league’s best as well, with their 112.8 ORTG ranking 6th in the NBA. Adding Trezz and Bev back to that duo raises the ORTG to 114.5 which would be good for 4th best in the entire NBA.
To quote Pat Bev, “Woman lie, men lie, numbers don’t.” The numbers show that when their guys are out there, the Clippers are the league’s best team. Citing losses and defensive breakdowns with those core guys out is intentionally seeking out a way to discredit them.
The Los Angeles Clippers can beat anyone, let’s continue.