How The Clippers Can Make Their First Conference Finals
- Updated: May 4, 2015
(Photo via Twitter User @LAClippers)
Just two days after arguably the Clippers’ biggest win in franchise history, they now have to take on another team from Texas in the James Harden-led Houston Rockets.
After Houston convincingly defeated Dallas in five games, they’ve been able to sit back and watch the Clippers and Spurs jaw at each other over seven gruelling games as they waited to see who their next opponent would be.
Now, as the Clippers head to the Toyota Center on Monday possibly without their superstar point guard in Chris Paul, they must find the energy in them to go again.
I decided to take a look at where the Clippers will have to be at their best to advance to the Western Conference Finals:
1) Rebounding
It’s no secret that Dwight Howard is one of the league’s best rebounders. Howard has led the league in the post season with 13.8 rebounds in just 32.6 minutes despite matching up with an aged Tyson Chandler, and while the Clippers have DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin – who averaged a monster 13.1 per game of his own – they will still have to do their best to keep the likes of James Harden and Trevor Ariza off the offensive glass.
Offensive rebounding almost cost the Clippers as they allowed 11.7 offensive rebounds per game against the Spurs and eight offensive rebounds in the final quarter of game seven alone. As much as the Clippers starting five love to run the fast break, the likes of J.J. Redick and Matt Barnes will have to help on the glass if the Clippers want to
2) 3-pointers
At different times throughout the opening round, the Clippers defense left the Spurs shooters wide open beyond the arc and had Danny Green hit even one more of the many that he missed, the Clippers could be on vacation. Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli torched the Clipper bench in particular, an area that will have to improve against the true shooting kings that are the Houston Rockets.
While everyone knows about James Harden’s shooting prowess, Corey Brewer and Jason Terry both shot above 47% in their opening round while Josh Smith was within a whisker of 40% himself.
Meanwhile the Clippers will be hoping Redick can continue from where he left off in game seven following his two clutch threes in the final quarter. Redick and Paul were the only two shooters above 35% for the Clippers, a stat that will have to improve, and it won’t be easy as Houston held Dallas to just 31% from beyond the arc in the first round.
3) Coaching
While Doc Rivers has copped plenty of criticism this year, it has mainly been directed at General Manager Doc Rivers.
After Spencer Hawes failed to turn into the player that Rivers and all Clipper fans had hoped for, it has meant the boys from L.A have had to be more reliant on Jordan and Griffin, which leads to Hack-A-Jordan. For the most part of their opening round, Rivers kept faith in Jordan despite shooting 38% at the line, however against Houston, Rivers can choose to employ a similar strategy on Dwight Howard. We could be in for some long and ugly stretches of ‘basketball’ if this was to happen.
Meanwhile another concern for the Clippers are the high minutes being played by Paul, Griffin and Redick. All three were above 39 minutes in the opening round, a number which many believe may have led to Griffin’s late game woes earlier in the series.
I thought Doc did a great job of managing Griffin’s minutes in game six (particularly in the opening half) and despite him ending up with over 40 minutes played, it just highlights the importance of Blake in a close series.
Also, if Paul is fit, the Clippers will have a strong advantage on the offensive end in the guards positions which will hopefully see Paul and Redick capitalise on the weak defense of Harden and Jason Terry. Meanwhile defensively, the Clippers have a good record against Harden with both Redick and Paul able to guard the league second highest scorer in the regular season
It’s hard not to discuss the historic play of Blake Griffin in the opening round. Only one other player in NBA history has averaged 24 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists and his name was Oscar Robertson. Griffin also almost averaged 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game whilst collecting two triple doubles and becoming one of only nine players in history to accumulate one in a game seven.
Does Blake have to repeat this numbers if the Clippers are to advance?
Not exactly. (However if Paul is out for any amount of games, perhaps)
Blake has turned into a monster thus far however it is evident that something in his lower back is bothering him. He has had a history of back injuries in the past so fingers crossed it’s not coming back however the high minutes will start to take its toll.
Barnes and Redick can help offensively with the toll however Griffin’s biggest help will come in the form of Glen Davis. Davis was huge for the Clippers in limited minutes throughout the Spurs series with his emotion and energy helping spark the Clippers fans and the team’s defense. Many Clippers fans chuckled at the possibility of needing him to be fit following an ankle sprain in game six.
Finally, the fitness of Chris Paul is everything to the Clippers. It seems hard to think the “Point God” will ever be 100% fit again for the rest of the season, however long that may last, although the Clippers can afford for him to miss one game. While we all hope he can play, a nights rest will do plenty of good for a man who’s played 89 consecutive games.
A fresher and rested Paul could do a lot more damage than one who has to be nursed through yet another grueling series in the ever competitive Western Conference.
Prediction: Clippers in 6
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