Clippers vs Blazers Playoff Preview: Round 1

The Bench

The Clippers bench has been incredibly inconsistent throughout this season. No one player is excluded from that criticism, including Jamal Crawford (pictured above) because even though he is getting consideration for sixth man of the year he started off this season incredibly shaky before finding his game.

Austin Rivers and Crawford have led the way for this unit and recently both helped the club shoot their way past Utah as the starters took the night off. Center Cole Aldrich has shown flashes of brilliant post play on both sides of the court and Wesley Johnson can knock down that corner three ball as well as anybody in the league.

Paul Pierce is a massive question mark. His clutch playoff performances last season for Washington have led many Clipper fans to believe the 38 year-old forward can do it again but so far this season his age has shown. Sometimes heavy-footed and gassed, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer has had an incredibly inconsistent shot, and the defense that has made him one of the best has been forgotten with age. Will Pierce return to the clutch performer the Clippers need in late-game situations? The Clippers better hope so.