LOS ANGELES — With eight days remaining before the start of the 2020-21 NBA season, the Los Angeles Clippers have a lot of work left to do. After two preseason games against the Los Angeles Lakers, who were without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Clippers are 0-2 despite Kawhi Leonard and Paul George playing in both games, albeit sparingly.
The end results aren't even what matters — not in the preseason and certainly not when Leonard and George are only playing 18 minutes a game. What does matter is getting time together on the court following a short offseason and an even shorter training camp.
“We just [want to get] continuity, really,” Kawhi Leonard explained in regards to the Clippers' focus. [Build] the team chemistry. We want to make sure everybody knows our plays, the different ballhandlers bringing it up. Just pretty much playing hard and want to build our habits right now. That is what we got to do. That starts here … We've turned the ball over too much. We have some things to clean up.”
Through two games, the Clippers are clearly still trying to learn each other. Leonard, George, and the players continue to familiarize themselves with new head coach Tyronn Lue and his coaching staff. Serge Ibaka is now the team's starting center, replacing Ivica Zubac. Marcus Morris is dealing with knee soreness and hasn't been able to suit up. The bench duo of Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell now features Williams and Zubac. Nicolas Batum and Luke Kennard, two players expected to be key rotation players, haven't played NBA-level basketball in nearly a year.
Lue has implemented two-a-day practice sessions during camp in an effort to bring the team together faster.
“Well that’s really where chemistry is built, in practice,” Paul George claimed. “Learning one another, learning coverages. I think practice is a lot of uncomfortable, puts you in a lot of uncomfortable situations, you have to learn to play through it. The saying where they say practice makes perfect, it’s not cliché. Practice (inaudible) games easier. And that is just the point where we got to get to (with) practice, we’re drilling that, you know it’s game time, we drill something so hard we know to do in the game.”
On top of that, the new norm that everyone has to get used to is playing in 20,000-seat arenas that will have little-to-no fans for the next few months.
“Obviously, it was awkward,” Leonard added. “The building is usually packed. But we knew this coming into this. We played in the bubble already, so it wasn’t nothing too different than the atmosphere pretty much than in the bubble, so it was expected.”
Both Reggie Jackson and assistant Chauncey Billups were noticeably absent from the Clippers' second preseason game. The team announced that they had “excused absences under the NBA's health and safety protocol.”
At this point, it's unclear why exactly the two weren't present, but with a pandemic that's seeing COVID-19 numbers continue to skyrocket in LA, there's a chance the two may have been exposed to someone who contracted the virus.
“I mean this is part of the job,” George said on playing through COVID-19 and potential absences. “Other leagues have been successful under these conditions. It is part of the job. We hope for no one to get it and everyone to stay healthy. But realistically it’s probably not going to happen. But I think everyone is taking the steps to just make sure it doesn’t spread and we keep this league going. I think the league is just doing a great of [managing the safety.]”
With Lue announcing Ibaka as the team's new starting center, Paul George says it has become more important than ever for him to build rapport with the first real stretch 5 he has played with in his career.
“Him spacing the floor is different,” George admitted. “It’s the first time in my career I’ve played with a stretch 5, so just on a personal note, it’s new to me and I’m trying to get used to the spacing and manipulating the other team’s defense. I’m used to guys rolling and being rim-runners. Serge can obviously rim-roll and finish at a high level at the basket, but he shoots the ball so well in the pop game it’s new and it’s something I gotta adapt to.
“We’re learning, I’m learning where he likes it, when he’s going to pop, when he’s going to roll, and really just how to drag that big out to create separation.”
So far, the Clippers are prioritizing continuity over rest. LA has just one preseason game remaining on the schedule: a Thursday night home tilt against the Utah Jazz. That will give them a handful of practice days and a game before taking on the Los Angeles Lakers again on Opening Night of the NBA season, which is set for Dec. 22.
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