LOS ANGELES – Without Kawhi Leonard or Paul George for most of this season, the LA Clippers have been one of this season's surprising teams. Terance Mann, Tyronn Lue, and Reggie Jackson believe the Clippers have shown everybody exactly what they're about this season, especially being forced to play without their two stars.
Kawhi Leonard has missed all 71 games for the Clippers this season, while Paul George has missed 45 games and hasn't played since December 2021. Norman Powell, who they traded for a week before the trade deadline, played three games before getting injured. The vacancies left the Clippers' stars on both ends of the floor couldn't be filled by any one player, so instead, everyone bought in.
Led by head coach Tyronn Lue, the Clippers have seen every player on the roster take a step forward this season, seizing the opportunities presented to them and running away with it. The team currently has a 36-35 record with just 11 games remaining, and it's not surprising to Terance Mann.
“I mean that says a lot about this group,” Mann said after a recent Clippers win. “A lot of people wrote us off the map once they figured out who was hurt and who was injured and they really don’t know what we got and that says a lot for our group. We’ve got a lot of guys who work hard and work on their game and is ready when their name’s called.”
"A lot of people wrote us off the map once they figured out who was hurt, who was injured. They really don't know what we got. That says a lot for our group.”
Terance Mann on Clippers continuing to win games without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. pic.twitter.com/FqibhrRWwN
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 2, 2022
Reggie Jackson has dealt with a few inconsistencies this season, but has become the Clippers' number one option behind a fanbase that loves him. Marcus Morris has also taken on the role of a number one option, with the Clippers centering their offense on him and his post-ups at times.
Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris have been more of a 1A-1B scoring punch this season as opposed to clear first and second scoring options.
Terance Mann, who signed his contract extension last offseason, has taken his game to another level after starting the season off slowly. Alongside Mann has been Luke Kennard, who is shooting a career-high and NBA-leading 45.5 percent from three this season. Nearly every other three-pointer Kennard puts up goes in. That's incredible to actually think about.
Terance Mann and Luke Kennard have played 1,116 minutes together this season, second most among all two-man lineups on the Clippers behind Reggie Jackson and Ivica Zubac.
Since the All-Star break, Ivica Zubac is averaging 6.0 post-ups per game. That's fourth in the NBA behind Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Kristaps Porzingis and more than Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Vucevic, and LeBron James, who the Lakers have been using as their center often.
Amir Coffey has been fantastic playing on his two-way contract. Nicolas Batum has been his great all-around self. Robert Covington or, ‘the fastest hands in the league, per Reggie Jackson, has come in and made an immediate impact. Isaiah Hartenstein has brought a bit of a point guard feel at the center position, which the second unit has benefited from tremendously this season.
Tyronn Lue believes that, even without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, this Clippers team will fight and compete until the very end.
“[We have] no give in,” Tyronn Lue said. “No matter who is on the floor, we want to compete every single night and we want to win games. So this unit we have, they have shown that they can do that. And every night, we are going to compete and try to win. Like I said, you are not going to win every game and you are not going to play well every game. But if you continue to build the right habits, you will win more games than you lose and we have done that so far.”
Reggie Jackson isn't even willing to place a guess on how far these Clippers can go.
“I don’t ever put no ceiling on anything,” Jackson said after a recent win. “Like the tournament, you just got to get in. You get in and anything can happen. I understand statistics, I understand certain teams might not want at certain seeds before, but, I mean shoot, why not? Why not defy the odds? It took eventually one team in the NBA to come back from a 1-3 deficit and then it’s been done more and more. Why not be one of the first? Why not be one of the first? That’s our team mentality is we’re going to continue to push, we’re going to continue to go each and every game and we’ll see where the chips fall.”
"I don't ever put a ceiling on anything. It's a tournament, just gotta get in. Get in and anything can happen… Certain teams may not have won at certain seeds before, but why not? Why not defy the odds?"
Reggie Jackson on how far the Clippers can go. pic.twitter.com/ac7StJFLda
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 4, 2022
The Clippers have 11 games remaining this season, and will have a handful of 28-hour stretches without a game, which means they'll be able to practice and prepare for the play-in tournament in April.
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