The L.A. Clippers had the league's best defense in the first 11 games of the season, but have significantly fallen off since mid-November. L.A. averaged 108.8 points per game on 46% shooting from the field while allowing just 92.2 points to their opponents on 40.9% shooting. The Clippers went 10-1 with a 16.6 point differential.

In their first 11 games, the Clippers had the best defensive rating in the NBA at 94.6 points per possession while putting up 109 points per 100 possessions. In their next 17 games, however, their defense has allowed 107.6 points per 100 possessions while putting up 111.5 points of their own.

It's almost as if the team has stopped putting effort into defense, instead relying on their offense toe carry them to victories. Over the last three games against the Blazers, Magic, and Heat, their offense has led them to close victories. Their defensive flaws clearly showed as the Wizards were able to take advantage of defensive lapses to defeat them.

Ahead of Tuesday's matchup against the Denver Nuggets, Clippers' guard Austin Rivers discussed the struggling defense of the Clippers.

“Accountability has been a issue. We've got to hold each other accountable,” said Rivers. “I think we have to have a little bit more of an arrogance about ourselves on defense. I think the first 10-15 games of the year, we were like, ‘we're gonna be the best defensive team.' Whether it was true or not, we believed it and we would defend that way. It was hard to score on us. We're a talented team and we're winning games, we just got back to ‘offense is everything.'”

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Now without a huge part of their offensive game in Blake Griffin, who is expected to miss anywhere from 4-6 weeks after having successful right knee surgery, Rivers and the Clippers are going to have to rely on their defense to get stops and ignite their offense.

“We haven't defended well in… I can't even remember [the last time we defended well]. Our last [couple of] wins, we were just better than everybody. That's not gonna get us to where he want to be. This happens every year, we get to the playoffs and we lose. We gotta change something, and defense is really it.”

Last season, the Clippers played 45 games in the middle of the season without Griffin, going 30-15 in those games. Their offense and defense didn't slow down much however, putting up 108.4 points per 100 possessions while allowing 101.6 points. For the Clippers, the problem isn't offense. It never really has been. Their troubles have always been on the defensive end.

“We're going to score. Whether Blake's playing or Chris is playing, we're going to score.

We gotta defend. We gotta defend.”