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29 regular season games — that's all the Los Angeles Clippers have to survive with a clean bill of health to enter the playoffs as one of the favorites to win the Larry O'Brien trophy. The Clippers have been plagued by injury woes for the past three years, but now, they look healthier than ever — and with Kawhi Leonard leading the way, the team always has a shot to win it all.
For one, the addition of James Harden, despite the criticisms the Clippers received early on, has worked like a charm. Harden has made Leonard's shot-creation burden that much lighter, while Harden has also unlocked a dangerous two-man game with Ivica Zubac that has now become the beating heart of the Clippers' offense.
And now, with Harden commandeering the offense and Leonard remaining the primary offensive option, Paul George has become an overqualified third wheel — a dangerous player who can knife his way against closeouts all the while being one of the most lethal movement shooters in the NBA. His drop in touches has also allowed him to become fresher when it comes to taking on tougher matchups defensively.
And then the Clippers' role players are all playing their parts to perfection. Norman Powell might be the best sixth man in the NBA, Russell Westbrook delivers a change of pace off the bench, Terance Mann is a glue guy extraordinaire, while Amir Coffey has blossomed into one of the better two-way wings amid the astronomical improvement in his three-point marksmanship.
But this one fatal flaw could prove to be the Clippers' undoing especially if they come up against some wrong matchups in the playoffs.
Clippers' fatal flaw: Lack of size leading to lack of interior defense and rebounding
On February 12, the Clippers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves in a contest that could prove to be pivotal in deciding which team ends up being the number-one seed in the Western Conference at the end of the season. Fans expected the Clippers to bring it to the Timberwolves, especially now that the team had Ivica Zubac to anchor the paint unlike in their January 14 matchup.
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However, the Timberwolves showed why they are such a bad matchup for the Clippers. The frontcourt of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert can be too overwhelming for LA to deal with, despite Paul George and Kawhi Leonard's best efforts to help Zubac anchor the paint.
That game ended up being a 121-100 blowout loss for the Clippers after they allowed the Timberwolves to score 64 points in the paint, with the Clippers looking helpless on a few possessions when it comes to securing the paint.
The Clippers also have their fair share of difficulties when it comes to facing the New Orleans Pelicans; on February 7, the Pelicans pulled away in the fourth quarter after Zion Williamson put Mason Plumlee through the blender over and over again until the game was out of reach.
Adding Daniel Theis off free agency was a godsend for the Clippers; Theis, at the very least, allows the Clippers to rotate at center depending on the matchup. Theis, however, stands at just 6'8, which means that he's just as tall as Paul George is. And George is not a center.
It's been a trend for the Clippers that skilled big men give them plenty of trouble. The team's primary defensive strength lies on the wing, so whenever they face big men who can dominate from all three levels, with Nikola Jokic being the prime example, they have to compensate with plenty of double teams, which stresses the defense and puts them in rotation. This scrambles the defense, leaving gaps for their opponents to exploit.
And then, to make matters worse, the Clippers tend to struggle on the glass; despite taking a 112-106 win over the Detroit Pistons on February 10, they made history after failing to secure a single offensive rebound during that game. (They were outrebounded by the Pistons, 57-35. Against better teams, that rebounding disparity would guarantee a loss.)
Fans of the team have been crying out for the addition of a more versatile, inside-outside big man who can help the team cover more bases defensively. But the Clippers, for better or for worse, are heading into the stretch run with their current roster.
That is not the end of the world. The Clippers remain one of the scariest teams to face in the playoffs, if only due to the presence of Leonard, arguably the greatest playoff performer of his time. But they will have to put up more of an effort to gang rebound and help out Ivica Zubac in protecting the paint lest they fall prey to huge teams that tend to give them trouble.
