With Blake Griffin out, LA Clippers need to step up more than ever
The LA Clippers need to step up their game with Blake Griffin out for knee surgery, and Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan could push for new accolades in his absence.
Dec 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; The LA Clippers stand for the National Anthem prior to the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
With Blake Griffin set to miss between three and six weeks to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, the LA Clippers find themselves in an all too familiar territory, once again without one of their star players.
First reported by Shams Charania of The Vertical, and later confirmed by Dan Woike of the Orange Country Register, Griffin will likely be out until mid-late January to have the minor procedure on his knee that has evidently been bothering him for a good part of the season.
After starting the season in a fiery blaze of success, the Clippers have managed just six wins in their last 12 games, with the most recent loss coming on Sunday against a lights-out Washington Wizards team. So, where do they go from here?
To their All-NBA First Team duo of Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan.
Playing without Blake Griffin on the team is, unfortunately, something the Clippers have some experience with, as the former No. 1 pick missed 47 games in the regular season last year before returning for a short-lived playoff run.
Last year, Jordan really stepped up to the challenge, scoring career-highs in points per game (12.7), assists (1.2) and double-doubles (49), with Chris Paul also having his highest scoring output since his first season as a Clipper with 19.5 points.
But this year it’s a little different. First off, how the bench’s role will change.
Dec 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Clippers forward Marreese Speights (5) celebrates with Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (right) during the third quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Clippers won 133-105. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
The improvement of the bench
Although CP3 and DeAndre will have to shoulder a much heavier load on offense, the team has a more reliable bench unit to spread the responsibility, something they haven’t had in a long time.
The additions of Marreese Speights and Raymond Felton have done wonders for the Clippers’ starting five. Being able to bring in the reserve unit and play around with different hybrid lineups has given the team more freedom to experiment than ever before. Feltons’ ability to play on or off the ball in a dual point guard lineup alongside Paul or Austin Rivers has given larger teams nightmares to try to defend, as well as adding a real dynamic playmaking presence to a bench that struggled to create shots last season.
Speights will more than likely play a larger role within the offense. His ability to stretch the floor and create space for Paul and Jordan to operate the pick-and-roll and open up slashing lanes for Luc Mbah a Moute and Rivers to get to the rim could be huge factor in the Clippers keeping their position as a top four seed.
Although it seems that, for now, the Clippers will choose to go small, with Luc sliding over to the four and Rivers coming in to play at small forward, there will be times over the next few weeks where the team calls upon Speights to do what he does best: get buckets.
In 3 starts, Austin Rivers is averaging 16.7 points and has a plus-37 net rating #SmallSampleSizeAlert
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) December 19, 2016
As Dan Woike points out, although Rivers starting games for the Clippers has been pretty successful so far, it is a very small sample size in the grand scheme of things.
What isn’t a small sample size, however, is the 27 games Rivers has played in this season, and his valuable contributions to the team during that time. Rivers is averaging 9.1 points per game, on 45 percent shooting, and 41 percent from 3, all career-highs, including a 7-of-10 three-point barrage in a win over the Orlando Magic last Wednesday. His presence on the defensive end has been somewhat understated. His lightning-quick footwork and deceptive strength have become a real asset to the Clippers, especially when it comes to defending players that have two or three inches on him.
Everyone on the Clippers will need to bring their A-game to replace the 21 points, 9 rebounds and five assists that Blake was averaging on the season. J.J Redick and Jamal Crawford will have to really dig in on both ends of the floor, with Wesley Johnson and Luc filling in at the power forward position, taking them away from their natural wing duties.
The news about Blake Griffin cannot be looked at as a positive from any angle, but it does open up opportunities for fringe players like Brandon Bass and Alan Anderson to carve out roles with the team, who up until now, have only been featured sparingly throughout the year.
With the spotlight now once again firmly fixed on Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan to lead the LA Clippers into the New Year, the margin for error is tiny, but the opportunity to succeed is huge.
This includes pushing for new personal accolades, too.
Dec 14, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; LA Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) drives to the basket against the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Chris for MVP and DeAndre the All-Star?
DeAndre Jordan was named to the All-NBA First Team last season, along with Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, all of whom were starters on their respective All-Star teams in Toronto. But for his whole career, and understandably so for the most part, the All-Star title has eluded DJ.
The Clippers haven’t been a top two seed, and it therefore becomes very hard to justify three players being voted in, with Chris Paul and Blake being the obvious choices to represent L.A. in the past. But this season could be Jordan’s very best chance at finally taking the next step to stardom, while his scoring output should once again rise in Griffins’ absence, and his stellar contributions on the defensive end speak for themselves.
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Chris Paul on the other hand, continues to make his case for MVP consideration by putting up historical numbers and affecting the game in a way that no other player in the league can. Without his All-Star running mate in Griffin, it falls on Paul more than anyone to ensure the Clippers can, at the very least, tread water until his return.
The “Point God” has been faultlessly efficient in his scoring this year, and with Felton and Rivers playing their part defensively, Paul can take some of his focus and effort from that side of the court and put it towards scoring the ball (the James Harden effect), especially in close-game situations.
The injury news doesn’t come as a huge surprise for some LA Clippers fans. Blake Griffin just hasn’t looked himself recently. The numbers are still there, but his leaping ability and pace getting back up the court and shifting around on defense have been noticeably depleted.
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Although losing a player of this calibre to injury is what NBA teams fear most, the one thing to keep in mind, is that there are still several months left before the playoffs start, which means hopefully by that time, he’ll be 100 percent ready to go.
