Clippers to start Austin Rivers, Jeff Green in light of injuries

With Chris Paul and Blake Griffin ruled out for the rest of the 2016 NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers will start Austin Rivers and Jeff Green in their place.

As Chris Paul left the court against the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4, the news of his fractured right hand knocked the wind out of every Los Angeles Clippers player sitting on the bench and essentially ended their season. Once a hobbling Blake Griffin was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter, suffering from an aggravated quadriceps injury, it was clear the Clippers wouldn’t have their second superstar to fall back on either.

Now, both Blake and Paul are out for the playoffs, leaving the bench to step up more than ever.

In their absence, the Clippers have no choice but to revert to the small-ball lineups they relied on so heavily during Griffin’s three-month absence in the regular season. With DeAndre Jordan at center surrounded by shooters (bar Luc Mbah a Moute at the three), the Clippers utilized extra spacing and an increased defensive effort to get by.

So, without Paul and Griffin, the two most likely candidates have been confirmed to take their place: Austin Rivers and Jeff Green.

From a defensive standpoint, the Clippers are obviously getting a clear downgrade with Rivers at point guard, but he’s better than he gets credit for. During this series against an elite scoring talent in Damian Lillard, Rivers has fared well at times, contesting at the perimeter and showing that he can match him step by step on drives to the basket. At the very least, Lillard won’t suddenly explode to no end just because Rivers is on him more instead.

The main problem with Rivers is on offense. Besides some memorable performances in the playoffs last season and the rare nights when he catches fire from three, Rivers isn’t nearly the scorer that Paul is, not to mention the major disparity when it comes to passing and actually running an offense. With the loss of Griffin, too, there’s no security blanket for Rivers to feed the ball to in the post either.

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Along with Pablo Prigioni and Jamal Crawford, Rivers will have to do his best to run the team that’s undoubtedly going to struggle to come anywhere near its usual scoring pace.

As for Green, he brings some streaky three-point shooting to space the floor alongside Jordan in the frontcourt, which is the only benefit he brings in Griffin’s absence. So far in the playoffs, Green has had some impactful moments, highlighted by a 17-point, five-rebound performance in Game 4. However, inconsistency is always his downfall, and the lack of size and rebounding in comparison to Griffin is another major loss that simply can’t be avoided for this small lineup.

Without Paul, the Clippers’ guards have their biggest challenge yet to run the team and slow down one of the NBA’s premier scoring backcourts. Meanwhile, the big man rotation is once again limited, leaving Cole Aldrich and his hustling ways with a chance to step up with extra minutes.

Next: Clippers' injuries save the Warriors' title chances

Even if the Clippers manage to defeat the Blazers and reach the second round, though, there’s no promise whatsoever against the Golden State Warriors now.