Clippers sweep five-game road trip for first time in franchise history

Despite having no Blake Griffin over their last four games, the Los Angeles Clippers have now swept a five-game road trip for the first time in franchise history.

The Los Angeles Clippers are without Blake Griffin, yet they’ve managed to find consistency with a perfect record in his absence. It’s surprising considering how much they have struggled throughout this season, spending many of the first weeks fighting to stay above .500. Their bench has often been killing any leads the starters acquire on both offense and defense, and losing Griffin should have made matters worse.

However, as the Clippers continue to win, with four straight victories after Blake’s injury and five in a row overall, it’s clear that everyone else is capable enough of stepping up when it matters. Even if it’s one of the first signs we’ve seen of this, the team’s latest road trip shows that everyone across the roster can do their part.

Over the last five games, J.J. Redick has three 25+ point performances, Paul Pierce has actually had some solid appearances while going 43.5 percent from three, and Cole Aldrich has been a major factor in his new role. DeAndre Jordan has also been proving his worth, averaging 14.8 rebounds (20 in his last game) and 2.3 blocks a night since Blake has been out.

Now, this kind of performance has led to the Clippers sweeping a five-game for the first time in franchise history.

More clippers: J.J. Redick just keeps on stepping up

It seems like it’s come at the most unlikely moment, and it’s hard to disagree considering the amount they’ve needed Griffin’s presence this year. That being said, while new bench rotations step up and the Clippers have benefited from having a fairly average schedule, they’ve made team history. More importantly, they now have a 21-13 record and a firmer hold on the 4th seed in the Western Conference.

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As per usual when one of the Clippers’ two main superstars (Griffin and Chris Paul) goes down with injury, the other steps up. Except for an ugly 3-of-18 shooting night against the Pelicans, Paul has been doing just that while his partner in crime has been ruled out of action. His accuracy has been a little awry, but he still averaged 20.3 points and 9.7 assists a night on the three outings prior to the latest game in New Orleans.

Thankfully for Paul, though, he hasn’t needed to do everything. Even with his aggressive scoring and two shocking dunks against the Washington Wizards, his teammates have helped out.

If there’s any chance players like Jamal Crawford and Pierce can choose shots well enough to maintain solid efficiency in reasonable minutes, and Aldrich keeps providing a stable defensive presence at center off the bench, then the Clippers could thrive more than they have so far this season.

Until Griffin’s injury, it was the team’s improved defense that allowed nearly 10 points less per game than the first few weeks of the season that allowed them to win 9-of-11 games over one recent stretch. Now, in the four games during his injury, they’ve bested opponents with constant scoring to 108.5 points per game.

Next: How the Clippers are winning without Blake Griffin

It’s still at least a week till Griffin returns, so there’s plenty of time to see whether or not the hot offense and bench input will continue. That being said, as they face the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers on January 6 and a rematch with the New Orleans Pelicans on January 10, they have a few favourable matchups approaching.

Hopefully for this rising Clippers team, they can capitalize on that.