Clippers’ schedule could put pressure on Thunder’s 3rd seed

The Los Angeles Clippers’ next two games gives them a chance to put pressure on the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 3rd seed in the Western Conference.

Good news, Los Angeles Clipper fans, the team is now 34-17 and the bench has outscored the opposition’s in the last seven games as the team bounced back from a disappointing shock loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday with impressive wins over the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat.

The better news?

In terms of active win streaks versus every team in the NBA, the Clippers hold eight straight over the Philadelphia 76ers and four straight over the Boston Celtics, who themselves have been on quite a run, propelling themselves to third in the Eastern Conference with a 9-1 record over the last ten games.

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The next two games on the road complete a four-game sequence before the All-Star break, when the Clippers return to Staples Center for a tough home stand that starts with the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors after the festivities end in Toronto. The Clippers’ home and away records are nearly identical, a testament to the fantastic play by the bench who showed their true depth in outscoring the Heat’s 46-25 yesterday.

Now I’m not by any means suggesting that these contests would be guaranteed wins, but it’s a good schedule to suggest the team could come into the All-Star week in Toronto with a commanding 36-17 record. This only adds pressure to the 3rd seed Thunder, whom they will contest twice in eight days at the start of March. The Thunder play an awkward game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, making them one of the only four teams contesting a competitive game beyond Wednesday in a potential banana skin game.

Clippers’ active win-loss streaks vs. each team:

Bold = Winning streak. Italics = Losing

Atlanta (1W), Boston (4W), Brooklyn (1W),

Charlotte (4W), Chicago (1W), Cleveland (3L),

Dallas (1L), Denver (4W), Detroit (10W),

Golden State (4L), Houston (1W), Indiana (1W),

Lakers (9W), Memphis (3W), Miami (2W),

Milwaukee (3W), Minnesota (1L), New Orleans (4W),

New York (7W), Oklahoma City (1L), Orlando (5W),

Philadelphia (8W), Phoenix (1L), Portland (2W),

Sacramento (1L), San Antonio (1L), Toronto (4L)

Utah (1W), Washington (2W)

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In other good news, the Clippers are currently on pace to repeat their record from last season, and they’ve done it without Blake Griffin for over a dozen games, with only Jamal Crawford and Wesley Johnson playing all 51 games for the team. Arguably the record is the greatest reflection on the challenge to achieve continuity and establish a rotation without a full roster of players to pick from.

In terms of defense, opponents are shooting lower percentages on two-point field goals, three-point field goals and from the free-throw line as the Clippers look to compensate for their own 2.4 point per game drop off on offense from last season (per Basketball Reference).

The fact that J.J. Redick leads the league in three-point percentage (48.1) despite not having Griffin to set screens for him to run off is a telling suggestion that Redick really is a secret X-factor of the team, and as he continues to be streaky, so too will the Clippers.

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The integration of Lance Stephenson back into the rotation has been another encouraging sign for the team, who could have quite easily given up on him at the same time as Josh Smith, but he has quietly and efficiently added double digit averages from the bench, with 10 out of 11 field goals made in the last two victories. Look for him to contribute even more now that Austin Rivers is out for 4 to 6 weeks.