LA Clippers’ stars take control in season opener vs. Trail Blazers

The LA Clippers’ won their regular season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers 114-106, led by the aggressiveness of their healthy stars and an impressive bench effort.

The LA Clippers‘ 2016-17 season opener gave fans what they wanted. Even though a blowout win over the team that eliminated them from the playoffs a few months ago may have been the preferred result, a 114-106 win on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers was still more than enough to get the job done. Winning away from home to start the season, showing some energy, aggression, star power and clear bench resilience ticked a lot of boxes.

For the most part, the Clippers didn’t rely on the perimeter too much for their scoring. They only shot 8-of-29 from three, which played a part in them shooting just 40.7 percent for the night, but they made up for it in other areas.

Outside of Chris Paul coming through with some huge shots late in the game and Marreese Speights‘ pair of threes, it was inside where the Clippers really took control.

At the forefront of this was Blake Griffin; what a surprise. He finished with 27 points, a team-high 13 rebounds (five offensive), two assists, and was aggressive all night. As I broke down from his play in the preseason, he was looking for deep positioning in the post early in possessions to get the team’s guards a quick target early in the shot clock, and the return of his size to bruise through opponents and attack the offensive glass couldn’t have been more noticeable.

Emphatic put-back dunks can easily allow this frontcourt dominate. Add on the three-pointer Griffin made to remind us of his improved shooting range, and there’s really nothing from his performance to complain about.

Then there’s CP3, who displayed how aggressive he can be as a scorer. He only had five assists, but added 27 points to match Griffin. By coming up with key shots later in the game, finding his own looks from mid-range and tearing past confused players for a few finishes at the rim, Paul put the scoring mindset of the Point God on display.

However, it wasn’t just star power that allowed the Clippers to hold on past a fouled out Damian Lillard (29 points and 10 rebounds) and the energetic two-way showing of Mason Plumlee (17 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks).

The Clippers’ bench was vital in stepping up defensively, establishing two key runs in both halves of the game, and providing some instant offense, primarily thanks to Speights’ 15 points in 15 minutes (on a highly efficient 4-of-8 shooting). Even though his defense covering pick-and-rolls was shown up by Lillard and it will be an issue this season, Speights’ shot making ability — from three and from turnaround jumpers in the post — could lead to him averaging close to (if not more) points per game than Jamal Crawford.

It wasn’t just Mo Buckets and 15 points from Crawford (thanks to eight free throws) that allowed the bench to be so effective, though. It was their defense. Defense that included Austin Rivers being aggressive on and off the ball, Raymond Felton providing energy against Portland’s talented backcourt, and Wesley Johnson providing similar intensity from both forward positions.

Such energy and the whole unit switching on time and communicating helped drive the Clippers to a win.

Into the start of the second quarter, the second unit came through with a 16-0 run to earn the first solid lead of the game, and their defense was a driving factor in that. When the Clippers can defend with intensity, step up on the boards (they matched the Trail Blazers with 48 rebounds each, including 15 offensive), and come away with 10 steals as they did for easier transition play, things get far easier for the bench.

Such play enabled Crawford, Felton, Johnson and Speights to all record a plus-minus of at least +17, with Speights coming away with a game-high +20.

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They can maintain leads through that energetic defense and attacking inside with guys like Felton and Rivers, creating space for Speights to stretch defenses off kickouts, rather than resorting to stagnant perimeter play and being lost defensively.

When looking past Speights’ clear weakness on defense, the Clippers are still left with a lot of weapons to provide this kind of spark off the bench.

DeAndre Jordan‘s free throw shooting (he suffered from Hack-a-Shaq at times and finished 2-of-10 from the line) and Speights’ defense away from the basket are two problems that will be dealt with a lot this season, but they won’t stop this deeper team contending for the 2nd seed in the Western Conference.

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Behind Paul and highly motivated, aggressive Griffin, that’s the case more than ever.