LA Clippers’ bench showed defensive promise vs. Trail Blazers
By Tom West
In the LA Clippers’ season opening win against the Portland Trail Blazers, the bench flashed some defensive potential during an impressive run together.
The LA Clippers won their 2016-17 season opener on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers 114-106, led by the stellar efforts of their healthy superstars. Both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are in top condition and playing like it, coming away with 27 points each, including 13 rebounds (five offensive) for Griffin.
Together, they form a combination of elite scoring and playmaking that’s hard to stop, whether Paul is picking through defenses with his passing and mid-range shooting or Griffin is operating as a triple threat from the elbows, either looking to pass, shoot or drive.
However, as good as they were against the Blazers, the Clippers’ bench deserve a great deal of thanks for the way they rose to the occasion, too.
Not only did Marreese Speights continue to live up to the name Mo Buckets, pouring in 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting (with a pair of threes) in just 15 minutes, but the bench as a whole delivered defensively to ensure that the Clippers could take the lead and ultimately stay in front during key stretches of the game.
They went on a 16-0 run into the start of the second quarter to take the first solid lead of the game, and provided strong defense throughout the night as they helped the Clippers stay in front, frustrate the Blazers, and win the game.
In particular, it was the lineup of Raymond Felton, Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, Wesley Johnson and Marreese Speights that impressed. In their 10 minutes and 39 seconds together, impressive may even be a slight understatement.
They recorded a net rating of +19 in that span, which, despite being an incredibly small sample size, at least displays how this group is coming together early on and hints at what they have to offer this season.
Per NBA.com, this group is currently the best lineup in the league in terms of net rating.
Is this the new Death Lineup we were secretly waiting for?!
Maybe (definitely) not. But the point is that they played really well, shooting 47.6 percent from the floor together and, most importantly, stepping up defensively in ways that we wouldn’t have expected to see this soon. Especially as the hustling, rebounding, rim protecting Cole Aldrich is no longer around to anchor the second unit in the paint.
Instead, it’s Speights coming in at center. There’s no hiding his weakness on defense, and that’s been evident already through the preseason and in Portland when he’s drawn away from the basket. Whether opposing guards can match up against Speights after a switch or they can simply go at him in pick-and-rolls, they’ll look to attack him for the way he can be abused off the dribble. He’s simply too slow, unreliable and lacking in effort at times when defending away from the basket, and can give up open lanes far too easily, either resulting in easy finishes for opponents or desperate fouls as teammates fly in late to help.
However, the Clippers aren’t without defensive weapons on their bench just because Aldrich is in Minnesota. Quite the opposite, in fact.
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Felton was applying pressure to the Blazers’ guards all night. Rivers took a major step forward defensively last season and remains the Clippers’ best guard in that area outside of Paul. Johnson can be a pest from either forward spot when he’s engaged, even though he can be inconsistent (similarly to his shooting at the other end of the floor). Brandon Bass, who wasn’t used in Portland, can also provide slightly above average defense, offering energy, strength, and the ability to cover smaller players far more effectively than Speights and defend the pick-and-roll.
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There’s a lot to like, and against the Blazers, even Speights joined into the collective pressure of his bench teammates. That impressive five-man group communicated incredibly well, ensuring that their switches were timely, they read the movements of their opponents to thwart easy cuts to the basket, crashed the boards, and simply had the kind of intensity they’ll need all season.
The fact that Speights was able to position himself well and play some smart off-ball defense at times, even though he’s still a major weakness to cover up, is a little encouraging at the very least.
Again, it’s an incredibly small sample size. Speights isn’t going to be anywhere near Aldrich-level on defense and rebounding staying so solid is still a concern going forward.
But it’s safe to say that these LA Clippers have some sound defensive pieces to support the starters, and they flashed some potential to replicate these spells of play going forward.
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If they can do that, maybe they can become a unit that Doc Rivers and Co. can finally count on to do their job: not dominate, just play hard defense, play collectively, attack inside rather than hoisting constant jumpers, and hang onto leads built by the starters.