LA Clippers: Ten takeaways from the first ten games of the season
3. The Blacktop Team is Here to Stay
The 2018-2019 Clippers were all about scrappy, blacktop basketball, defying critics and odds to win 48 regular-season games and take the perennial-champion Golden State Warriors to six games in the post-season. Any fears that the team culture would change with the addition of Kawhi Leonard, the 2019 Finals MVP, have been squelched in the first ten games. Kawhi is as gritty as they come, his intense methodical grace is a seamless fit into the Clippers culture.
4. Zubac. What a revelation
Ivica Zubac is playing lights out ball; who would have predicted that? And the fact that it happened at the expense of the Clippers’ neighbors across the hall just makes this revelation a tiny bit sweeter.
5. Montrezl Harrell is a Serious 6th Man Contender
OK, we knew this already. Montrezl Harrell placed third in the 6th Man of the Year voting in 2018-2019, behind the Clippers 6th Man Yoda, Lou Williams. What the first ten games have confirmed is that this was not a fluke. Trezz has played every game, every possession, like a beast. Not only is his legendary connection with Lou Williams on display, but he and Kawhi seem to have found a rhythm that is magic to observe. We are a long way from 2020 free agency, but Clipper fans will no doubt be crowdsourcing funding to pay Harrell whatever it takes to keep him next summer.