The LA Clippers entered All-Star break sitting at third in the Western Conference. How did they get to this point? Here’s a recap of the season thus far.
At 37-18, the LA Clippers sit in third place in the Western Conference as the league is on pause for the All-Star break. With championship aspirations thrust upon them this summer with the acquisition of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, expectations for the franchise were high.
All in all, third place in the West is a solid place to be. The team has been completely healthy for just a handful of games and recently acquired Marcus Morris who will need time to gel with the current roster.
With 27 games left in the regular season, let’s take a second to look back at how we got to this point, remember some of the team’s highs and lows, and look to the future and how the team should approach the final stretch.
Stats/Leaders
We’ll start by looking at the numbers. As it stands, here are your statistical leaders (of those getting meaningful minutes) for the LA Clippers:
- Points: Kawhi Leonard – 27.2 PPG
- FG%: Ivica Zubac – 60.2%
- 3P%: Landry Shamet – 41.0%
- Rebounds: Kawhi Leonard – 7.5 REB
- Assists: Lou Williams – 5.9 AST
- Steals: Kawhi Leonard – 1.8 STL
- Blocks: Montrezl Harrell – 1.1 BLK
Obviously those basic stats just scratch the surface but it still paints a good picture of the team. For one thing, Kawhi Leonard has obviously been the team’s best player. His ability to score has been on another level including a nine game streak in which he scored 30+ points.
Paul George, who didn’t appear on the above list, has also had little trouble scoring. There have been some duds out of him here and there but he still is putting up a very respectable 21.7 points per game on 42.6% shooting from the field.
It’s worth noting that with the addition of Morris, the LA Clippers have five players on the roster who are averaging 18.0 points or more this season. As the season progresses and the team starts to round into playoff form, some guys may see their numbers drop but the fact that they have that much offensive firepower is insane.
There were a few times we got to see that offensive firepower in full force…