LA Clippers: Five Questions Facing the 2020-2021 Clippers

LA Clippers Question 2: Can the Clippers play a consistent four quarters?

This question will probably inform how far the LA Clippers can make it into the playoffs, whenever those are.

Neither the Clippers’ offense nor their defense could seem to play all 4 quarters of the game last year; nowhere was that more visible than in the series against Denver.

Quarter by quarter, here’s how the Clips’ offensive rating ranked against the rest of the NBA last year: 4th, 3rd, 4th, 15th.

The same for defensive rating, quarter by quarter: 13th, 5th, 4th, 4th.

Put another way, in the second and third quarters, the Clippers played like one of the best teams in the league, with a top 5 offense and defense. In the fourth quarter, the offense was less effective than such terrifying attacks as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers.

Or, put another way, the Sacramento Kings’ offense all game looked better than the 4th quarter LA Clippers offense.

On defense, they played great for three quarters, but came out with a less effective defense than the Knicks and the Nets.

Was that on the players? With guys like Patrick Beverley and Kawhi Leonard in the starting unit, it’s hard to imagine so, but not unthinkable. If so, it’s hard to imagine a whole lot changing.

But if it’s the more likely case, and the fault lies more on coaching and/or preparation, you have to hope to see this change under Ty Lue. Lue’s known for his adjustments and gameplanning against matchups, and if he wants to make a deep run into the playoffs, he’ll have to make sure that the Clippers who showed up in the 2nd and 3rd quarters also show up to start and end games.