LA Clippers: Three Things We Learned Vs. The Lakers

LA Clippers Takeaway #2: Clippers Got Out and Running

Another noticeable takeaway from the LA Clippers’ first win was the pace. Off of misses, off of turnovers, and off of makes, the team was looking to push the ball. That included Kawhi Leonard, who ran as much as I’ve ever seen him run.

In his introductory press conference, Lue talked about one of his focuses being increasing the pace of the team, and that showed in game 1.

For comparison, in all four games against the Lakers last year, the Clippers had a Pace Factor (number of possessions per 48 minutes) of 100.13. In game 1 this year, the Clippers had a Pace Factor of 104.

That may not sound like a ton, but at their offensive rating, those 4 extra possessions translate to around 4.5 extra points. For counting stats, the Clippers took 93 field goal attempts and 19 free throws in game 1. Against the Lakers last year, they averaged 81.5 field goal attempts and 30 free throws.

Pushing the pace like that plays so well into the Clippers’ strengths. With so many great shooters, increasing the speed of play gives the defense less time to correct mistakes and makes it more likely that somebody like PG, Kennard or Beverley can find an open spot on the court.

I’m looking for the Clips to take that lesson from this game and keep running as the regular season progresses. If they can do that, we should have some very fun games in our future.