LA Clippers: The Clippers Showed They’re the Best Last Month
The LA Clippers kicked off their January with a 106-100 loss to the Utah Jazz, dropping them to 4-2. Their first six games didn’t exactly paint them as world-beaters. They had a good win against the Los Angeles Lakers, but then their second best win was probably against the struggling Denver Nuggets, and the awful Dallas loss was looming.
After starting off January by dropping to 4-2, the LA Clippers leave January sitting at 16-5, having ripped off a 7 game winning streak before dropping a game in Atlanta that had Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Patrick Beverley all out. Other than that game, in which the Clippers were really behind the 8-ball, the good guys have won 11 of their last 13 games.
The LA Clippers showed in January that they’re the best team in the NBA.
That’s a bold statement, I admit it. But I stand by it, and both the eye test and statistics do the same. On the eye test level, the Clippers are just clicking. The offense is flowing and our two superstars have learned how to play off of each other far better than they did last year. There’s a fun give-and-take between PG and Kawhi, where each will take over a the game for a little while before deferring to the other. Then, when the defense is figuring out how to adjust to one of them, they’ll start alternating playmaking and scoring duties.
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It’s been fun to watch, and the supporting cast is prime to help them do that. Batum has had a million praises tossed his way, and deservedly so. Beverley is his typical self, hitting threes at a high rate and playing great defense. Serge Ibaka is everything we hoped for, playing solid interior defense and stretching the floor on offense.
Coach Lue has been great at staggering the starters, making sure that there’s nearly always more than one of our five best guys on at any time. Those kinds of rotations are what we were begging for last season.
On a statistical side, the LA Clippers have the best winning percentage in the NBA at 76.2%, and they’ve got the best point differential at +7.8. They’ve got the third best offensive rating in the league and, after a dismal start to the season, have climbed their way to the 12th best defensive rating, a combination which ties them with the Lakers for the best net rating in the league.
Narrow that down to January, and the Clippers had the best offensive rating and the 8th best defensive rating, putting them comfortably at number 1 in net rating.
The growth in defense has powered this, and it’s what sets them apart from a juggernaut-on-paper like the Brooklyn Nets. In the last 9 games (i.e., since the Harden trade), the Clippers’ offense only trail the vaunted Nets offense by 1.3 points per 100 possessions, but LA is 15 points per 100 possessions better on defense.
Next. Reggie Jackson and Patrick Patterson continue to stay ready for the LA Clippers. dark
The recognition is coming from media, too. Some outlets have bumped the LA Clippers up to the number one spot in their power rankings, and I expect that to continue. After a hot month like the Clips had in January, it’s hard not to see that they’re the best team in the NBA.