No. 2 Clippers offseason need exposed by the Phoenix Suns: Rebounding
The Clippers did not rebound in the series.
It’s no surprise, really, as they ranked in the bottom half of the league in rebounds per game during the regular season (44.2).
It carried over into this series, where they out-rebounded the Suns in just one game out of the six (Game 3). Every other game they lost the rebound battle except for Game 2 where they tied the Suns in the amount of rebounds they grabbed.
The Clippers were out-rebounded 272-252. The Clippers were without their best rebounder for Games 5 and 6, and were without their second-best rebounder in every game of the series. They didn’t have good enough rebounders in their depth to get it done.
That means that they’ll need to take rebounding into serious consideration when it comes to how they want to retool this roster and improve the team in general. It means that they need to consider passing on re-signing certain players that they think can’t contribute to the boards, or maybe signing some good rebounders to come in and play for the Clips next season.
Maybe they need to make an adjustment among the assistant coaching staff or coaching philosophy. Whatever it is, the Clippers need to improve in this aspect of the game.