Here are two potential surprises from the Clippers-Suns series:
Surprise 1: Robert Covington joins Clippers’ closing lineup
Robert Covington has had a bit of a strange season with the Clippers. After arriving in LA for the final 23 games of last season, he saw his role greatly reduced in 2022-23, playing just 16 minutes per game and being much less of a factor than anticipated.
As a result, his numbers are down across the board and Clipper fans are wondering what he did to get buried so deep in Ty Lue’s rotation. Despite his low usage to this point, there is reason to believe a change could be on the horizon.
Earlier this week, a picture from the Clippers’ practice surfaced that showed Covington wearing a black starter’s practice jersey. Of course this does not confirm anything, but it could mean that Lue is preparing to insert RoCo into the starting lineup, or perhaps play him down the stretch of close games with the closing lineup.
This would make sense considering the Clippers will be going up against some of the most deadly pull-up jump shooters of this generation in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, with Chris Paul still a master of the midrange as well. There is a very real chance the Clippers will need to rely on the quick hands and feet of Robert Covington to get stops when it matters most.