Ivica Zubac's dominance continues to be game-changer for Clippers

Headed into the 2024-25 season, there were far more doubters than believers when it came to the LA Clippers. After losing Paul George and Russell Westbrook, plenty of outsiders were ready to cast this team to the curb, dubbing them a non-playoff team without ever seeing them touch the court.

After three regular season games, some are beginning to re-think their previous assessment of this team. The Clippers lost an incredibly close contest in their season-opening game at Intuit Dome, and have since defeated both the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors on the road.

These are not insignificant victories, and they point to the possibility that the Clippers could actually become a legitimate playoff team by season's end. So how exactly has LA been so impressive in the early going? The answer lies partly in the play of Ivica Zubac.

The Clippers' starting center has been nothing short of dominant to begin the year. As of this writing, he is averaging 22.5 points and 12.0 rebounds, while shooting 63.3% from the floor. Zubac has clearly been motivated, and he continues to build off his impressive 2023-24 campaign.

Zubac has been dominant to begin the season

After putting up 23 points and a staggering 18 rebounds against Golden State in Sunday night's win, Zubac became the first Clippers center to log three consecutive 20-point games to begin a season since Bob McAdoo in 1975. Zu is putting up monster efforts on a nightly basis so far, and it has gone a long way toward making LA a dangerous team.

We already knew that Zubac had build extremely solid chemistry with James Harden, but it appears to be on a different level this season. And not only does Harden continue to open up Zu's game, but the big man is making plenty of strides on his own as well.

With around two and a half minutes to go in the game and LA up three, Harden passed out of a double team and found Zubac near the free throw line. With Brandin Podziemski standing in front of him, Zu casually faked his defender out and dribbled to the bucket for an easy slam.

This is the player Clippers fans knew they needed to see this season. For Zubac to be playing at this level right away is massive, and he can help transform LA into a real tough out if he keeps it up.