A team with a scary amount of depth in the regular season but unexpectedly is left helpless in the playoffs presents much less postseason stress. This is because a series is fought to seven, and the superstars receive additional, unjustifiable pressure.
Furthermore, this is a brief summary of an obvious issue for the LA Clippers against the Denver Nuggets. Superstars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden are thriving, and even the interior beast Ivica Zubac is having himself a postseason against Nikola Jokic, but no one else is helping offensively.
Despite the tie, the Clippers could have easily been up by two games had their self-proclaimed stars come to play. Additionally, their role players, who flapped their wings for 82 games, have been missing in action.
That said, how much are Leonard, Harden, and Zubac supposed to do with a supporting cast that has been unable to support? If the series is lost, they will be cited as the culprits, but the context is that they have nobody advancing their efforts.
The LA Clippers’ unreliable depth will have a devastating result in one way or another
In most cases, fans and media experts who make judgments from the box scores are wrong. There is usually more going on both ends, but regarding the LA Clippers’ two games that were split to the Denver Nuggets, the shot chart tells the story, bar for bar, from start to finish.
Game one would have been a simple win, as the Clippers were once up by 15, but no one, excluding James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Ivica Zubac, was masterfully scoring.
The Clippers scored 110 total points in Saturday's overtime come-apart, 75 of which were scored by the trio. The rest of the squad scored 35, shooting 13-34(38.2%) from the field. Fast forward 54 hours to game two; the same three stars had 73 of LA’s 105. The remaining “assistance” posted 32 points while shooting a field goal percentage of 33.3%(13-33).
There is an exception: Nicolas Batum, who should be starting tomorrow. He has been a great three-point shooter, averaging 7.5 points on a long-distance clip of 45.5%. However, Norman Powell, Bogdanović, and Derrick Jones Jr. rightfully deserve criticism for their offensive failures.
The consequences of the actions from the supporting cast could be an injury from strain, locker room problems, or worse, above all else, allowing the Nuggets to win the race to four.