The regular season has concluded for the LA Clippers, and now their time to shine is truly here. Stacked with star veteran players, the Clippers will be in solid position to make a deep playoff run after finishing with 51 wins and earning home court for the first round of the playoffs.
After starting the year 3-7, LA went 48-24 the rest of the way, looking like the best team in the association at several points midway through the season. There are still some concerns, the biggest of which being Kawhi Leonard's health.
But the fact of the matter is the Clippers have the high end talent to beat the Mavericks and go deep into the playoffs. One key to their success will be Head Coach Tyronn Lue being willing to have an open mind about utilizing certain players. These are three players he should look to be more open-minded with.
P.J. Tucker
Coming over to LA in the James Harden trade, P.J. Tucker has infamously struggled to find a role with this team. He did not play for a very prolonged stretch of the middle part of the season, and many wondered if a buyout was on the way.
It would be easy to justify not playing Tucker for the sake of keeping consistency among the Clippers' top guys in the rotation. But the team should keep in mind that if there is any situation where Tucker is still valuable, it is in the slower-paced, often defense-minded playoff atmosphere.
P.J. can be effective as a three-and-D wing in the right situation. If nothing else, having him as a large body to put on more physical players like Daniel Gafford or P.J. Washington should prove valuable against Dallas.