Last season, the LA Clippers were perhaps the best team in all of basketball during December and January. Now, they may have peaked at the wrong time given their struggles in the first round of the playoffs, but there was no denying their impact when fully healthy and hitting their stride.
From December 2, 2023 until February 5, 2024, the Clippers racked up 26 wins and just five losses. They were routinely handing losses to some of the best teams from last year's playoffs like the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves, and they looked like a sure bet to go deep into the postseason themselves.
Yes, the Clippers eventually faltered mostly due to injuries, but the point here is that they did all this with basically a new team. James Harden was traded to Los Angeles less than two weeks into the season, and the entire group did not even have a proper training camp and preseason to get used to playing alongside one another.
And yet, this team was absolutely on fire for the middle part of last season. Now with a full season of playing together under their belts, along with an offseason and now getting into preseason, there appears to be a lot more confidence from some of the Clippers players in their chemistry with teammates. Ivica Zubac said as much at media day on Monday.
Zu says he believes the chemistry he has with James Harden will continue to grow this season pic.twitter.com/qXKzTYbUxm
— Kelli Johnson (@KelliJohnsonTV) September 30, 2024
Zubac believes his chemistry with James Harden will be improved
Talking about the chemistry between he and James Harden, Zubac explained that he believes their games will only become more efficient as they continue to play off one another. "I was very happy this summer when we signed back," said Zubac. "I think we did well last year. Last season, we worked a lot together in practices, after workouts. And I think this year we're going to take another step."
Zubac is certainly right that he and James worked out well together last season. In the 2023-24 season, Ivica had the 12th-best field goal percentage (57.1%) as the roll man in pick-and-roll situations, with many of those opportunities being created by Harden.
It also helped that James was intentional from day one about working with the big men on the Clippers' roster. He reportedly was staying behind after every practice to get in extra reps with Zubac and LA's other bigs at one point during last season. Harden and Zu would work on pick-and-roll from six different spots on the floor.
"That season, those reps are going to help us, and this year is only going to be better," Zubac said on Monday. There was clearly already a solid foundation in chemistry between Ivica and James last season. For Zubac to feel like that connection is only increasing is a fantastic sign for the coming year.