Prior to February, the LA Clippers were in the conversation of the league's best defensive systems. Head coach Tyronn Lue and his wingman Jeff Van Gundy did everything imaginable to prove that defense is the base of winning basketball.
In fact, Lue and Van Gundy had the whole world believing that scoring on the Clippers was a formidable task. It would take close to the entire shot clock and plenty of ball movement to catch LA sleeping. To do this for each possession over 48 minutes was unrealistic, and the advanced metrics backed it up.
Moreover, Kawhi Leonard's return only allowed Lue and Van Gundy to show their teeth defensively. They had another versatile wing to stack next to talents like Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, and Ivica Zubac.
Additionally, claiming Ben Simmons on the veteran minimum helped the team's narrative, as he is a six-foot-ten guard who can play any position and guard any position.
Conversely, the Clippers' identity has seemingly fallen off a cliff throughout February. The urgency and effort that was once present are no longer evident, and opponents are finding far more open shots and easy layups against LA than they have before.
Statistics also confirm how much the Clippers have regressed from their early-season dominance.
The LA Clippers are not the same defensive team they were before the trade deadline.
For the first half of the season, the LA Clippers received a pat on the back as the NBA community grasped their defensive heroics. This was thanks to assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy and his top talents, who were ready to win distinctively.
However, the Clippers may have celebrated too soon as their defense was suddenly fatigued. The extra step and persistence to deflect the ball disappeared, and as a result, they were losing more games with little space in the Western Conference.
Furthermore, in the first eight games of February, the Clippers posted a defensive rating of 116.5, the 20th in the league. This number is behind teams like the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and San Antonio Spurs.
In addition, they had gone 3-5 in those eight games, with two of those wins being against the 14-42 Utah Jazz. The third was to the Memphis Grizzlies, without their best player, Ja Morant.
That said, these wins may be considered good news at the end of the day, but context matters. The Clippers' February basketball has been flawed, and they are on the verge of dropping into the play-in tournament.