The LA Clippers are 5-13. They've been an absolute dumpster fire for most of the season. Kawhi Leonard recently returned, Bradley Beal is done for the season, and James Harden has been carrying a team with the league’s oldest roster, which is starting to be seen.
The trade of Norman Powell for John Collins has been a complete disaster as well. So far, Collins has not provided the spacing they needed and Powell has been balling in Miami.
But then something happened on Saturday afternoon in Charlotte that might have been the breakthrough moment this season has desperately needed. The Clippers played some of their fastest paced basketball of the season, and they won convincingly. That might be the key to turning this entire season around.
Quickness and urgency had always been the Clippers' blueprint
Let's talk about what happened against the Dallas Mavericks on November 14th and what it meant going forward. The LA Clippers finally stopped playing slow, grinding, iso-heavy basketball and instead embraced pace and space. They pushed the tempo, got into transition, and forced defenses to scramble. The result? Everything looked different. The offense was in flow, and the role players got easy looks. The entire team was sharper.
This is the revelation the Clippers needed. For months, they've been stuck in James Harden's heavy iso game, with everyone else standing around watching. It's needed, but it's just suffocating to play with and predictable to play against. But when the Clippers push pace, when they get into a rhythm, when they force the action instead of methodically grinding through possessions? That's when you see flashes of what the potential of this team could actually be.
The beauty of playing fast is that it covers up roster deficiencies. When you're moving the ball quickly and pushing in transition, you don't need John Collins to be a stretch four, Chris Paul to be locking up on the perimeter, and a dinosaur Brook Lopez to defend athletic wings inside. Speed and spacing hide a multitude of flaws. And most importantly, it takes pressure off the main scorer and shot creator, which in this case is Harden.
James Harden's 55-Point masterclass changed everything
Then came an afternoon matchup in Charlotte, and James Harden put on a clinic. He scored 55 points, a new LA Clippers franchise record, on 17-of-26 shooting from the field, 10-of-16 from three-point range, and made all 11 of his free throws. He also dished out seven assists. This was the 25th 50-point game of his 17-year career, tying Kobe Bryant for the third-most in NBA history.
But here's the thing: Harden didn't do it by himself. The Clippers snapped a three-game losing streak because the entire team was moving. Ivica Zubac had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. The offense was humming. They beat the Hornets 131-116 and looked like a completely different team following the Dallas game than they had in the first month of the season.
This is what happens when the Clippers play fast. Harden's burden lightens, which leads to role players getting open looks, and the defense doesn't have time to set up and suffocate them.
Suddenly, a 36-year-old Harden can put up 55 points without completely destroying his body in the process. Thus, the entire team looks refreshed.
While the problem is still real, there is a solution
Now let's be honest: the LA Clippers are still 5-13. They still lack sufficient NBA-caliber offensive firepower to compete against elite teams. John Collins, Chris Paul, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Brook Lopez aren't, unfortunately, going to miraculously flip a switch and transform into a different version of themselves. The core roster issues are still there and deep.
But here's what's important: Tyronn Lue might have finally figured out how to maximize what he has. Instead of playing a slow, boring, Harden-dependent game, he is trying to embrace the pace, as his rotations are getting into transition and pushing the tempo. This prevents defenses from setting up their planned coverages.
The question now is whether the Clippers double down on this approach or revert to their comfort zone. Do they trade for someone early in the season to add more firepower? Or do they wave the white flag and accept this underperforming unit for the season? The answer might depend on whether they can maintain the pace-and-space approach that works when they maximize it.
Kawhi Leonard's return sets the Clippers in the right direction
The good news is that Kawhi Leonard returned versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, and played against the Los Angeles Lakers. He was out for 10 games with a sprained ankle and foot, and his absence caused catastrophes. With Leonard back in the lineup, the LA Clippers suddenly have another ball-handler and another scoring option, which means Harden will not attract all of the focus from defenses.
If the Clippers can continue to play fast with Leonard, they might actually have something. Leonard is elite at attacking in transition. He can get downhill quickly and force the defense to make decisions. When combined with Harden's ability to create in pace-and-space situations, Leonard can transform the Clippers, if he stays healthy.
The Clippers need urgency in the Western Conference
The clock is ticking, though. The Phoenix Suns are heating up and currently sit as the six seed in the Western Conference. The Sacramento Kings somehow beat the Denver Nuggets, and the Dallas Mavericks are right there at five wins as well, with a young, hungry, and developing Cooper Flagg.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are on top of the conference with a 18-1 record and are currently holding the LA Clippers' first-round pick. The West is not going to wait around while LA figures things out.
There are 64 games left, and the Clippers are 1.5 games out of the 10th seed. If they can maintain the pace-and-space approach that has succeeded, they still have time to salvage this season. But every loss counts, as each night they revert back to slow, iso-heavy basketball is a wasted opportunity.
The immediate adjustments Tyronn Lue needs to make are as clear as day
The blueprint is clear: the LA Clippers need to push the tempo, get into transition, and force defenses to scramble. This approach neutralizes their roster weaknesses and allows guys like James Harden and Kawhi Leonard to play in rhythm. It also gives the role players—as limited as they are—a chance to contribute in a meaningful way.
If Tyronn Lue commits to this strategy, there's still a path forward. But it requires discipline, resistance in the urge to fall back into slow, grinding basketball, and Harden to buy in and trust his teammates to execute in transition.
That said, LA's small sample size of fast paced success is a proof of concept. They have cracked the code to unlocking their potential. Now they need to take advantage of it before it's too late.