The silent rise of the LA Clippers in the Western Conference: from the intermittent Kawhi Leonard to the leadership of Paul George

Each out of season There are one or two teams that get all the attention from the fans and the press and quickly become the consensus contenders. Sets that, because of their depth list of names or because of the relevance of their names, they are considered favorites. In the LA Clippers they had to bear this responsibility, even if they were not prepared for such a scenario. That didn’t matter. On paper, they were counting on his return Kawhi Leonard, his presence Paul Georgea top level coach like Tyronn Lue and a supporting cast that could headline any other franchise.

As usual, it was confirmed early on that they weren’t going to be the dominant team everyone thought they would be. Defeats followed and Angelenos settled at about 50%. It was clear that what they needed was time, time to acclimatize, to get to know each other and most of all to fit all the pieces together. More than two months after the premiere the Clippers are getting close to being that teamto be a candidate for ring what was expected The point is that they have done it again without making any noise, without causing many surprises and adding wins little by little.

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After beating the Detroit Pistons in a tight game 142 to 131where they won in overtime, the Californians have done it moved up to fourth in the Western Conference. A step forward that has them knocking the Suns off the home court factor, in addition to being 1.5 games back of the third place Memphis Grizzlies.

While the entire conference midfield struggles to stay above 50% winning, the Clippers have created some margin by being consistent: they have won 6 of their last 10 games, losing only once at home and adding 2 away wins.

In this very positive period, those from Lue have established themselves as the sixth best team according to advanced statistics, recording a +3.7 from net score and being the second best defense of the entire NBA (107.6), behind only the Grizzlies. In fact, the Clippers have recorded the second best defensive composition in the competition in the aforementioned period (101.8), thanks to the perfect union of George, Morris, Leonard, Jackson and Zubacwho wonderfully understand each other back.

The intermediate zones are where the Californians have had the best defensive performance, being one of the teams that protect the paint and the midrange better. All this without reducing his work from the line of three, both frontal and in the corners.

In this silent rise, his good offensive work Paul Georgewhich is the average 24.4 points with 36.8% in triplesbut being his contribution as creative (6.9 assists) the most impressive. In a team like this where forwards are such a presence, for someone like PG to have made such a step in that area is very important. In fact, it’s no surprise that the third-highest assist over those last 10 games has been Kawhi Leonard, who is positively on pace.

George has been the leader of the team for some time now. A very different figure than the one we see under Doc Rivers and who now manages to have a very positive impact on the Clippers in a number of ways.

Still, make no mistake, the Clippers have a long way to go. Kawhi Leonard is moving in the right direction, but he is far from adding the way the team needs him. Angelenos’ offense is still very lacking (29th overall). And the direction of Wall and Jackson very erratic. The important thing is to be in the high zone, avoid unnecessary problems and tensions, and that everyone arrives in perfect condition at April.

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