Opponent Breakdown: What Clippers Bring to Table vs Suns
The Phoenix Suns will play the Los Angeles Clippers at 5 p.m. on Sunday from the Footprint Center, as the Valley searches for its first title. An undoubtedly sold-out arena will be packed to the gills to watch the first game of the first-round playoff series, one that presents an interesting matchup for both teams.
Phoenix will enter the game will almost close to full health and confidence, riding an undefeated 8-0 record when F Kevin Durant plays.
In the case of Los Angeles, the Clippers’ roster is one of the more interesting rosters in the league and enter into the playoffs with a crucial injury to G Paul George. The Clippers' journey to the playoffs and trade deadline moves were eventful to put themselves in the number four seed in the West.
The Suns will face the Clippers in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs beginning Sunday.
Here’s a breakdown of the Clippers season and some of the trends from regular season games:
To begin the year, George dominated the scoring sheet for the Clippers. The near .500 playing team relied on a heavy dependency of George. In fact, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 15, a stretch of nine games in a row, George led the Clippers in scoring.
The frost rough patch of the season came on Dec. 29. To begin the calendar year, the Clipper lost six games a in a row, and on Jan. 8 found themselves in sixth in the Western Conference, a game ahead of the Suns at the time.
About a week later, the Clippers would make those games back by winning five in a row starting on Jan. 20.
The Clippers would remain streaky during the month of February, with a separate loss streak of five immediately followed by a win streak of four.
Interestingly enough, it was G Russell Westbrook, after being acquired at the trade deadline, that led many of the games in assists. When Westbrook joined the Clippers, his role had changed drastically. Now a distributor, Westbrook led the Clippers in assists in 16 of the Clippers' final 22 games.
G Russell Westbrook was dealt to the Clippers at the trade deadline, his role since then has changed drastically.
Since the All-Star break, the Clippers have been a much better team. Their field goal percentage rose nearly four percent, one of the biggest jumps in the NBA post break. This raised their scoring average from 111.4 PPG to 119.8 PPG in their final 20 games.
Against the Suns, the Clippers have split the season series 2-2. They have averaged 106.3 PPG on 44.9% from the field off 22 APG.
To finish off the year, the Clippers won their three games. With LA coming in playing good basketball, the playoff series could be closer than some anticipate. If there’s one thing that can limit the Clippers chances of beating the Suns, it’s their health.
The Clippers' main rotation players have been solid for them all year, but come playoff time, where a series is played against the same team every night, the Suns have glaring advantages talent wise.
Here is a breakdown of the Clippers roster:
Guards
The biggest factor for the Clippers in this series will be the absence of George. In fact, the guard play from the Clippers has been the team’s biggest strength, having contributions from Terrence Mann and Eric Gordon along with George and Westbrook.
Both Mann and Gordon will play much bigger roles without George in the rotation. Expect Westbrook to be more aggressive with the ball in his hands this series as well. When attacking the rim, Westbrook is still drawing fouls at an elite level. On the defensive side of the ball, Westbrook has quietly transitioned into one of the better defending guards in the league when he wants to be.
Booker could have his way against the Clippers if the Suns play a screening switch attack offensively.
Still, without George, the Clippers guards will be playing more minutes than usual and will be tasked with scoring at a higher rate.
Forwards
Nicolas Batum will help Leonard in the starting lineup as the power forward, but it is unlikely he will guard Durant. That task will be given to Leonard, who has had his fair share of battles with Durant, to try and slow down the attack. Batum offers veteran experience and expect his role to open up more as a rebounder on the offensive end with Leonard being such a high-volume shooter this series. Depth wise, the Clippers lack significant pieces at the forward end to takeover games. Expect this series t run through Leonard and expect his health and foul situation to determine how far the Clippers make it in this series.
Centers
The center play from the Clippers has been spear headed by Ivica Zubac. The seven- foot Croat finds himself having a career year. In his highest career minutes per game, Zubac has established himself as a starting center on a playoff team. Zubac averaged 10.8 PPG and 9.9 RPG. Zubac will be battling with Deandre Ayton and expect that matchup to be intense. Zubac has averaged 14 points in the past four games to end the year.
The Clippers roster may not have the firepower that it could have if George was healthy to begin the series, nevertheless the Clippers can compete with the Suns if Leonard finds his groove. I’s happened before (think Toronto) and Leonard can affect both sides of the ball unlike most in the league. The question will remain for Los Angles, can they keep pace over a series of five or six games. The first step will be stealing a road win here in the next few days.
