The Los Angeles Clippers have been victors of four straight games, improving to 6-4 on the season. However, the road through the first 10 games hasn’t been what they have desired, as it’s faced an early roller coaster of emotions.
The Clippers have been far from the flashiest team to watch, but it has found ways to squeeze wins in tightly knotted contests. In games decided by single digits, the Clippers hold a 5-3 record with an average point differential of +4.6. Though close wins help build resilience in a team, they ultimately cause fatigue. Lucky for the head coach, Ty Lue, he has one of the best backcourts in the league, along with Norman Powell and former MVP James Harden, whom he can rely on.
In his fourth season with the Clippers, Powell has stepped into his own, averaging a career-high 25.5 points per game on 51.5 percent from the field and 49.4 percent from three. The former second-round pick is playing at an All-Star level and has been everything the team has needed offensively.
Clippers Backcourt Going In Different Directions
On the other hand, Harden has been as inconsistent as we have ever seen him throughout his entire career. Though the 10-time All-Star is averaging 21.2 points — the most since his 2021-22 campaign — alongside 9.0 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game, Harden has struggled with his efficiency. Through 10 games, Harden is shooting a career-worst 36.1 percent from the field and hasn’t been much better from three-point range (29.6 percent).
Additionally, with Harden running the Clippers’ offense, the team has averaged a league-high 5.2 turnovers per game from their 35-year-old guard. As a team, the Clippers are the association’s fourth-worst team in terms of turnovers, averaging 17.2 per game. If Lue can get his players to play with more security, they can turn into one of the best offensive teams.
Despite ball security being an issue, Harden has been far from the Clippers’ biggest problem. With Harden, players such as Ivica Zubac (16.4), Derrick Jones Jr. (10.3), and Amir Coffey (9.1) are having career years scoring the ball.
The biggest area of concern lies in the team’s scoring off the bench — a category that the Clippers usually dominate. Since the 2015-16 season, the Clippers have been a top-10 team in bench scoring and consistently had players like Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, and Montrezl Harrell be named the Sixth Man of the Year. But with the decision to move Powell into the starting lineup, the bench has taken a hit as the Clips rank 27th (30 points per game) in bench production.
Despite its lackluster bench and turnover issues, the Clippers are one of 12 teams to win 10 wins and have done it without its best player, Kawhi Leonard. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year has been nursing a right knee injury and has no timetable for his return. However, the team has remained confident that its All-NBA talent will be cleared at some point this season.
If and when Leonard returns, the Clippers will only continue to trend up as he will provide essential offensive output as well as perimeter defense. Leonard is a career 20-point-per-game scorer and will try to improve a Clippers team that’s 20th in offensive rating. With Leonard in the lineup, the Clippers have a 154-75 record — but remaining healthy has been Leonard’s Achilles heel, playing in just 229 games of a possible 338 since coming to Los Angeles.
The good news is that despite all the setbacks and struggles Lue and the Clips have faced, they sit above a .500 record and still have a lot to gain this season.
