After beginning the season 2-4 with all four losses coming in their new building the ‘Intuit Dome’ the Los Angeles Clippers under head coach Ty Lue, are finally starting to find themselves.
Winners of four straight, LA currently sitting at 6-4 without superstar and two-time champion Kawhi Leonard who is sidelined to start this season because of lingering knee issues, are playing hard on both ends, but the biggest surprise might be the elevation of Norman Powell.
The nine-year veteran has taken his game to another level offensively, and it has shown as a full-time starter in the 10 games so far this season. He is averaging 25.5 ppg on 51.5% from the field and 49.4% from 3-point all career highs.
Norman Powell Leading The Was For The Clippers
After the 105-103 win against Toronto for their fourth straight win, he said “I always had it in the back of my mind that I can be this.” There is some truth to that statement. He had a career-high 43-pt performance back in March of 2012 while he was a member of Toronto, so he has shown what he is capable of.
He had his first double-double of his career against Sacramento on November 8th, scoring 31 points and grabbing 12 rebounds,
“JVG (lead assistant Jeff Van Gundy) came at me during shootaround talking about some rebounds I didn’t get in the Philly game and told me to go get it, it’s free money. So I made it an emphasis to make sure I was on the glass as much as I could.”
Playing with a facilitator like James Harden has made his job much easier because Harden knows how to get Powell the ball in spots where he can score. Through the first 10 games, it looks like that pairing in the backcourt has built a formidable unit.
Powell, who is normally known as a ‘sixth man’ coming off the bench, because the majority of his career has been his role, talked before the season about getting the opportunity to start and showcase what he can do with the departure of Paul George who left for Philadelphia in the summer. Looked at this opportunity as “addition by subtraction” and was ready to take on a larger role as a consistent scorer, he has passed the test thus far.
He is playing like an All-Star and he might get passed over for an all-star bid based on the names on the back of some of these other players’ jerseys, even if Powell is having a better season if he continues to play this way, but the Clippers organization understands his value.
The Clippers start a 3-game road trip starting Monday in Oklahoma City, a team that they have already lost to, then two in Houston.
Chrys Henderson is a writer for LAFB. You can follow him on X @ChrysNBA.
