Once Clippers' Achilles' Heel, L.A.'s Depth Becoming an Asset at the Right Time

The primary downfall of every Los Angeles Clippers playoff run, since Doc Rivers became head coach and president, has been a glaring lack of depth. 

As talented as Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Redick are—and as machine-like as their starting five is scoring the ball—the Clippers can’t journey deep in the playoffs without a bench that, at times, is able to stand on its own. That or complement and support the starting five. 

Instead, the Clippers have struggled, symbolizing Rivers’ inability to construct a team as well-rounded and balanced as those they need to beat, but that wasn't the case in L.A's 102-81 Game 2 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.

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One performance doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme, but so far Los Angeles has showed why its supporting cast is miles ahead of where it used to be. 

Instead of staggering his starters’ minutes so the Clippers would have at least one of Paul, Griffin, Redick or Jordan on the court at all times, Rivers chose to feature an all-bench five-man unit in Game 2. It was a roaring success. 

"They just changed the game for us. They were spectacular tonight...I thought they saved the game for us," Rivers said. "They came in and opened the floor, and just played, got ball movement. But then on the other end, I thought they got a ton of stops and scores, so that was huge for us. There's going to be nights like that in the playoffs where your starters may not get it going and you need a lift. Tonight was one of those nights."

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Three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, Wesley Johnson, Jeff Green and Cole Aldrich played together at once for just 56 minutes in the regular season—and outscored opponents by 1.0 point per 100 possession—but in Game 2 they outscored Portland by 12 points in 11 minutes, good for a net rating of 53.8.

"I thought their bench was good, both in the first half and second half. They made their run," Portland head coach Terry Stotts said. "You look at the plus-minus, it was pretty clear that their bench was effective for them. And they did it in different ways. I thought Austin Rivers’ three-point shot with eight something to go was a big momentum play. Ten-point game and he made the shot with the shot clock going off, and it turned the tide in the fourth quarter."

This one shot was huge, but it speaks to how razor-thin the margins of playoff basketball are, and why one solid performance by the all-bench unit could've just as easily turned into a nightmare.

"If it bounces long and you run the other way, that was a big momentum play," Stotts said. "It took it to 13 and gave them a lot of energy, where it could’ve been reversed."

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On one hand, it’s positive to see this group do well in a meaningful game. That alone is cause for celebration, and is the result of so much trial and error by Rivers throughout the season.

"I just think they’ve grown through the year. They started out slow and it took me trying to find the right combination of guys," Rivers said. "Jamal’s been Jamal, but Cole’s been great, Austin’s been great. Jeff, adding Jeff, another ball-handler to that group, has really helped us. And Wes has been fantastic too, so, we don’t mention Pablo [Prigioni], Paul [Pierce], so we have other guys that we can bring in still. They’re close, they practice together even when there’s a day off, so they’ve really had good growth."

On the other hand, the Trail Blazers are not the Golden State Warriors, and incredible first-round play in a game the Clippers are expected to win is much different than thriving at Oracle Arena against the best basketball team in the world. Is L.A.'s success sustainable? Or would it be a nightmare if Rivers calls back to nights like this when he’s sorting out his Round 2 rotation?

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For now, that doesn't matter. For now, the Clippers have a bench that's actually able to stretch leads instead of blow them, while the team's true strength gets meaningful rest. Any contribution from Aldrich, Green, Johnson and Rivers is gravy.

"They’re an explosive unit," Rivers said. "We really give the ball to Jamal and Austin and just tell them to go make a play with spacing, and then you add Jeff in that as well. But they’re just an unselfish group. They kind of get out of each other’s way. They know who has it going then they let that guy get going, and when that guys not going they try to find another guy and it’s been a good group."

An eventual showdown with the Warriors looms, and L.A.'s suddenly capable bench unit is a big reason its starters will be rested and ready to go. 

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.