10 Keys for the Los Angeles Clippers Heading into the Playoffs

While most of the "Lob City" hoopla has begun to die down, it's still an exciting time to be a Los Angeles Clippers fan.

That's because the Clips are on their way to their first postseason berth since 2006.

Before the season started, many pundits had L.A. pegged to make a deep run in the playoffs, possibly all the way to the NBA Finals. As the season has progressed, there have been some bumps in the road as you would expect, but a Pacific Division crown and a top-three seed are still within reach.

Here are 10 keys for the team as they prepare for the postseason.

1. Health

The biggest key for any playoff team is keeping their core players healthy.

Unfortunately for the Clippers, they're already guaranteed to be without one of their most important pieces in Chauncey Billups, who suffered a season-ending injury against Orlando back in February.

While Mr. Big Shot has been replaced, it's imperative that L.A.'s horses stay healthy.

Thus far, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin haven't dealt with too many injury issues (Paul missed a few games due to a sore hamstring early on), even with the rigorous, shortened schedule, but if one of them goes down at this latter stage of the season, the Clippers will be going nowhere fast come playoff time.

2. Free-Throw Shooting

Hitting freebies has been an Achilles' heel for the Clippers all season long. They rank second-to-last in the NBA in free-throw percentage.

The poster child for L.A.'s foul-line woes is Blake Griffin. The second-year star has gone to the line nearly twice as much as the team's next highest volume shooter, but is only hitting 52 percent of his free throws. That's actually a huge drop-off from the 64 percent mark he posted as a rookie.

The team's third-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe, DeAndre Jordan, is actually shooting a career best from the line this season. Unfortunately, that mark is also at 52 percent.

Free-throw shooting, especially late in games, can be a deciding factor. The Clippers, and Griffin in particular, need to make sure that they can step to the line confidently and knock them down when it matters.

3. Avoiding Fouls

The flip side of shooting free throws is making sure that your opponents don't.

So far, the Clippers have been way too generous in giving their opponents free-throw opportunities. 

Only three teams have allowed more opponent free throws than the Clippers. L.A.'s opposition has made nearly 200 more free throws than the Clippers have this season.

In the playoffs, it's important to be able to play good defense without fouling. The Clippers need to stop sending other teams to the line so often.

4. Rebounding

The Clippers have made a huge improvement in this category as the season has gone along. Early on, they were at the bottom of the league in rebounding categories across the board.

Now the Clippers are tied for third in rebounding rate, tied for fourth in rebounding differential and allow the fewest opposition rebounds per game in the entire league.

A lot of that is thanks to newcomers Reggie Evans and Kenyon Martin, who do an excellent job gobbling up boards in their limited minutes. 

Rebounding is crucial to success in the NBA, and if the Clippers want to go deep in the playoffs, they need to keep up this trend.

5. Winning the Turnover Battle

The Clippers are exceptionally good at hanging on to the ball, tied for second in the NBA with the Spurs in fewest turnovers committed per game. However, they're just average when it comes to turning opponents over.

Basketball is all about maximizing possessions, particularly in the playoffs, where every extra possession is crucial. If the Clippers can keep winning the turnover margin, they'll be in good position to win every single night.

6. Three-Point Shooting

So much of the Clippers offense is predicated on hitting the three-point shot.

Whether it's Chris Paul driving and dishing or Blake Griffin kicking it out of double-teams, the Clippers love hoisting it from deep. They're in the top five in the NBA in both three-pointers made and attempted, despite not having a single player shooting 40 percent or better from the outside.

Randy Foye has recently found the touch from behind the arc, but the Clippers really need to get Nick Young going from deep (he's just 19-of-61 on threes as a Clipper) to maximize their long-range arsenal.

7. Crunch-Time Help for CP3

I've made the case for Chris Paul being the most clutch player in the NBA, but the Clippers really need someone to step up and help carry the crunch-time load. Paul is the only Clipper among the top 75 clutch-time scorers in the league. 

His teammates, particularly Blake Griffin, need to raise their games when it matters most.

Griffin is 11th in the NBA in scoring this season, but when it comes to clutch situations, he drops all the way down to 85th in scoring, despite playing more clutch-time minutes than anyone else in the league. 

The drop-off is astonishing, not just in the numbers but in the way he plays. Griffin hardly ever takes it strong to the hole during crunch time. Assaulting the rim is Blake's best option on offense (just ask Pau Gasol or Kendrick Perkins), but he avoids that tactic in the clutch because of his fear of being fouled.

That means what small number of shots he does take become mainly jumpers, the biggest reason his field-goal percentage in the clutch drops to 43 percent, more than 11 percent lower than his 54.5 percent mark overall, fifth best in the NBA.

While Paul can absolutely take over games down the stretch, he will need help in the playoffs once teams are able to prepare for his heroics for two consecutive weeks. It's on Griffin and the rest of the supporting cast to help Paul come through in the clutch.

8. Fixed Rotation

This one is on head coach Vinny Del Negro.

Del Negro has to know how many minutes each guy is getting, and he has to know what lineups work best in what situation. 

Del Negro has a tendency to wait too long to go to his energy guys and also to keep his horses on the bench for too long. Other than Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, there has been a lot of shuffling in the rotation and juggling of lineups.

In the playoffs, the players have to know what minutes they're getting and be comfortable in their roles in order to produce on a consistent basis. It's up to Del Negro to find the right recipe for this team.

9. Chemistry

Chemistry has been an ongoing challenge throughout the season. It's to be expected on a roster that has experienced so much change from last year.

The Clippers have done a great job integrating new parts like Kenyon Martin, Reggie Evans and Eric Bledsoe in the middle of the season.

Now if they can just find the right niche for Nick Young, they'll have the depth necessary to make a run in the playoffs.

10. Confidence

A fixed rotation and good team chemistry breeds confidence, but it can be ever so elusive.

Right now guys like Randy Foye and Eric Bledsoe are brimming with it, but DeAndre Jordan and Nick Young are lacking. Caron Butler's confidence seems to change daily.

While confidence plays a bigger part in the production of role players, even the stars need an injection of it. Blake Griffin needs to be confident in his jumper and from the foul line, while Chris Paul has to stop hesitating on open three-point looks.

It's impossible to predict confidence, but no team can get very far in the playoffs without it. The Mavericks rode a roster full of confidence to a title last year, while we all know what LeBron's mental state did to him in the finals.

The final key for this Clippers squad is to have full confidence in each other and in themselves. Who knows where that can take them?