NBA Playoffs 2012: Complete Guide to Beating the Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers are the surprise team of 2011-2012, making a late push for a top-three seed in the playoffs behind the strong play of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

Then again, many expected this team to pull a 180 and foster a winning culture, because that's the kind of player Chris Paul is.

They've even made the battle for the Staples Center relevant again, proving that the Los Angeles Lakers aren't the only team that can win in the building anymore.

However, they've had their struggles this year, losing Chauncey Billups to injury and still in the middle of looking for a consistent presence to relieve Caron Butler at small forward.

While exciting in transition and definitely the most up-and-coming team in the NBA this year, the Clippers are still vulnerable heading into these 2012 NBA playoffs.

Here are five ways an opposing team can knock them off in the coming weeks. 

Send Them to the Line

The Clippers are shooting a paltry 68 percent from the free-throw line, second to only Orlando for the worst percentage in the league.

While they have Chris Paul, Mo Williams and Randy Foye, who all shoot 85 percent and above, they also have DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, who hover around 50 percent.

Throw in banger Reggie Evans and overseas cast-off Kenyon Martin, who is shooting an ice-cold 38 percent from the charity stripe, and the Clippers have the worst free-throw shooting frontcourt in the NBA.

At the beginning of the season, teams hadn't figured out how to stop Chris Paul, Mo Williams and the rest of the group from throwing lob passes that ended up on ESPN's SportsCenter on a nightly basis. Now, they're attacking, grabbing and fouling these guys before they can finish at the rim.

Of course, all the hard fouls on Griffin have Clippers fans and head coach Vinny Del Negro heated about the prospect of him not getting up on the next foul.

But if teams want to slow the explosiveness of LA's game, they'll figure out how to slow the pace down and watch Griffin make 1-of-2 free throws at the line.

Slow the Pace Down

While you could make the argument that Chris Paul and Mo Williams thrive in isolation situations, that isn't enough to justify them taking every shot in the half-court set.

Additionally, the Clippers are at their best when they are running up and down the court in the break.

"Lob City" is built on the foundation of the fast break and quick pick-and-roll sets that take advantage of poor defense.

However, when you get into the playoffs and start facing teams that pride themselves on defense like the LA Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and to an extent the Dallas Mavericks (no Tyson Chandler this year), it's going to be tough to get those opportunities.

Make no mistake—the Clips will make the effort to get out on the break and run, triggered by Chris Paul's defense and DeAndre Jordan's ability to reject shots at the rim. But if opposing teams can limit fast-break points and those emphatic finishes, they'll have a decent shot to be in any game against the Clips.

Body Up Blake Griffin

There's no doubt Blake Griffin is a special talent in this league.

Already a dunk contest champion, Rookie of the Year and a rising star at his position, he's one of the most exciting players we have the privilege to watch on a nightly basis.

But teams that have had success stopping Griffin have done so by throwing a more physical player his way, forcing Griffin to use a finesse game that he's not quite comfortable with on a consistent level. 

Tough fouls aside, teams are starting to make Griffin earn his points at the foul line, as well as avoiding his pump fakes and twists on the block in one-on-one situations.

He struggles to score with his back to the basket, and is still far superior moving without the ball than with it.

Teams will scramble their defensive rotation to mirror this fact, forcing Griffin to play more strong side, post-up basketball and less weak side rebounding and pick-and-roll sets. 

Find out How Clutch Nick Young Really Is

Teams often allow one person to beat them.

In today's NBA, everyone is talented enough that it's hard to pick your poison, but most teams will focus their defensive intensity in a way that forces one player to either step up or play right into the hands of the strategy.

For the opposing teams scouting the Los Angeles Clippers, that person should be Nick Young.

Who is he? Some nights he plays like JR Smith, some nights more like Reggie Miller.

He can shoot you back into the ballgame just as easy as he can shoot you out of it.

That kind of unpredictability might scare teams away from giving him more leeway than not, but if you had to choose between proven playoff performers like Chris Paul, Mo Williams and Caron Butler, a rising star like Griffin and a "shoot the ball time-bomb" like Young, who would you choose?

The Clippers traded away a second-round pick (virtually nothing) to see if he could bring some size and scoring to the second unit that so desperately needs it.

He'll get his chance in the playoffs, but it's unclear if it will be as an X-factor or as a playoff pariah. Teams should make that distinction early on in their defensive process.

Get to the Bench

Yes, they've added Kenyon Martin and Nick Young over the course of the season.

They've also added Bobby Simmons, but you can't tell me that lineup scares anyone else in the Western Conference when guys named Griffin, Paul and Butler aren't on the court.

Only four teams average less bench points per game than the Los Angeles Clippers, who score 25.5 per game.

Of course, the four other teams are Boston, Orlando, Miami and the Lakers, all playoff squads, so who knows if there is any method to the madness that is NBA substitution?

However, those are all veteran teams in at least year two of their current core. Reserves and starters alike mostly know what to expect and what roles are, so it's easier to mesh as a unit.

This unit hasn't time to gel. They added Martin and Young midseason, and when you throw in the unpredictability of Mo Williams and Young in the backcourt, does anyone really believe that two quick Paul or Griffin fouls wouldn't spell disaster in the early going of any playoff game?

The Chauncey Billups injury really hurt this team. They've overcome that and sit in a position where they can beat any team on any night.

But if that's going to be the case, it will be on the strength of their stars, not on the guys still piecing together what it takes to average more than a quarter of their team's points per night.