Checklist for Los Angeles Clippers During Season's Home Stretch

The Los Angeles Clippers are approaching the home stretch of the season and have a few things on their agenda to accomplish before the playoffs begin. The Clippers still has some issues that must be corrected, such as the team defense and solidifying a playoff rotation.

Other items on the agenda merely need a few tweaks. Who will Doc Rivers sign to fill the remaining two roster spots? Can Rivers use this time without Blake Griffin to calibrate Spencer Hawes with the team's offense?

The goal should be to check off the following five items. If the Clippers can do so, then they will be in a position to succeed during the postseason. Leave a few unchecked, on the other hand, and they could be vulnerable when the playoffs begin.

Fill the Roster

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The Clippers' roster currently sits at 13, two men short of the maximum allowed. Rivers has been keeping an eye on players who are bought out of their contracts to fill those remaining two spots, according to ESPN.com's Arash Markazi.

"Rivers said the Clippers will look to sign a player to a 10-day contract after the All-Star break and could be active in the market for players who become available after buyouts," Markazi wrote.

Considering the Clippers have pressing needs in the frontcourt, they should be actively seeking help. Rivers will likely be speaking with the agents of Andrei Kirilenko, Shawne Williams and any other forwards who are waived before March 1.

Although these players are unlikely to play a prominent role in the team's rotation, a full roster will give Rivers options down the stretch. This is especially important because Griffin is still out for a few more weeks due to a staph infection.

Defensive Consistency

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The Clippers' defensive struggles have been well-chronicled in some of my previous articles. They are capable of stringing together quality defensive performances but have been unable to consistently defend over longer periods of time.

For example, on February 9 and 11, the Clippers held both the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets to under 100 points and less than 41 percent shooting from the field. However, they allowed 115 points on 51.2 percent shooting to the San Antonio Spurs in the following game.

Effort and consistency are key traits of good defensive teams. Rivers believes the Clippers lack both on a regular basis, according to Clipers.com's Rowan Kavner:

“What I do like in certain games, there’s been proof we can be a really good defensive team. I just don’t like how inconsistent we’ve been defensively.”

Rivers must find a way to keep the Clippers' defensive intensity high during the final stretch of the regular season. It will be important for the team to improve its 18th ranked defense if it hopes to make the franchise's first Western Conference Finals appearance.

Decide on a Reserve Point Guard

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The reserve point guard spot has plagued the Clippers all season.

Jordan Farmar's failure to fit within the structure of Rivers' offensive and defensive systems set the team back. As a result, Farmar and the Clippers agreed on a buyout which allowed him to become a free agent and opened up a roster spot.

Rivers' next move was to acquire his son Austin in a trade with the Boston Celtics. Capable of playing both guard spots, Austin Rivers has yet to lock down the reserve point guard duties. Instead, his father has deployed him as a combo guard and even small forward at times.

Furthermore, there have been reports linking free-agent guard Nate Robinson to the Clippers, according to Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy. 

"Robinson has attracted some level of interest from a number of teams, but multiple sources insist his preference at the moment is to join the L.A. Clippers," Kennedy wrote.

It is time for Rivers to decide on a solution behind Chris Paul. Hopefully this solution involves Austin Rivers or a new acquisition playing point guard. This would allow Jamal Crawford to return to his scoring role instead of masquerading as a point guard.

Spencer Hawes

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This year marks the second consecutive campaign in which one of the Clippers' primary offseason additions has failed to live up to expectations.

Last season, Jared Dudley had the spotlight on him. He was expected to be a shooter who could space the floor while defending adequately. Although he battled injuries all year, his impact was far less than expected and he struggled adapting to his role within the offense.

Hawes is in a similar situation this year. He battled a knee sprain throughout December and early January and has struggled to fit within the Clippers' offense.

He is scoring a mere 6.4 points per game and 13.0 per 36 minutes, slightly under his career average of 13.9 per 36. His true shooting percentage of 51.9 is considerably lower than last year. Additionally, his average shot distance of 15.1 feet is a career high and over four feet further than his career average.

Truthfully, Hawes is struggling within the offense but is also being limited. He is a good passer with an assist percentage of 12.9 for his career. That number has fallen to 9.7 percent this season for the same reason he has struggled shooting the ball: He is not getting touches near the elbow nor on the block.

While Hawes is a good shooter from three for a seven-footer, those looks should not make up 41.5 percent of his shot attempts. Hawes has to find a way to fit more cohesively within the offense.

53 Wins

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One of the most important factors of winning a playoff series is having the luxury of Game 7 on your home floor. This is especially the case during one of the most competitive seasons in the history of the NBA's Western Conference.

Last season, the Clippers won a franchise-best 57 games, earning the third seed in the conference. Considering it took 54 wins to wrap up home-court advantage last year, this season will be no different.

The Clippers are 37-19 as of February 22. According to ESPN's Hollinger Playoff Odds, it will take 53 wins to earn home court. It also has the Clippers penciled in for 55 wins, third in the conference.

While those numbers may be taken with a grain of salt, they do serve a purpose as a baseline. The Clippers are going to need to approach, if not pass, that win total to earn home court again this season.

Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.