Biggest Takeaways from Los Angeles Clippers' 2015 NBA Playoff Debut
A playoff team doesn't have to make a bunch of adjustments if it beats down its opponent in Game 1 of a series. It must, however, prepare for a heavy load of them being thrown their way during Game 2.
The Los Angeles Clippers controlled Game 1 of their series against the San Antonio Spurs almost the whole way through, gliding to a 107-92 victory and taking a 1-0 series lead on Sunday. The Clippers certainly had their flaws, but in the end, they played one of their best games of the season—considering the context.
You know Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is going to come back with some funky changes for Wednesday night's Game 2. The bench did struggle against the Spurs, but for now, the Clippers have done a whole lot more right than wrong against San Antonio.
Blake Griffin's Newfound Aggression
The talk all year about Griffin has been his hesitation to get to the rim.
He hasn't finished as well inside three feet, shooting the worst percentage there since his rookie season. He is fighting to the hoop less than he ever has in the past while taking far more mid-range shots than before. He's looked like a different Griffin, even if he has vastly improved his jumper.
Plenty of theories have floated around about the change in Griffin's game. He actually cleared up his stylistic transformation in early February in a piece for The Players' Tribune, saying much of it just has to do with sustaining his career and health:
"My first few years in the league, I was relying on my athleticism to get me by, because that’s what got me to the NBA. The problem with that is, you end up getting really, really tired by February. My rookie year I tried to get out of bed on a road trip near the end of the season and I was like, Am I physically able to walk right now? I went out on the floor that night and ran up and down just trying to look like a real NBA human.
"
Maybe that all changes during the playoffs.
Griffin morphed into 2014 Blake—the one who finished third in MVP voting—during Sunday's game, totaling 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals. But it wasn't the stats or the increase in rebounding that made Griffin's performance uncharacteristic for 2015. It was where the points came from.
Only four of Griffin's 20 field-goal attempts came from outside the paint. He got to the line 10 times and was aggressively throwing himself at San Antonio rim-defenders, especially Aron Baynes:
My condolences, Aron, but I have to show the other one, too:
Oh, shoot. I totally forgot there was a third. I promise I'm not doing this on purpose:
Cory Joseph didn't even know how to defend that Griffin spin. It wasn't even because it was such a lethal move. Defenders are simply never going to be comfortable guarding a 4-1 pick-and-roll. It's the beauty of Griffin's skill set, which makes a defense's life that much more unpleasant.
"Why isn't Blake dunking anymore?" isn't a question someone can ask after Game 1, when Griffin adjusted his style depending on who was guarding him, facing up Baynes, backing down Boris Diaw and out-quicking Tiago Splitter.
It was the perfect Griffin performance. It really was...but somehow, Chris Paul still stole the show.
Chris Paul's Style
The Clippers had the longest layoff of any playoff team. They didn't play on Tuesday and didn't end up starting their series against the Spurs until the latest time possible, stuck in the Sunday-evening, West Coast slot.
That gave us far too much time to pontificate about whom Popovich would assign to guard CP3—and he started off with a surprise.
Fellow point guard Tony Parker began the game defending Paul after five days of fans wondering if it would be Kawhi Leonard or Danny Green on arguably best point guard in the world. However, Paul didn't really take advantage of his first-half assignment.
C.P. went for just seven points on 3-of-7 shooting in the first half, when Parker mainly guarded him. He wasn't playing poorly—he just wasn't proactive. It was usual first-half Paul. He prodded, tried to create for others, but he wasn't looking for his own shot.
In the second half, the Spurs got a little more creative. They moved Kawhi onto Paul, then stuck Green with him for crunch time. But that's when CP3 started hunting for his own points.
Paul turned the Staples Center crowd into 19,000 proud parents melting at the sight of their child's success in the midst of dropping 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the second half. He finished with a business-as-usual 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
He was spectacular in attacking the rim, dissecting the San Antonio "D" with his carving mid-range game and even blowing by Leonard once after denying a Griffin screen on a pick-and-roll.
The dude was blowing by Kawhi. That's how you knew he wasn't just on—he was the one who was going to determine the outcome.
Give Parker His Room
Tony Parker has given every reason for opponents to respect his jumper, especially from mid-range.
Parker has drained almost 46 percent of his shots from 16 feet out to the arc over the past three years. We know he can sink his jumpers, but he's also made a living going to the rim. So, the Clippers took away the dribble-drive facet of his game.
L.A. gave Parker plenty of room to load up and shoot. Paul was actually going under ball screens much of the time defending him. And you might think, "Oh no! Parker would kill the Clips with 16-footers if they gave him good looks and wide-open passing lanes!"
That does seem to be the reasonable opinion, but it's not what happened.
Parker shot just 4-of-11, though he was obviously banged up from a knee-to-knee collision with Paul earlier in the game. Still, CP3 giving the Spurs' best facilitator all that room helped the Clippers "D" in ways beyond just Parker's shooting line.
Let's talk about DeAndre Jordan.
Jordan had one of his best performances of the season on Sunday, and that's after ignoring his pedestrian-for-him 14 rebounds and four swats. D.J.'s effectiveness was all about his pick-and-roll defense in Game 1.
Jordan is most comfortable when he can hang around the rim. If an offense makes him stray, that's when it can capitalize on back cuts, rim runs and perimeter swings for open shots. But when Paul hangs back on those ball screens for Parker, it denies the driving lane, allowing Jordan to play a more conservative defensive style.
When D.J. stays back, he can get into a rhythm, and Jordan is the ultimate rhythm defender.
It's why we see him put up stretches which make you wonder just how dominant he is only to follow them with 48-minute performances that elicit investigations over someone not supporting him in the Defensive Player of the Year race.
Game 1 was one of those dominant showings, and plenty of it had to do with the style in which the Clippers allowed D.J. to operate.
Watch to see if Pop and the Spurs bust out some new strategies to force Jordan to stray from the rim.
Steer Clear of the Bench
As great as the Clippers were Sunday, there was one major problem: the bench. What a surprise.
Before Game 1, Doc Rivers couldn't confirm exactly how deep into his rotation he would dig during the first game of the playoffs, repeatedly stipulating that coaches have to go on feel and situations during the postseason.
Well, he ended up going to a five-man, all-bench unit by the end of the first quarter...and it didn't work out well.
The Clippers led 30-18 at the end of the first. San Antonio immediately started the second period on a run, and guess who was in the game at the time?
The five-man, all-bench unit only played two minutes but got outscored by seven points in that time, trimming the Clippers' lead to 30-25. The team visibly struggled all night whenever it had three-plus reserves on the floor.
So, Doc ran his stars out there. And kept running them. And running them. And running them. Heck, he didn't even pull them from a 20-point game with two minutes left.
Paul played 38 minutes. Griffin, 43. Jordan, 38. Redick, 36.
That may not be sustainable in the long term, but at the same time, can you really blame Doc? How could he possibly trust the bench?
The Clippers playing all those guys that many minutes may be their only way to win. The starters did after all play 25 minutes together Sunday—25 minutes!!—and allowed a suffocating 78.4 points per 100 possessions against the Spurs during that time.
Hyped defensive intensity from Jordan and Griffin, especially, is one of the main reasons they won the game. Why turn away from that?
At some point, Rivers may have to find some more creative ways to stagger lineups. He's played Jordan with the second unit some during the regular season, and he continued to Sunday evening. We'll probably see some offbeat lineups as the playoffs progress, too.
Or the starters can just ball out there for 48 minutes each. Either one.
Follow Fred Katz on Twitter at @FredKatz.
All quotes obtained firsthand. Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of April 20 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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