The Los Angeles Clippers traded for James Harden in the early hours of Halloween. They sent out Nic Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, Marcus Morris, a 2028 first round pick and 2 pick swaps. They sent one pick swap to the Thunder to give the Sixers a 2026 first round pick and they got P.J. Tucker in the deal as well. They thought they were ready but they got off to a rocky start.
They lost the first 5 games Harden played in and did not look good. Then something flipped. They rattled off 3 in a row before losing 3 of 5 and looking skittish again. Then, over a 31 game stretch from December 2nd to February 5th they went 26-5. They looked absolutely dominant. According to Cleaning the Glass, over that stretch, when filtering out garbage time, the Clippers had the best offense in the NBA by leaps and bounds, scoring 3.4 more points per 100 possessions than second place Boston, who were scoring 3.4 more points per 100 possessions than 9th place Denver. The gap from 1st to 2nd was as big as the one from 2nd to 9th. That is how good L.A.’s offense was over that stretch, they absolutely looked like a title contender and a team that had many people afraid. With wins over the Nuggets, Suns (2x), Thunder, and Celtics, this team looked as for real as any in the league. In 24 of those games they all played in, the team’s big 3 of Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George was dominant. According to NBA.com, they had an offensive rating of 130.0 in 518 minutes playing together, with a net rating of 18.5. Both of those ratings would be in first place this season and among the greatest of all time. They would be better than 8.3 better than 1st place Boston in offensive rating and 6.9 better than the Celtics’ 1st place net rating. That is how good those three guys were. Then after a 149-144 win over the Hawks something flipped and it was not for the better.
On February 7th, the Clippers played a game against the New Orleans Pelicans, their first game home from the ‘Grammy Trip’ that the Lakers and Clippers both go on every year because Crypto.com Arena is used for the awards show. The Clippers lost that game and have a record of 6-6 since that 6-1 road trip. Over those 12 games, the offense is 19th in the league and their big 3 have an offensive rating of 109.2 in 208 minutes, which would rank 28th in the NBA. The 2 eye opening losses were to the Lakers, a game they blew a 19 point 4th quarter lead, and the Bucks, a game in which Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton did not play in and they blew a 15 point second half lead. These are the kind of games that elite-championship level teams do not lose. When a team is missing their best player you cannot blow a 15 point lead in the 2nd half and when you are leading a 9 seed by 19 entering the 4th quarter, again you have to win that game. This is a basketball team that has been inconsistent for 5 years now and why would or should anyone believe that this team will all the sudden be consistent in what is going to be a brutal Western Conference Playoffs.
The question becomes which of the streaks is more real, the top of the league or a .500 team that cannot hang onto wins. My cop out answer is I don’t know and that I could see both worlds. I really believe that the Clippers can still go to (and maybe win) the Finals, that is how good those 3 guys are. I could also see them as a first round elimination. If you were making me pick a side on which one I think, I would say the more recent streak. The defense is not great, the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era has always been inconsistent, and they have been very healthy. Historically, this is not a group that has great health, in fact, they typically are always unhealthy, with either Leonard or George missing significant time. The Western Conference is loaded and I can absolutely see this team collapsing in the first round or second round again.
The Los Angeles Clippers have a really good team and definitely can compete among the elites in the NBA. However, their inconsistencies make you think that they are not likely to beat the defending champion Nuggets or the upstart Thunder. When Leonard, George, and Harden are on, they can compete with anyone, the question is, will they be ready for April and May? Also, their new uniforms for next season are sick.
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