INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Sometimes you need that uncomfortable moment to be brought back to reality that there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
The visiting Miami Heat came into Los Angeles and defeated the LA Clippers 120-119.
Following the tough loss, Clippers Head Coach Tyron Lue was frustrated after feeling like his team gave a game away.
“We got to be ready to go. This game is over, now we have to move onto the next tomorrow. We can’t hang our heads on it. We got to learn from it. We can’t continue to turn the basketball over and give teams layups, threes and dunks. All we got to do is take care of the ball.”
With the loss, the Clippers dropped to .500 and have another game vs the Thunder in a back-to-back. The Clippers have some glaring holes.
Offensive scheming
The Clippers rank 26th in the NBA right now in ppg. They are averaging 112.5 ppg. That ranking is worse than what they were last season when they were deemed as a defensive team and lacked offensive firepower. The attempt to revamp the roster, adding offensive threats like John Collins and Bradley Beal, was to put the Clippers better off offensively. Unfortunately, that plan has failed by the waste side, but it is more geared to the style of play over the quality of players.
Last season, Beal averaged 17 ppg with the Phoenix Suns as a third option behind Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Collins, similar to Beal, had a very good scoring output of 19.8 ppg last season with his former team for the Utah Jazz. These two players can score the basketball. How does a team add more versatile offensive firepower and still struggle to produce points? Look no further than the last play of the game, where Kawhi Leonard took the last shot.
Make or miss. At the end of the game, you want the ball in your best players' hands. In watching, the entire game though much of the Clippers' offense lacks ball movement. As a result, the offense becomes stagnant and predictable where it forces even elite players like Leonard and Harden to make something out of nothing. This is an unacceptable problem for a team that has Leonard, Harden, and Beal to be ranked that low in the NBA in offense.
What is the hierarchy?
When retooling a roster, there comes an approach to learning how to play together. Clippers head coach has echoed that it will take him some time to figure out rotations and which lineups work. In a competitive Western conference, falling in holes and giving up games against less talented teams like the Heat without their lead guard Tyler Herro is a problem.
One of the most glaring issues is the declining impact of Ivica Zubac, who last season made the All-NBA defensive second team and was averaging 16.8 ppg and 12.6 rpg. In the first six games of the season, Zubac's numbers are down averaging 15.8 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Also, his attempts per game are down because of the addition of players this season.
Leonard, Harden, Zubac, and Beal are all players that have the ability to have strong scoring options, but there is only one basketball. So, what do you do? Do you bring Beal off the bench for him to get more scoring opportunities without taking away scoring opportunities from Zubac? Does Harden become more like a point guard and feed Beal the basketball?
One thing is for sure, this offense is going to expose the Clippers early and often.
Solution
The one thing to look at in a positive light is just the number of weapons the Clippers have. Leonard stated that this is the best Clippers team has played with since 2021. To be honest, he is right about this roster. From top to bottom, there is a balance of offense, defense, youth, and experience, but you can have the tools and still not know how to use them and that falls on Lue.
The first order of business is to address the lineup. Collins should be the team's starting Power Forward which would move Leonard to his natural position at the Small Forward while giving the coach the option to move Jones at the Shooting Guard for defense or keeping Beal at that position for offense. Either way this helps needs to be implemented quickly for the Clippers to start trending upwards and keeping the house from burning down.