It's impossible to wrap your head around the Los Angeles Clippers right now. Just impossible.
Last night, the Clips lost to the Golden State Warriors, who have now won 10 straight. But, the story of the night, besides Stephen Curry making Chris Paul breakdance, might have been Blake Griffin's postgame comments.
“Home-court advantage is just not there for us,” Griffin said. “If that’s how it feels in the playoffs, it’s not looking good.”
On Tuesday night, splotches of Warrior fans projected noise into the STAPLES Center, cheering on the Splash Brothers and giving Stephen Curry a hearty "M-V-P!" chant while he shot free throws.
In December and January, the Clippers voiced their frustrations when home games against the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls felt like the complete opposite.
Last night's nationally televised game felt like the Clippers' season in a nutshell. They gave the NBA's best team a run for their money, leading Golden State by 12 after the first quarter, but then Warrior fans got loud, and the Clippers started losing the energy and bench battles. L.A's bench was outscored by Golden State's, 34-12. Every Clipper starter played at least 39 minutes, while no Golden State player logged more than 36.
A bad bench, a kind-of not so passionate fan base, a head coach who wants to act like the General Manager....should the Clippers be worse than they are right now? Or are they even better than they are right now? This team makes no sense at all, and it doesn't help that they're caught in the race for the Wild Wild West's number two seed, which holds five teams separated by just 2.5 games.
The leadership of the fire hydrant that is Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan's incredible season, and Blake Griffin's freakish Griffinness account for the core of the Clippers. Throw in J.J. Redick, Matt Barnes, and Jamal Crawford, and you have a pretty nice team, but the lack of depth is a problem. In the offseason, Doc Rivers brought in Spencer Hawes, and he even traded for his son, Austin Rivers, a few months ago. But, the Clippers rank 22nd in bench points per game, and they rely very heavily on their starters and Crawford to put points on the board.
Yet, we knew this as the season began; the Clippers need to win with their talent, defense, and coaching. But, without Blake, L.A. had a four-game winning streak against the Mavericks, Kings, Rockets, and Spurs where they averaged 117.5 points per game. DeAndre Jordan was playing out of his mind, and Spencer Hawes was starting.
The Clippers' conundrum reaches many areas of the NBA team crisis spectrum, but there's a reason this talented team sits in fifth place in the West. While thinking about the Clippers, you don't think about the "pace and space" style of play being invested by so many NBA teams, like the Hawks and Warriors. Yet, the Clippers shoot and make the fifth most three-pointers per game, and they rank second in team points per game as well as field goal percentage.
Perhaps a glance at the roster would make someone think differently, but the Clippers have a dynamite offense, one of the NBA's best point guards and leaders, and a Head Coach who's pretty darn good at drawing up plays out of timeouts. Combine that with Griffin, Jordan, and their career best seasons, and it's understandable why the Clippers are where they are.
So, the question remains; what face will the Clippers wear for the next two weeks and during the playoffs? Will they play with energy, moving the ball, and creating a home atmosphere that won't let road fans sneak in some MVP chants? Or, will they play slow, putting their own fans to sleep, while also finding every opportunity to complain to a referee? Come playoff time, NBA teams have historically turned down the pace, making possessions more valuable and turnovers more crucial. However, in today's faster, "pace and space" NBA, will the playoffs speed up, putting the Clips at a disadvantage?
All these questions will be answered in due time, but for now, let's all agree on one thing: Nobody still has any idea what to think of the Los Angeles Clippers.